IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v60y2020i3p2361-2395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Audit committee characteristics and financial statement comparability

Author

Listed:
  • Medhat Endrawes
  • Zhuoan Feng
  • Meiting Lu
  • Yaowen Shan

Abstract

Financial statement comparability enables weighing the similarities and differences in financial performance between firms. Prior studies mainly focus on the role of accounting standards in the production of comparability, but the role of economic agents has been largely overlooked. We find that a firm's audit committee size and financial expertise affect its financial statement comparability. Financial information tends to be more comparable among industry peers when audit committees are larger and more members have financial and accounting expertise. The effect of audit committee expertise on comparability is stronger for firms with less independent and smaller boards, for firms with non‐Big 4 auditors and for firms with CEOs serving as the chairperson of the boards.

Suggested Citation

  • Medhat Endrawes & Zhuoan Feng & Meiting Lu & Yaowen Shan, 2020. "Audit committee characteristics and financial statement comparability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(3), pages 2361-2395, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:3:p:2361-2395
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12354
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12354
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12354?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gus De Franco & S.P. Kothari & Rodrigo S. Verdi, 2011. "The Benefits of Financial Statement Comparability," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 895-931, September.
    2. Anzhela Knyazeva & Diana Knyazeva & Ronald W. Masulis, 2013. "The Supply of Corporate Directors and Board Independence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1561-1605.
    3. Peter Baxter & Julie Cotter, 2009. "Audit committees and earnings quality," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 49(2), pages 267-290, June.
    4. Badolato, Patrick G. & Donelson, Dain C. & Ege, Matthew, 2014. "Audit committee financial expertise and earnings management: The role of status," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 208-230.
    5. Mark S. Beasley & Joseph V. Carcello & Dana R. Hermanson & Terry L. Neal, 2009. "The Audit Committee Oversight Process," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 65-122, March.
    6. Bushman, Robert & Chen, Qi & Engel, Ellen & Smith, Abbie, 2004. "Financial accounting information, organizational complexity and corporate governance systems," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 167-201, June.
    7. Patricia M. Dechow & Richard G. Sloan & Amy P. Sweeney, 1996. "Causes and Consequences of Earnings Manipulation: An Analysis of Firms Subject to Enforcement Actions by the SEC," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-36, March.
    8. Sanjeev Bhojraj & Charles M. C. Lee, 2002. "Who Is My Peer? A Valuation‐Based Approach to the Selection of Comparable Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 407-439, May.
    9. Klein, April, 1998. "Firm Performance and Board Committee Structure," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(1), pages 275-303, April.
    10. Charles Piot & Rémi Janin, 2007. "External Auditors, Audit Committees and Earnings Management in France," Post-Print halshs-00176969, HAL.
    11. Irene Karamanou & Nikos Vafeas, 2005. "The Association between Corporate Boards, Audit Committees, and Management Earnings Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 453-486, June.
    12. Gopal V. Krishnan & Gnanakumar Visvanathan, 2008. "Does the SOX Definition of an Accounting Expert Matter? The Association between Audit Committee Directors' Accounting Expertise and Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 827-858, September.
    13. DeFond, Mark & Hu, Xuesong & Hung, Mingyi & Li, Siqi, 2011. "The impact of mandatory IFRS adoption on foreign mutual fund ownership: The role of comparability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 240-258, April.
    14. Indrarini Laksmana, 2008. "Corporate Board Governance and Voluntary Disclosure of Executive Compensation Practices," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1147-1182, December.
    15. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7‐8), pages 1043-1064, September.
    16. Jeffrey Cohen & Ganesh Krishnamoorthy & Arnold M. Wright, 2002. "Corporate Governance and the Audit Process," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 573-594, December.
    17. Charles Piot & Remi Janin, 2007. "External Auditors, Audit Committees and Earnings Management in France," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 429-454.
    18. Nikos Vafeas, 2003. "Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30, pages 1043-1064.
    19. Dye, Ronald A, 1993. "Auditing Standards, Legal Liability, and Auditor Wealth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 887-914, October.
    20. Robert W. Holthausen, 2009. "Accounting Standards, Financial Reporting Outcomes, and Enforcement," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 447-458, May.
    21. Rainsbury, Elizabeth A. & Bradbury, Michael & Cahan, Steven F., 2009. "The impact of audit committee quality on financial reporting quality and audit fees," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 20-33.
    22. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    23. Pollock, Timothy G. & Chen, Guoli & Jackson, Eric M. & Hambrick, Donald C., 2010. "How much prestige is enough? Assessing the value of multiple types of high-status affiliates for young firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 6-23, January.
    24. Nigar Sultana & J-L. W. Mitchell Van der Zahn & Steven Cahan, 2015. "Earnings conservatism and audit committee financial expertise," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 279-310, March.
    25. Dan Dhaliwal & Vic Naiker & Farshid Navissi, 2010. "The Association Between Accruals Quality and the Characteristics of Accounting Experts and Mix of Expertise on Audit Committees," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 787-827, September.
    26. Musa Mangena & Richard Pike, 2005. "The effect of audit committee shareholding, financial expertise and size on interim financial disclosures," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 327-349.
    27. Kim, Jeong-Bon & Li, Leye & Lu, Louise Yi & Yu, Yangxin, 2016. "Financial statement comparability and expected crash risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 294-312.
    28. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    29. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    30. Pamela Kent & Jenny Stewart, 2008. "Corporate governance and disclosures on the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(4), pages 649-671, December.
