IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v42y2021ics1061951821000021.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Audit committee and audit quality: An empirical analysis considering industry expertise, legal expertise and gender diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Alhababsah, Salem
  • Yekini, Sina

Abstract

The extant literature and corporate governance regulations suffer from a tight focus on audit committee (AC) financial expertise as a mean of improving the AC’s oversight role. However, there is a lack of evidence about other kinds of expertise that might be important for AC effectiveness which could contribute to the quality of financial statements. This study examines whether AC industry expertise and AC legal expertise have an impact on audit quality in a developing country (Jordan). Furthermore, mixed and inconsistent findings regarding the role played by female directors and the peculiarity of the Jordanian context creates a motive to examine the effect of AC gender diversity on audit quality. By utilizing 1,035 firm-year observations, using two proxies to capture audit quality, and employing different estimation methods, this study highlights the importance of AC industry expertise in ensuring high audit quality. AC legal expertise and AC gender diversity have no significant effect on audit quality. This study offers a valuable contribution to the literature, and also has implications for policy-makers in Jordan and other countries with similar institutional environments to consider for future regulatory reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Alhababsah, Salem & Yekini, Sina, 2021. "Audit committee and audit quality: An empirical analysis considering industry expertise, legal expertise and gender diversity," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:42:y:2021:i:c:s1061951821000021
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2021.100377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951821000021
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2021.100377?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bin Srinidhi & Ferdinand A. Gul & Judy Tsui, 2011. "Female Directors and Earnings Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1610-1644, December.
    2. Sophie Audousset-Coulier, 2015. "Audit Fees in a Joint Audit Setting," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 347-377, June.
    3. Joseph V. Carcello & Dana R. Hermanson & Terry L. Neal & Richard A. Riley, 2002. "Board Characteristics and Audit Fees," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 365-384, September.
    4. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Agency Problems and Residual Claims," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 327-349, June.
    5. Alhababsah, Salem, 2019. "Ownership structure and audit quality: An empirical analysis considering ownership types in Jordan," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 71-84.
    6. Simunic, Da, 1980. "The Pricing Of Audit Services - Theory And Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 161-190.
    7. Simon Ho & Annie Li & Kinsun Tam & Feida Zhang, 2015. "CEO Gender, Ethical Leadership, and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 351-370, March.
    8. Scott Whisenant & Srinivasan Sankaraguruswamy & K. Raghunandan, 2003. "Evidence on the Joint Determination of Audit and Non‐Audit Fees," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 721-744, September.
    9. Noel O'Sullivan, 1999. "Board characteristics and audit pricing post-Cadbury: a research note," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 253-263.
    10. Alzeban, Abdulaziz & Sawan, Nedal, 2015. "The impact of audit committee characteristics on the implementation of internal audit recommendations," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 61-71.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    13. repec:eme:majpps:maj-10-2018-2048 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Jeong, Seok Woo & Rho, Joonhwa, 2004. "Big Six auditors and audit quality: The Korean evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 175-196.
    15. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    16. Francis, Jere R., 2004. "What do we know about audit quality?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 345-368.
    17. Habib, Ahsan & Jiang, Haiyan, 2015. "Corporate governance and financial reporting quality in China: A survey of recent evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 29-45.
    18. Aida Sijamic Wahid, 2019. "The Effects and the Mechanisms of Board Gender Diversity: Evidence from Financial Manipulation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 705-725, October.
    19. Wang, Cong & Xie, Fei & Zhu, Min, 2015. "Industry Expertise of Independent Directors and Board Monitoring," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(5), pages 929-962, October.
    20. Ghafran, Chaudhry & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2017. "The impact of audit committee expertise on audit quality: Evidence from UK audit fees," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 578-593.
    21. Charles Piot, 2001. "Agency costs and audit quality: evidence from France," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 461-499.
    22. Sarhan, Ahmed A. & Ntim, Collins G. & Al-Najjar, Basil, 2019. "Antecedents of audit quality in MENA countries: The effect of firm- and country-level governance quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 85-107.
