Changing the Audit Committee Chair: An Analysis of Potential Effects on Audit Quality and Audit Fees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svenja Hillebrandt ◽  
Nicole V.S. Ratzinger-Sakel
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Izhar Haq ◽  
Teresa Lang ◽  
Hongkang Xu

This study uses GMI Ratings directorship data from 2008 to 2013 along with the associated financial data to examine the relationship between audit committee chair change with the absolute discretionary accruals in the financial statements of the reporting companies.  Our results suggest that audit committee chair change is positively associated with the absolute discretionary accruals.  Specifically, absolute discretionary accruals are significantly higher when there is a change in the audit committee chair.  These results are consistent with prior research that deviations from the predicted values of accruals is an indicator of “poor” audit quality.  An additional finding of this paper is that a person younger than 60 is more likely to be a new audit committee chair when there is a change and therefore will have less experience and contacts than the outgoing chair. An important implication of these results is that audit committee chair change can have a significant impact on the quality of the financial statements of a company as well as on the audit quality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 61-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianjie He ◽  
Jeffrey A. Pittman ◽  
Oliver M. Rui ◽  
Donghui Wu

ABSTRACT We examine whether social ties between engagement auditors and audit committee members shape audit outcomes. Although these social ties can facilitate information transfer and help auditors alleviate management pressure to waive correction of detected misstatements, close interpersonal relations can undermine auditors' monitoring of the financial reporting process. We measure social ties by alma mater connections, professor-student bonding, and employment affiliation, and audit quality by the propensity to render modified audit opinions, financial reporting irregularities, and firm valuation. Our evidence implies that social ties between engagement auditors and audit committee members impair audit quality. In additional results consistent with expectations, we generally find that this relation is concentrated where social ties are more salient, or firm governance is relatively poor and agency conflicts are more severe. Implying reciprocity stemming from social networks, we also report some suggestive evidence that audit fees are higher in the presence of social ties between an engagement auditor and the audit committee. Collectively, our analysis lends support to the narrative that the negative implications—namely, worse audit quality and higher audit fees—of these social ties may outweigh the benefits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bum-Jin Park

Background: It is extremely important that an audit committee (AC) monitors a company’s financial reporting process, and that the committee engages a high-quality auditor to carry this out effectively. Prior research on ACs has paid much attention to the relationship between AC best practices and audit fees (AF). Although compensation is a means of aligning interests between ACs and stakeholders, previous studies have neglected the complementary interaction between AC compensation and compliance with best practices on audit quality.Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate how compensation for ACs affects AF, and how the association is moderated by compliance with best practices to capture effective monitoring.Method: The regression models are estimated to verify how the relationship between AC compensation and AF is moderated by AC compliance with best practice. Moreover, the logistic regression models are used to investigate how the relationship between AC compensation and the opportunistic achievement of earnings goals is moderated by AC compliance with best practice.Results: The findings show a positive association between the levels of compensation AC members receive and AF, which is reinforced in firms that have ACs that comply with all best practices.Conclusion: The results suggest that highly paid ACs engage high-quality auditors to complement their function of monitoring management and AC compensation and compliance with best practices are complementary to enhance audit quality. This study thus provides the interesting insights that can be applicable to countries with requirements relating to the compensation schemes for ACs or the formation of the AC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 568-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seema Miglani ◽  
Kamran Ahmed

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship existing between gender diverse (women directors) audit committees and audit fees. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a sample of 200 listed Indian firms over a four-year period (2011-2014). Ordinary least squares regression is used to assess whether and how the presence of women directors on audit committees affects the fee paid to the external auditor in India. To deal with the self-selection bias, the authors use a two-stage model developed using Heckman’s (1976) method. Findings The results show a significant positive relationship between the presence of a woman financial expert on the audit committee and audit fees after controlling for a number of firm-specific and governance characteristics and potential endogeneity with the propensity-matching score analysis. From the demand-side perspective of audit pricing, the results indicate that women financial experts on audit committees increase the need for assurance provided by external auditors. Using interaction terms, the authors find that women with financial expertise on an audit committee have a stronger association with audit fees as entity becomes more complex. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that audit committees with women financial experts are likely to demand higher audit quality, ceteris paribus. Practical implications Gender of the financial expert is critical to the audit committee’s effectiveness. The findings of this study have implications for the composition of an audit committee in a firm. Originality/value This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the less-researched topic of the association between the women representation on audit committees and audit fees. It also offers further empirical evidence that will influence the debate on the importance of gender diversity in corporations.