    31. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    32. Klein, April, 2002. "Audit committee, board of director characteristics, and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 375-400, August.
    33. Pamela Kent & James Routledge & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "Innate and discretionary accruals quality and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(1), pages 171-195, March.
    34. Mark T. Bradshaw & Brian J. Bushee & Gregory S. Miller, 2004. "Accounting Choice, Home Bias, and U.S. Investment in Non‐U.S. Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 795-841, December.
    35. Xie, Biao & Davidson, Wallace III & DaDalt, Peter J., 2003. "Earnings management and corporate governance: the role of the board and the audit committee," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-316, June.
    36. Nikos Vafeas, 2005. "Audit Committees, Boards, and the Quality of Reported Earnings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 1093-1122, December.
    37. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2008. "The colors of investors' money: The role of institutional investors around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 499-533, June.
    38. Ball, Ray & Robin, Ashok & Wu, Joanna Shuang, 2003. "Incentives versus standards: properties of accounting income in four East Asian countries," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 235-270, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Borghesi, Richard & Chang, Kiyoung & Park, Jong Chool & Song, Hakjoon, 2024. "Labor unions and financial statement comparability," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PA).
    2. Michael Neel & Irfan Safdar, 2024. "Financial statement relevance, representational faithfulness, and comparability," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 309-339, January.
    3. Wang, Fangjun & Zhang, Zhichao & Ho, L.C. Jennifer & Usman, Muhammad, 2023. "CFO gender and financial statement comparability," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    4. Jia, Jing & Li, Zhongtian, 2022. "Risk management committees and readability of risk management disclosure," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3).
    5. Yosra Mnif & Imen Slimi, 2023. "Former auditors on the audit committee and earnings management: Evidence from African banks," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2383-2420, June.
    6. Zhichao Zhang & Fangjun Wang, 2023. "Managerial short‐termism and financial statement comparability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(5), pages 5027-5067, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hidaya Lawati & Khaled Hussainey & Roza Sagitova, 2021. "Disclosure quality vis-à-vis disclosure quantity: Does audit committee matter in Omani financial institutions?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 557-594, August.
    2. Benjamin T. Albersmann & Daniela Hohenfels, 2017. "Audit Committees and Earnings Management – Evidence from the German Two-Tier Board System," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(2), pages 147-178, May.
    3. Ghafran, Chaudhry & O'Sullivan, Noel & Yasmin, Sofia, 2022. "When does audit committee busyness influence earnings management in the UK? Evidence on the role of the financial crisis and company size," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    4. Wael Almaqoushi & Ronan Powell, 2021. "Audit committee quality indices, reporting quality and firm value," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 185-229, January.
    5. Badolato, Patrick G. & Donelson, Dain C. & Ege, Matthew, 2014. "Audit committee financial expertise and earnings management: The role of status," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 208-230.
    6. Ahsan Habib & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, 2016. "Problem directors on the audit committee and financial reporting quality," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 121-144, February.
    7. Nooraisah Katmon & Omar Al-Farooque, 2019. "The Reciprocal Relationship Between Earnings Management, Disclosure Quality and Board Independence: UK Evidence," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(5), pages 63-80, December.
    8. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    9. Nooraisah Katmon & Omar Al Farooque, 2017. "Exploring the Impact of Internal Corporate Governance on the Relation Between Disclosure Quality and Earnings Management in the UK Listed Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 345-367, May.
    10. Pierre Bonetti & Antonio Parbonetti & Michel Magnan, 2013. "The Influence of Country- and Firm-Level Governance on Financial Reporting Quality: Revisiting the Evidence," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-03, CIRANO.
    11. Amina Zgarni & Hassouna Fedhila & Moez El Gaied, 2018. "Audit Committee and Discretionary Loan Loss Provisions in Tunisian Commercial Banks," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 85-93.
    12. Nicolas Vlaminck & Gerrit Sarens, 2015. "The relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial statement quality: evidence from Belgium," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(1), pages 145-166, February.
    13. Wil Martens & Prem W. S. Yapa & Maryam Safari, 2020. "The Impact of Financial Statement Comparability on Earnings Management: Evidence from Frontier Markets," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-25, November.
    14. Luminita Enache & Antonio Parbonetti & Anup Srivastava, 2020. "Are all outside directors created equal with respect to firm disclosure policy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 541-577, August.
    15. Elnahass, Marwa & Salama, Aly & Yusuf, Noora, 2022. "Earnings management and internal governance mechanisms: The role of religiosity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. Sun, Jerry & Liu, Guoping, 2014. "Audit committees’ oversight of bank risk-taking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 376-387.
    17. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Tauringana, Venancio & Tingbani, Ishmael, 2018. "Audit committee financial expertise, gender, and earnings management: Does gender of the financial expert matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 170-183.
    18. Abbasi, Kaleemullah & Alam, Ashraful & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin, 2020. "Audit committees, female directors and the types of female and male financial experts: Further evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 186-197.
    19. Hooghiemstra, Reggy & Hermes, Niels & Oxelheim, Lars & Randøy, Trond, 2019. "Strangers on the board: The impact of board internationalization on earnings management of Nordic firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 119-134.
    20. Zhang, Yuyang & Uchida, Konari & Bu, Hua, 2013. "How do accounting standards and insiders' incentives affect earnings management? Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 78-99.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:3:p:2361-2395. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.