IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausact/v27y2017i4p457-479.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Role of Auditing in Corporate Governance in Australia and New Zealand: A Research Synthesis

Author

Listed:
  • David Hay
  • Jenny Stewart
  • Nives Botica Redmayne

Abstract

Corporate governance is of growing importance in Australia, New Zealand and all over the world. Corporate governance interacts with auditing and it is useful to understand how corporate governance and auditing affect companies. A related issue is whether better governance is a substitute for auditing or a complement. Previous studies of that issue have had mixed results. This review article provides a synthesis of Australian and New Zealand research about corporate governance and auditing that assesses what has been found and examines issues that can be explored using multiple studies. We conclude that despite extensive research, there is still considerable uncertainty about how corporate governance mechanisms are related to auditing and how auditing is associated with corporate governance. We conclude that recommendations for better governance (beyond a minimum level) are not yet supported by evidence. The results are intended to be helpful in providing advice about policy in Australia and New Zealand, and in determining directions for new research.

Suggested Citation

  • David Hay & Jenny Stewart & Nives Botica Redmayne, 2017. "The Role of Auditing in Corporate Governance in Australia and New Zealand: A Research Synthesis," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 27(4), pages 457-479, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausact:v:27:y:2017:i:4:p:457-479
    DOI: 10.1111/auar.12190
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/auar.12190
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/auar.12190?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. Divesh S. Sharma & Nava Subramaniam, 2005. "Outsourcing of Internal Audit Services in Australian Firms: Some Preliminary Evidence," Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance (AAMJAF), Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, vol. 1(1), pages 33-52.
    2. Lois Munro & Sherrena Buckby, 2008. "Audit Committee Regulation in Australia: How Far Have We Come?," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 18(4), pages 310-323, December.
    3. Elizabeth Carson & Neil Fargher & Yuyu Zhang, 2016. "Trends in Auditor Reporting in Australia: A Synthesis and Opportunities for Research," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(3), pages 226-242, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Husam Aldamen & Keith Duncan & Simone Kelly & Ray McNamara & Stephan Nagel, 2012. "Audit committee characteristics and firm performance during the global financial crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(4), pages 971-1000, December.
    6. Roger Simnett & Wendy Green & Peter Roebuck, 1993. "Disclosure Of Audit Committees by Public Companies in Australia 1988–1990," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 3(5), pages 43-50, May.
    7. 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.
    8. Peter Carey & Nava Subramaniam & Karin Chua Wee Ching, 2006. "Internal audit outsourcing in Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(1), pages 11-30, March.
    9. Nonna Martinov-Bennie & Dominic S.B. Soh & Dale Tweedie, 2015. "An investigation into the roles, characteristics, expectations and evaluation practices of audit committees," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 30(8/9), pages 727-755, October.
    10. Philomena Leung & Barry J. Cooper & Luckmika Perera, 2011. "Accountability structures and management relationships of internal audit: An Australian study," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 26(9), pages 794-816, October.
    11. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & James Routledge & Jenny Stewart & Gary Monroe, 2015. "Do corporate governance recommendations improve the performance and accountability of small listed companies?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 133-164, March.
    12. Kamran Ahmed & Darren Henry, 2012. "Accounting conservatism and voluntary corporate governance mechanisms by Australian firms," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(3), pages 631-662, September.
    13. Gerrit Sarens & Joe Christopher & Mahbub Zaman, 2013. "A Study of the Informal Interactions between Audit Committees and Internal Auditors in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 23(4), pages 307-329, December.
    14. Joe Christopher & Gerrit Sarens & Philomena Leung, 2009. "A critical analysis of the independence of the internal audit function: evidence from Australia," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(2), pages 200-220, January.
    15. Lois Munro & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "External auditors’ reliance on internal audit: the impact of sourcing arrangements and consulting activities," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(2), pages 371-387, June.
    16. Ping‐Sheng Koh & Stacie Kelley Laplante & Yen H. Tong, 2007. "Accountability and value enhancement roles of corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 47(2), pages 305-333, June.
    17. 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.
    18. Krishna Reddy & Stuart Locke & Frank Scrimgeour, 2010. "The efficacy of principle‐based corporate governance practices and firm financial performance," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(3), pages 190-219, June.
    19. Jenny Goodwin‐Stewart & Pamela Kent, 2006. "Relation between external audit fees, audit committee characteristics and internal audit," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(3), pages 387-404, September.
    20. Noel Harding & Mohammad I. Azim & Radzi Jidin & Janine P. Muir, 2016. "A Consideration of Literature on Trust and Distrust as they Relate to Auditor Professional Scepticism," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(3), pages 243-254, September.
