The Effects of Internal Audit, Audit Committee and Firm Characteristics on Audit Fees in a Multi-Country and Industry Setting

This paper examines the association between audit fees and attributes of internal audit (IA), audit committee (AC), as measured by independence and financial expertise, as well as characteristics of the firm. The determinants of audit fees have been extensively investigated in the prior literature, but the results are conflicting. We develop a comprehensive model from a multi-country and multi-industry perspective. A total of 3,136 companies covering a period of 10 years (2011-2020) with 15,247 observations from 55 countries were included in this study. We found that the most critical variables that have a significant positive effect on the audit fees are client size, leverage (risk), profitability, complexity, losses, AC independence, AC expertise and auditor size. The study also shows that audit pricing is significantly negatively related to foreign operations, auditor tenure, and internal audit independence. The results highlight variables that affect audit fees across a range of countries/industries.

Audit indicators and financial performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria

This study investigated audit Indicators and financial performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria during the period 2003-2020 (18 years). The researcher used three firms Unilever Nigeria Plc., Beta Glass Plc. and Meyer Plc. The dependent variable was measured with earnings per share (EPS), while the independent variables were measured with auditor's independence (AUIND), Audit Firm Size (AUSZ), Audit Committee (AUCMT), audit committee financial expertise (AUCFE). Time-series data were used and the researcher obtained it from the annual report and account of the firms under study. The estimation technique was Ordinary least square (OLS), normality, serial correlation, and heteroskedasticity test was carried out with the aid of E-views 9 statistical package. The study found that audit committee (AUCMT) and audit committee financial expertise (AUCFE) have a significant impact on earnings per share of Unilever Nigeria Plc as the p-value t-statistics is below 5% significant level. Also, the Audit Committee (AUCMT), audit independence (AUIND) and audit committee financial expertise (AUCFE) have a significant impact on earnings per share of Beta Glass Plc and Meyer Plc as the p-value t-statistics are below 5% significant level. Globally the p-value of the three manufacturing firms understudy is below 5% significant level.

Towards better informed foreign institutional investment

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Ownership concentration can make foreign institutional investors hesitant about investing in the firm. However, board financial expertise acts as a reassuring presence that counters information asymmetry and enables better informed investment decision-making. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Does Board Diversity Attract Foreign Institutional Ownership? Insights from the Chinese Equity Market

The study aimed to empirically investigate the impact of board diversity variables (age, gender, nationality, education, tenure, and expertise) on the investment preferences of foreign institutional investors in an emerging market, China. For this, sample data consisted of 1374 nonfinancial Chinese firms from 2009 to 2018. The study used OLS regression as a baseline regression, a fixed effect model to control omitted variable bias, and the two-step systems GMM model to control the endogeneity problem. The study revealed that board diversity variables (gender, nationality, education, and financial expertise) are positively associated with foreign institutional ownership in Chinese nonfinancial firms, implying that foreign institutional investors own a high percentage of Chinese nonfinancial firms with diversity of gender, nationality, education, and financial expertise. Age and tenure of board diversity, on the other hand, have little correlation with foreign institutional ownership. Further, the robustness regressions also confirmed the relationship between board diversity and foreign institutional ownership. This study made a unique attempt to provide empirical evidence that firms having diverse boards attract foreign institutional ownership by reducing asymmetric information.

The effect of audit committee characteristics on forward-looking disclosure

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of the audit committee characteristics on forward-looking disclosure. Design/methodology/approach The characteristics of audit committee that examined are audit committee expertise, audit committee meeting frequency and audit committee size. To measure the extent of forward-looking disclosure, this study did content analysis using a checklist of 22 forward-looking items. The samples of this research are 285 non-financial firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in the year 2015. Ordinary least square regression is used for hypotheses testing. Findings The results of this study show that the audit committee accounting expertise, audit committee financial expertise, the frequency of audit committee meetings and the size of the audit committee have a significant positive effect on the forward-looking disclosure. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the audit committee characteristics on forward-looking disclosure in the context of Indonesia, one of the emerging markets.

PENGARUH GENDER FINANCIAL EXPERTISE KOMITE AUDIT TERHADAP PRAKTIK MANAJEMEN LABA PERUSAHAAN NON-KEUANGAN YANG TERDAFTAR DI BEI PERIODE 2016-2018

Earnings management is a manager's choice to choose accounting policies or real actions to achieve certain earnings goals. This study aims to examine the effect of the gender financial expertise of the audit committee on earnings management practices. This study uses 852 samples of non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2016-2018 by using multiple linear regression analysis with classical assumption testing. The result of this study is the indication that committee audit financial expertise (EXPERT), proportion of the number of women on the audit committee (ACFD), and proportion of female financial experts on the audit committee (FEMEX) do not have a significant influence on earnings management as measured by using discretionary accruals. On the contrary, the proportion of male financial experts on the audit committee (MALEX), has a significant positive effect on earnings management. This shows that the presence of financial expertise that affects earnings management has been influenced by the sex of male financial experts. This research is in accordance with the theory that reveals that there are different effects with the existence of gender differences in a company.

PENGARUH OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME, KARAKTERISTIK KOMITE AUDIT DAN KUALITAS AUDIT TERHADAP REAL EARNING MANAGEMENT DENGAN LEVERAGE SEBAGAI VARIABEL MODERASI

<p><em>This study aims to analyze the effect of Other Comprehensive Income, Audit Committee Characteristics and Audit Quality on Real Earning Management with Leverage as Moderating Variable. The data used are secondary data obtained from the financial statements of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. This research is a research conducted by testing the hypothesis. A total of 216 samples from 57 companies with an observation period of 4 years, 2016-2019 were selected using the Data Cross Sections method. The analytical method used to test the hypothesis in this study is multiple linear regression analysis.</em><em> </em><em>The results of this study indicate that Other Comprehensive Income Variables, audit committee financial expertise, audit committee tenure, number of audit committee meetings and audit quality do not have a negative effect on real earning management while financial leverage variable has a positive effect on real earnings. management, and the financial leverage variable was not able to weaken the negative influence of the Other Comprehensive Income variable, the variable financial expertise/ financial expertise of the audit committee, the tenure of the audit committee, the number of audit committee meetings and audit quality on real earnings management.</em></p>

Corporate governance and fraudulent financial reporting

Purpose This study aims to trace the impact of corporate governance and its mechanisms in preventing companies from turning to fraudulent financial reporting. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, using the systematic elimination pattern, the information of 187 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange over six years from 2013 to 2019 were collected, and the hypotheses were examined using a linear regression model. To measure fraudulent financial reporting, the adjusted model of Beneish (1999) was used to evaluate corporate governance. Its mechanisms based on nine corporate governance mechanisms, including board independence, board remuneration, CEO financial expertise, expertise in CEO industry, board financial expertise, board industry expertise, board effort, CEO duality and managerial ownership, have been examined. These mechanisms are calculated as a combined index of corporate governance. Findings The findings indicate that robust corporate governance significantly reduces companies’ intention toward fraudulent financial reporting. In the same way, a negative and significant relationship was observed between each of the nine corporate governance mechanisms, except for board compensation and fraudulent financial reporting. Originality/value This study’s findings provide valuable insight into the importance of strengthening companies to prevent companies’ managers from engaging in fraudulent financial reporting activities. Hence, it is suggested that professional references bodies more seriously follow the rules to dictate to companies for using and empowering their corporate governance.