IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jmgtgv/v18y2014i3p891-920.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Good” corporate governance and the quality of internal auditing departments in Italian listed firms. An exploratory investigation in Italian listed firms

Author

Listed:
  • Carlo Regoliosi
  • Alessandro d’Eri

Abstract

One of the most important issue relating to corporate governance reports refers to their ability to provide users with a complete set of information regarding the effective ability of an entity to achieve oversight objectives by the compliance to corporate governance practices required by a specific law or industry code. In addition, other features, such as the quality of the internal auditing function or the sensitivity of top management to issues relating to corporate internal controls and risk management, can also be taken into account when formulating a judgment on the quality of corporate governance practices. Is there an association between the compliance to codes and internal controls effectiveness? We propose to assess the quality of corporate governance through a proxy that considers several characteristics of internal audit departments and combines them to determine an Internal Audit Departments global quality index—IAD Index. To define IAD global quality we consider the effectiveness of an internal audit function analysing its operational aspects. The IAD Index is based on several signalling elements that previous literature assumed as proxies for quality of IADs which are grouped into four pillars: a formal quality index; a static quality index; an activity-related quality index; and a performance-linked quality index. We then test the IAD index on a sample of Italian listed firms and conclude that there are significant associations (positive and negative) between the degree of compliance to some corporate governance regulations for listed firms and the IAD Index for the sample being considered. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Regoliosi & Alessandro d’Eri, 2014. "“Good” corporate governance and the quality of internal auditing departments in Italian listed firms. An exploratory investigation in Italian listed firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(3), pages 891-920, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:18:y:2014:i:3:p:891-920
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-012-9254-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10997-012-9254-1
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10997-012-9254-1?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. Catherine M. Daily & Dan R. Dalton, 1997. "Separate, But Not Independent: Board Leadership Structure in Large Corporations," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 126-136, July.
    2. 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.
    3. Stuart Turley & Mahbub Zaman, 2007. "Audit committee effectiveness: informal processes and behavioural effects," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(5), pages 765-788, September.
    4. Eng, L. L. & Mak, Y. T., 2003. "Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 325-345.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. Charles Piot, 2004. "The existence and independence of audit committees in France," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 223-246.
    7. Lorenzo Patelli & Annalisa Prencipe, 2007. "The Relationship between Voluntary Disclosure and Independent Directors in the Presence of a Dominant Shareholder," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 5-33.
    8. Menon, Krishnagopal & Deahl Williams, Joanne, 1994. "The use of audit committees for monitoring," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 121-139.
    9. Collier, Paul & Gregory, Alan, 1999. "Audit committee activity and agency costs," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 311-332.
    10. 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.
    11. Chau, Gerald K. & Gray, Sidney J., 2002. "Ownership structure and corporate voluntary disclosure in Hong Kong and Singapore," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 247-265.
    12. Dezoort, F. T., 1998. "An analysis of experience effects on audit committee members' oversight judgments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-21, January.
    13. Harrell, Adrian & Taylor, Martin & Chewning, Eugene, 1989. "An examination of management's ability to bias the professional objectivity of internal auditors," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 259-269, April.
    14. 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.
    15. Williamson, Oliver E, 1983. "Organization Form, Residual Claimants, and Corporate Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 351-366, June.
    16. Ganesh Krishnamoorthy & Arnie Wright & Jeffrey Cohen, 2002. "Audit Committee Effectiveness and Financial Reporting Quality: Implications for Auditor Independence," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 12(28), pages 3-13, November.
    17. Yass A. Alkafaji, 2007. "Quality assurance review programs of auditing firms: an international perspective," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(7), pages 644-660, July.
    18. Pincus, Karen & Rusbarsky, Mark & Wong, Jilnaught, 1989. "Voluntary formation of corporate audit committees among NASDAQ firms," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 239-265.
    19. Bradbury, Michael E., 1990. "The incentives for voluntary audit committee formation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 19-36.
    20. Gordon, Lawrence A. & Smith, Kimberly J., 1992. "Postauditing capital expenditures and firm performance: The role of asymmetric information," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(8), pages 741-757, November.
    21. R.M. Haniffa & T. E. Cooke, 2002. "Culture, Corporate Governance and Disclosure in Malaysian Corporations," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 38(3), pages 317-349, October.
    22. Deli, Daniel N. & Gillan, Stuart L., 2000. "On the demand for independent and active audit committees," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 427-445, December.
    23. Julie Cotter & Mark Silvester, 2003. "Board and Monitoring Committee Independence," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 39(2), pages 211-232, June.
    24. Emiliano Ruiz-Barbadillo & Nieves Gomez-Aguilar & Cristina De Fuentes-Barbera & Maria Antonia Garcia-Benau, 2004. "Audit quality and the going-concern decision-making process: Spanish evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 597-620.
    25. 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.
    26. Dessalegn Getie Mihret & Getachew Zemenu Woldeyohannis, 2008. "Value-added role of internal audit: an Ethiopian case study," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 23(6), pages 567-595, June.
    27. Stephen C. Hansen, 1997. "Designing Internal Controls: The Interaction between Efficiency Wages and Monitoring," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(1), pages 129-163, March.
    28. Brown, Pr, 1983. "Independent Auditor Judgment In The Evaluation Of Internal Audit Functions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 444-455.
    29. Angus Duff, 2009. "Measuring audit quality in an era of change: An empirical investigation of UK audit market stakeholders in 2002 and 2005," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 24(5), pages 400-422, May.
    30. 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.
    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. Redhwan Ahmed Al-Dhamari & Bakr Al-Gamrh & Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail & Samihah Saad Haji Ismail, 2018. "Related party transactions and audit fees: the role of the internal audit function," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 187-212, March.
    2. 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.
    3. Al Shbail, Mohannad & Salleh, Zalailah & Mohd Nor, M. N., 2018. "Antecedents of burnout and its relationship to internal audit quality," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(4), pages 789-817, August.
    4. 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.
    5. Rita Lamboglia & Daniela Mancini, 2021. "The relationship between auditors’ human capital attributes and the assessment of the control environment," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(4), pages 1211-1239, December.
    6. Christina Vadasi & Michalis Bekiaris & Andreas Andrikopoulos, 2021. "Internal Audit Function Quality and Corporate Governance: The Case of Greece," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 25(1-2), pages 1-61, March - J.
    7. Stefano Azzali & Tatiana Mazza, 2018. "The Internal Audit Effectiveness Evaluated with an Organizational, Process and Relationship Perspective," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(6), pages 238-238, April.