    21. Robyn Pilcher & David Gilchrist & Harjinder Singh & Inderpal Singh, 2013. "The Interface between Internal and External Audit in the Australian Public Sector," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 23(4), pages 330-340, December.
    22. Bradley Pomeroy & Daniel Thornton, 2008. "Meta-analysis and the Accounting Literature: The Case of Audit Committee Independence and Financial Reporting Quality," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 305-330.
    23. Sherrena Buckby & Gerry Gallery & Jiacheng Ma, 2015. "An analysis of risk management disclosures: Australian evidence," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 30(8/9), pages 812-869, October.
    24. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & Jenny Stewart, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Company Performance in Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(4), pages 372-386, December.
    25. Lois Munro & Jenny Stewart, 2011. "External auditors' reliance on internal auditing: further evidence," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 26(6), pages 464-481, June.
    26. Bradbury, Michael E., 1990. "The incentives for voluntary audit committee formation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 19-36.
    27. Yi Meng Chen & Robyn Moroney & Keith Houghton, 2005. "Audit committee composition and the use of an industry specialist audit firm," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(2), pages 217-239, July.
    28. Stuart Turley & Mahbub Zaman, 2004. "The Corporate Governance Effects of Audit Committees," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 8(3), pages 305-332, June.
    29. T. D. Stanley, 2005. "Beyond Publication Bias," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 309-345, July.
    30. Mark A. Bliss, 2011. "Does CEO duality constrain board independence? Some evidence from audit pricing," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 51(2), pages 361-380, June.
    31. Won Sil Kang & Alan Kilgore & Sue Wright, 2011. "The effectiveness of audit committees for low- and mid-cap firms," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 26(7), pages 623-650, July.
    32. Larelle Chapple & Thu Phuong Truong & Steven Cahan, 2015. "Continuous disclosure compliance: does corporate governance matter?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(4), pages 965-988, December.
    33. Krishna Reddy & Stuart Locke & Frank Scrimgeour & Abeyratna Gunasekarage, 2008. "Corporate governance practices of small cap companies and their financial performance: an empirical study in New Zealand," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1), pages 51-78.
    34. 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.
    35. Marion Davis & David Hay, 2012. "An Analysis of Submissions on Proposed Regulations for Audit and Assurance in New Zealand," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 22(3), pages 303-316, September.
    36. Li (Glenda) Chen & Alan Kilgore & Renee Radich, 2009. "Audit committees: voluntary formation by ASX non-top 500," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 24(5), pages 475-493, May.
    37. 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.
    38. Elizabeth Carson, 2002. "Factors Associated with the Development of Board Sub–committees," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 4-18, January.
    39. Jenny Stewart & Nava Subramaniam, 2010. "Internal audit independence and objectivity: emerging research opportunities," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(4), pages 328-360, April.
    40. Réal Labelle & Daniel B. Thornton & L. He, 2009. "Board monitoring, audit committee effectiveness, and financial reporting quality: Review and synthesis of empirical evidence," Post-Print halshs-00551606, HAL.
    41. Paul Coram & Colin Ferguson & Robyn Moroney, 2008. "Internal audit, alternative internal audit structures and the level of misappropriation of assets fraud," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(4), pages 543-559, December.
    42. Harjinder Singh & Rick Newby, 2010. "Internal audit and audit fees: further evidence," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(4), pages 309-327, April.
    43. Akeel M. Lary & Dennis W. Taylor, 2012. "Governance characteristics and role effectiveness of audit committees," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 27(4), pages 336-354, April.
    44. Ryan Davidson & Jenny Goodwin‐Stewart & Pamela Kent, 2005. "Internal governance structures and earnings management," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(2), pages 241-267, July.
    45. Christine Contessotto & Robyn Moroney & Gary Monroe, 2014. "The association between audit committee effectiveness and audit risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(2), pages 393-418, June.
    46. Mohammad Ziaul Hoque & MD. Rabiul Islam & Mohammad Nurul Azam, 2013. "Board Committee Meetings and Firm Financial Performance: An Investigation of Australian Companies," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 13(4), pages 503-528, 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. Ali M. Gerged & Babikir Bechir Mahamat & Ibrahim K. Elmghaamez, 2020. "Did corporate governance compliance have an impact on auditor selection and quality? Evidence from FTSE 350," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 51-60, September.
    2. Cecilia Langella & Eugenio Anessi Pessina & Elena Cant?, 2020. "Caratteristiche e attivit? del Collegio Sindacale nelle aziende sanitarie pubbliche italiane," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(116), pages 53-73.
    3. Julia Yonghua Wu & Ronán Feehily & Beverley Rae Lord, 2022. "The Corporate Governance Role of Audit Committees: Through the Lenses of New Zealand Institutional Investors," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(1), pages 63-76, March.
    4. Peter Michael Robinson & Olav Muurlink, 2022. "Impact of CLERP 9 Reforms: A Longitudinal Analysis," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(1), pages 77-90, March.