    23. Mahbub Zaman & Mohammed Hudaib & Roszaini Haniffa, 2011. "Corporate Governance Quality, Audit Fees and Non-Audit Services Fees," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 165-197, January.
    24. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Srinidhi, Bin & Ng, Anthony C., 2011. "Does board gender diversity improve the informativeness of stock prices?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 314-338, April.
    25. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    26. Nikos Vafeas & James Waegelein, 2007. "The association between audit committees, compensation incentives, and corporate audit fees," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 241-255, April.
    27. 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.
    28. Fleischer, Rouven & Goettsche, Max, 2012. "Size effects and audit pricing: Evidence from Germany," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 156-168.
    29. Joseph P. H. Fan & T. J. Wong, 2005. "Do External Auditors Perform a Corporate Governance Role in Emerging Markets? Evidence from East Asia," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 35-72, March.
    30. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    31. Miles, Rebecca, 2002. "Employment and Unemployment in Jordan: The Importance of the Gender System," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 413-427, March.
    32. Cristian L. Dezsö & David Gaddis Ross, 2012. "Does female representation in top management improve firm performance? A panel data investigation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1072-1089, September.
    33. Gendron, Yves & Bedard, Jean, 2006. "On the constitution of audit committee effectiveness," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 211-239, April.
    34. Jere R. Francis, 2006. "Are Auditors Compromised by Nonaudit Services? Assessing the Evidence," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 747-760, September.
    35. 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.
    36. 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.
    37. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Nigar Sultana & Harjinder Singh & Asheq Rahman, 2019. "Experience of Audit Committee Members and Audit Quality," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 947-975, October.
    39. Shan, Yuan George & Troshani, Indrit & Tarca, Ann, 2019. "Managerial ownership, audit firm size, and audit fees: Australian evidence," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 18-36.
    40. repec:eme:majpps:maj-04-2018-1863 is not listed on IDEAS
    41. Lai, Kam-Wah, 2019. "Audit report lag, audit fees, and audit quality following an audit firm merger: Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    42. 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.
    43. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Boards: Does one size fit all," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 329-356, February.
    44. Zoe†Vonna Palmrose & Susan Scholz, 2004. "The Circumstances and Legal Consequences of Non†GAAP Reporting: Evidence from Restatements," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 139-180, March.
    45. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    46. Karen M. Y. Lai & Bin Srinidhi & Ferdinand A. Gul & Judy S. L. Tsui, 2017. "Board Gender Diversity, Auditor Fees, and Auditor Choice," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(3), pages 1681-1714, September.
    47. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    48. Corbella, Silvano & Florio, Cristina & Gotti, Giorgio & Mastrolia, Stacy A., 2015. "Audit firm rotation, audit fees and audit quality: The experience of Italian public companies," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 46-66.
    49. Peter Kennedy, 2003. "A Guide to Econometrics, 5th Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 5, volume 1, number 026261183x, 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. Owusu, Andrews & Zalata, Alaa Mansour, 2023. "Credit rating agency response to appointment of female audit partners: Evidence from the UK," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    2. Fatiha Id ahmad & Omar Hniche & Badre Eddine Chegri, 2023. "External audit quality : revue of literature [Qualité de l'audit externe : Revue de littérature]," Post-Print hal-03956881, HAL.
    3. Sumaia Ayesh Qaderi & Belal Ali Abdulraheem Ghaleb & Abdulwahid Ahmed Hashed & Turki Raji Alhmoud & Hasnah Kamardin, 2023. "Audit Committee Leadership Attributes and CSR Reporting: Evidence from Jordan," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    4. Alhababsah, Salem & Alhaj-Ismail, Alaa, 2023. "Does shared tenure between audit committee chair and engagement partner affect audit outcomes? Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    5. Felix Kwabena Danso & Michael Adusei & Beatrice Sarpong-Danquah & Kwadwo Boateng Prempeh, 2024. "Board expertise diversity and firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa: do firm age and size matter?," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Michelle Höfmann & Christiane Pott & Sandra Chrzan, 2024. "The Effects of Key Audit Matters and Stock Ownership on Audit Committee Members’ Accounting Preferences," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Olayinka Oyekola & Olapeju C. Ogunmokun & Martha A. Omolo & Samuel Odewunmi, 2023. "Gender, Legal Origin, and Accounting Disclosure: Evidence from More Than 140,000 Firms," Discussion Papers 2313, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    8. Bilal, & Komal, Bushra & Ezeani, Ernest & Usman, Muhammad & Kwabi, Frank & Ye, Chengang, 2023. "Do the educational profile, gender, and professional experience of audit committee financial experts improve financial reporting quality?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).