    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. Marco Allegrini & Giulio Greco, 2013. "Corporate boards, audit committees and voluntary disclosure: evidence from Italian Listed Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 187-216, February.
    2. Gisbert, Ana & Navallas, Begoña, 2013. "The association between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance in the presence of severe agency conflicts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 286-298.
    3. Zhou, Haiyan & Owusu-Ansah, Stephen & Maggina, Anastasia, 2018. "Board of directors, audit committee, and firm performance: Evidence from Greece," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 20-36.
    4. Rizzotti, Davide & Greco, Angela M., 2013. "Determinants of Board of Statutory Auditor and Internal Control Committee Diligence: A Comparison Between Audit Committee and the Corresponding Italian Committees," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 84-110.
    5. Puławska Karolina & Dobija Dorota & Piotrowska Katarzyna & Kravchenko Grygorii, 2021. "Audit Committee Formation: The Case of Poland," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 29(2), pages 169-212, June.
    6. Maria Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez & Cristina De Fuentes, 2007. "The Impact of Audit Committee Characteristics on the Enhancement of the Quality of Financial Reporting: an empirical study in the Spanish context," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1394-1412, November.
    7. Chau, Gerald & Gray, Sidney J., 2010. "Family ownership, board independence and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 93-109.
    8. Ayman Haddad & Wasim AlShattarat & Naser AbuGhazaleh & Haitham Nobanee, 2015. "The impact of ownership structure and family board domination on voluntary disclosure for Jordanian listed companies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 203-234, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Roshayani Arshad & Rohaya Md Nor & Nur Adura Ahmad Noruddin, 2011. "Ownership Structure And Interaction Effects Of Firm Performance On Management Commentary Disclosures," Journal of Global Management, Global Research Agency, vol. 2(2), pages 124-145, July.
    11. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    12. Ahmad Yuosef Alodat & Zalailah Salleh & Hafiza Aishah Hashim & Farizah Sulong, 2021. "Corporate governance and firm performance: empirical evidence from Jordan," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(5), pages 866-896, August.
    13. Roshayani Arshad Author_Email: roshayani@salam.uitm.edu.my & Rohaya Md Nor & Nur Adura Ahmad Noruddin, 2011. "Ownership Structure And Interaction Effects Of Firm Performance On Management Commentary Disclosures," 2nd International Conference on Business and Economic Research (2nd ICBER 2011) Proceeding 2011-332, Conference Master Resources.
    14. 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.
    15. Niamh M. Brennan & Jill Solomon, 2008. "Corporate governance, accountability and mechanisms of accountability: an overview," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(7), pages 885-906, September.
    16. Kirti Aggarwal, 2023. "Corporate governance and HR disclosure practices: evidence from India," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 1-18, February.
    17. Abdul Mansulu, 2021. "Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure Practices in Czech Republic," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 69(1), pages 111-125.
    18. Seemantini Pathak & Codou Samba & Mengge Li, 2021. "Audit committee diversity and financial restatements," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(3), pages 899-931, September.
    19. Michael Seamer, 2014. "Does Effective Corporate Facilitate Continuous Market Disclosure?," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 24(2), pages 111-126, June.
    20. Kwansagool Tengamnuay & Pamela Stapleton, 2009. "The role of the audit committee in Thailand: a mature monitoring mechanism or an evolving process?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 13(3), pages 131-161, August.

    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:kap:jmgtgv:v:18:y:2014:i:3:p:891-920. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.