    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. Richard Anthony Kent & Di Bu, 2020. "The importance of cash flow disclosure and cost of capital," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 877-908, April.
    2. Martina K. Linnenluecke & Jacqueline Birt & Xiaoyan Chen & Xin Ling & Tom Smith, 2017. "Accounting Research in Abacus, A&F, AAR, and AJM from 2008–2015: A Review and Research Agenda," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 53(2), pages 159-179, June.
    3. Mélanie Roussy & Alexandre Perron, 2018. "New Perspectives in Internal Audit Research: A Structured Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 345-385, September.
    4. Karen Benson & Peter M Clarkson & Tom Smith & Irene Tutticci, 2015. "A review of accounting research in the Asia Pacific region," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 40(1), pages 36-88, February.
    5. Husam Aldamen & Keith Duncan & Simone Kelly & Ray McNamara & Stephan Nagel, 2012. "Audit committee characteristics and firm performance during the global financial crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(4), pages 971-1000, December.
    6. Ilyass Chaker, 2022. "Les caractéristiques des comités d'audit : Déterminants de la performance financière et de la qualité informationnelle ?," Post-Print hal-03680709, HAL.
    7. Isabel Z. Wang & Neil Fargher, 2017. "The effects of tone at the top and coordination with external auditors on internal auditors’ fraud risk assessments," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 57(4), pages 1177-1202, December.
    8. 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).
    9. C. Piot & L. Kermiche, 2009. "A quoi servent les comités d'audit ? Un regard sur la recherche empirique," Post-Print halshs-00537952, HAL.
    10. Lois Munro & Sherrena Buckby, 2008. "Audit Committee Regulation in Australia: How Far Have We Come?," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 18(4), pages 310-323, December.
    11. Millicent Chang & Andrew B. Jackson & Marvin Wee, 2018. "A review of research on regulation changes in the Asia‐Pacific region," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(3), pages 635-667, September.
    12. 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.
    13. A. Tafuro & A. Costa & A. Fanelli & А. Тафуро & А. Коста & А. Фанелли, 2016. "Организационные аспекты внутреннего аудита в итальянских корпоративных группах // Organizational aspects of the internal audit of Italian corporate groups," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 4(3), pages 68-90.
    14. Clive Gaunt & Steven Cahan, 2014. "Accounting and Finance: authorship and citation trends," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(2), pages 441-465, June.
    15. Shivan Sarpal, 2017. "Analyzing Performance Implications of Selected Audit Committee Characteristics: A Study of Indian Corporate Sector," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 5(2), pages 137-150, July.
    16. Nimisha Kapoor & Sandeep Goel, 2017. "Board Characteristics, Firm Profitability and Earnings Management: Evidence from India," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 27(2), pages 180-194, June.
    17. Bradbury, Michael & Jia, Jing & Li, Zhongtian, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility committees and the use of corporate social responsibility assurance services," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    18. 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.
    19. Jacqueline Christensen & Pamela Kent & James Routledge & Jenny Stewart & Gary Monroe, 2015. "Do corporate governance recommendations improve the performance and accountability of small listed companies?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 133-164, March.
    20. Stewart Jones & Nurul Alam, 2019. "A machine learning analysis of citation impact among selected Pacific Basin journals," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(4), pages 2509-2552, December.

    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:ausact:v:27:y:2017:i:4:p:457-479. 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: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1035-6908 .

    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.