Jurnal EBI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Isra Laili

This test aims to test the effect of audit fees, audit tenure, audit rotation on audit quality with the audit committee as a moderating variable (empirical studies on financial sector companies listed on the Indonesia stock exchange for the financial sector 2012-2016) The population in this study was 71 companies. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling and the number of samples was 23 companies. The model used in this study is Moderated Regression Analysis using panel data and processed using the Eviews 9.5 application. Results: Audit fees have a positive and insignificant effect on audit quality, audit tenure has a negative and insignificant effect on audit quality, audit rotation has a positive and significant effect. on the quality of the audit. The audit committee has a positive and significant effect on the relationship between audit fees and audit quality, the audit committee has a negative and insignificant effect on the relationship between audit tenure and audit quality, the audit committee has a positive and insignificant effect on the relationship between audit rotation and audit quality. This shows that the audit committee only mediates the relationship between the audit fee variable and audit quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Rahman Yakubu ◽  
Tracey Williams

Auditor independence and the quality of audit report is of growing concern to regulators, institutional investors and stakeholders as a series of accounting scandals have undermined the professionalism of auditors. The findings from this study produced an insight of how auditor’s independence improve audit quality and that abnormal audit fees is as a result of additional effort for auditor to carry out rigorous audit engagement as a result of wider audit scope; that mandatory audit firm rotation will enhance auditor independence, and that audit committee with nonexecutive independence will promote audit quality. The study also finds that in terms of auditor size, smaller audit firms that belong to professional bodies will provide higher audit quality. The main conclusion of this research is that where an auditor is fully independent in carrying out audit engagement with strong resistance to fees pressure will enhance audit quality. This research provides insight into the impact of IFRS adoption on audit fees.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Jahangir Ali ◽  
Rajbans Kaur Shingara Singh ◽  
Mahmoud Al-Akra

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of audit committee effectiveness on audit fees and non-audit service (NAS) fees in a less regulatory environment. Design/methodology/approach The authors construct a composite audit committee effectiveness measure incorporating audit committee independence, diligence, size, financial expertise and the chairperson’s accounting expertise. Findings The authors find that audit committee effectiveness has a positive significant impact on both audit fees and NAS fees. This suggests that effective audit committees can hold auditors accountable resulting in better audit quality and consequently higher audit fees. Originality/value The link between more effective audit committees with higher NAS purchases can be explained in light of the difference in regulatory requirements providing audit committees with decision rights on the use of NASs, therefore approving more NAS and increasing NASF. Additional tests and robustness analyses confirm the results.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brant E. Christensen ◽  
Thomas C. Omer ◽  
Marjorie K. Shelley ◽  
Paul A. Wong

SUMMARY Researchers and practitioners have expressed the need to understand better the interactions between audit committees and auditors and how these interactions affect audits. Former partners affiliated with the external auditor and serving on the audit committee are a subset of audit committee members who can affect the audit. Consistent with social identity theory, we find that companies with an affiliated partner on their audit committee are less likely to dismiss the member's former firm than companies without the affiliation. Further, we find improved audit quality and increased effectiveness of auditor effort when affiliated partners serve on the audit committee. Finally, this quality improvement occurs contemporaneously with a reduction in audit fees and time spent on fieldwork, suggesting increased efficiency. Our study provides evidence that affiliated former partners on audit committees extend the tenure of the auditor-client relationship while also improving audit processes and outcomes. JEL Classifications: M4; M42; G3.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
Paradisa Sukma, Yustrida Bernawati

This research was conducted to investigate the effect of audit committee characteristics on audit quality. The characteristics of the audit committee used in this study are the number of audit committees, number of audit committee meetings, audit committee education background, and audit committee experience while audit quality is measured using audit fees. This study uses manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016 - 2018 with 70 observation data and uses OLS regression. The results of this study indicate all four Audit Characteristics, only size and experience significantly influence audit quality. While audit meetings and education do not significantly affect audit quality. Likewise with the education that can not ensure the capabilities possessed by members of the audit committee. Overall, the effectiveness of the audit committee has no significant effect on audit quality.


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