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The relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial statement quality: evidence from Belgium

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  • Nicolas Vlaminck
  • Gerrit Sarens

Abstract

The Belgian Corporate Governance Code was published in 2004 and updated in 2009 to provide standards of good practice. Since 2008, Belgian law has imposed the creation of an audit committee for all listed firms. There are many published, empirical studies that focus on the relationship between audit committee characteristics and financial statement quality. However, to the researchers’ knowledge, this study is the first to consider this relationship in a Belgian context, given that audit committees are a new phenomenon in this country. This paper investigates whether the audit committee characteristics suggested in the literature, in the Corporate Governance Code and in the law affect financial statement quality. Data from 2008 and 2009 are used for 60 Belgian firms that have established an audit committee. This empirical study demonstrates a positive and significant association between the proportion of audit committee members concurrently holding more than three directorships and financial statement quality. It also finds evidence that audit committee independence is positively and significantly related to financial statement quality. Several additional analyses are also performed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:19:y:2015:i:1:p:145-166
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-013-9282-5
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    2. Xia, Hui & Lin, Shu & Li, Shuo & Bardhan, Indranil, 2024. "The effect of audit committee financial expertise on earnings management tactics in the post-SOX era," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Lerong He & Rong Yang & Yuanlong He, 2018. "Does social exchange relationship impair audit committee effectiveness?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(2), pages 219-249, June.
    4. Merendino, Alessandro & Sarens, Gerrit, 2020. "Crisis? What crisis? Exploring the cognitive constraints on boards of directors in times of uncertainty," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 415-430.
    5. Josep Garcia-Blandon & Josep Maria Argilés-Bosch & Monica Martinez-Blasco & David Castillo Merino, 2018. "On the relationship between compliance with recommendations on the audit committee of codes of good practices and financial reporting quality," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(4), pages 921-946, December.
    6. Yusuf Babatunde Adeneye & Setareh Fasihi & Ines Kammoun & Khaldoon Albitar, 2024. "Does earnings management constrain ESG performance? The role of corporate governance," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 69-92, March.
    7. Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan & Solomon Opare & Zahir Ahmed, 2024. "Does Audit Committee Busyness Affect Financial Restatement? Evidence from Audit Committee Share Ownership," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 34(1), pages 29-54, March.
    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. Nurul Nazlia Jamil, 2020. "The Power of Political Connections: Review on the Impacts of Audit Committee and Corporate Governance," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(1), pages 333347-3333, December.
    10. Maarten Corten & Pieter Vandekerkhof & Tensie Steijvers, 2021. "The effect of socioemotional wealth diversity within the top management team on earnings management in private family firms: The moderating role of the board of directors," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1886-1896, October.
    11. Bilal, & Chen, Songsheng & Komal, Bushra, 2018. "Audit committee financial expertise and earnings quality: A meta-analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 253-270.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Audit committee; Corporate governance; Discretionary accruals; Earnings management; Financial statement quality; G38; M40; M48;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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