    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. Alhababsah, Salem, 2019. "Ownership structure and audit quality: An empirical analysis considering ownership types in Jordan," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 71-84.
    2. George Drogalas & Michail Nerantzidis & Dimitrios Mitskinis & Ioannis Tampakoudis, 2021. "The relationship between audit fees and audit committee characteristics: evidence from the Athens Stock Exchange," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(1), pages 24-41, March.
    3. Alhababsah, Salem & Alhaj-Ismail, Alaa, 2023. "Does shared tenure between audit committee chair and engagement partner affect audit outcomes? Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    4. Masoud Azizkhani & Sarowar Hossain & Mai Nguyen, 2023. "Effects of audit committee chair characteristics on auditor choice, audit fee and audit quality," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3675-3707, September.
    5. Ines Maraghni & Mehdi Nekhili, 2017. "Audit committee characteristics and audit fees: Evidence from France [Caractéristiques du comité d’audit et honoraires d’audit : cas des entreprises françaises]," Post-Print hal-01907594, HAL.
    6. Reiner Quick & Niklas Schenk & Florian Schmidt & Thilo Towara, 2018. "The impact of corporate governance on auditor choice: evidence from Germany," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(2), pages 251-283, June.
    7. 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.
    8. Husam Aldamen & Janice Hollindale & Jennifer L. Ziegelmayer, 2018. "Female audit committee members and their influence on audit fees," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(1), pages 57-89, March.
    9. Fernando, Guy D. & Schneible, Richard A. & Zhang, Wei, 2024. "Institutional ownership and women in the top management team," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Helmi A. Boshnak, 2021. "The Impact of Audit Committee Characteristics on Audit Quality: Evidence from Saudi Arabia," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 1-12.
    12. Saeed Rabea Baatwah & Adel Ali Al-Qadasi, 2020. "Determinants of outsourced internal audit function: a further analysis," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(4), pages 629-659, December.
    13. Raúl Barroso & Chiraz Ben Ali & Cédric Lesage, 2018. "Blockholders’ Ownership and Audit Fees: The Impact of the Corporate Governance Model," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 149-172, January.
    14. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    15. Ghafran, Chaudhry & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2017. "The impact of audit committee expertise on audit quality: Evidence from UK audit fees," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 578-593.
    16. Sarhan, Ahmed A. & Ntim, Collins G. & Al-Najjar, Basil, 2019. "Antecedents of audit quality in MENA countries: The effect of firm- and country-level governance quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 85-107.
    17. Emmanuel Mensah & Christopher Boachie, 2023. "Corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management: The moderating role of female directors," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 2167290-216, December.
    18. Knechel, W. Robert & Thomas, Edward & Driskill, Matthew, 2020. "Understanding financial auditing from a service perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    19. Sang Cheol Lee & Jaewan Park & Mooweon Rhee & Yunkeun Lee, 2018. "Moderating Effects of Agency Problems and Monitoring Systems on the Relationship between Executive Stock Option and Audit Fees: Evidence from Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    20. Rustam, Sehrish & Rashid, Kashif & Zaman, Khalid, 2013. "The relationship between audit committees, compensation incentives and corporate audit fees in Pakistan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 697-716.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Audit committee; Audit quality; Industry experts; Legal expertise; Gender diversity; Jordan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • N45 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Asia including Middle East

    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:eee:jiaata:v:42:y:2021:i:c:s1061951821000021. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    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.