IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/raaexx/v24y2017i3-4p421-439.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Audit committee accounting expertise, CEO power, and audit pricing

Author

Listed:
  • Hyungtae Kim
  • Byungjin Kwak
  • Youngdeok Lim
  • Jaeyoon Yu

Abstract

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) mandates that all listed firms disclose whether they have a financial expert on the audit committee, highlighting the committee’s expertise. However, some argue that non-accounting financial experts, compared to accounting financial experts, are not sufficient to ensure audit committee effectiveness because the former lack accounting knowledge. Accounting experts on audit committees may require higher audit efforts, while auditors may assess audit committees with accounting financial experts as effective, decreasing audit efforts. This paper first inspects the effect of audit committee accounting expertise on audit fees as a proxy for audit efforts, and then investigates whether the effect is moderated by powerful CEOs. Using post-SOX period data, our results show that, on average, firms with accounting experts on audit committees are more likely to pay higher audit fees, and the effect is less pronounced when a powerful CEO manages a firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyungtae Kim & Byungjin Kwak & Youngdeok Lim & Jaeyoon Yu, 2017. "Audit committee accounting expertise, CEO power, and audit pricing," Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting & Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3-4), pages 421-439, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:raaexx:v:24:y:2017:i:3-4:p:421-439
    DOI: 10.1080/16081625.2015.1105753
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/16081625.2015.1105753
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/16081625.2015.1105753?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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. (Xuefeng) Jiang, John & Petroni, Kathy R. & Yanyan Wang, Isabel, 2010. "CFOs and CEOs: Who have the most influence on earnings management?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 513-526, June.
    5. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy, 2012. "Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of "Independent" Directors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1039-1058, June.
    6. Zhang, Yan & Zhou, Jian & Zhou, Nan, 2007. "Audit committee quality, auditor independence, and internal control weaknesses," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 300-327.
    7. Jong†Hag Choi & Jeong†Bon Kim & Xiaohong Liu & Dan A. Simunic, 2008. "Audit Pricing, Legal Liability Regimes, and Big 4 Premiums: Theory and Cross†country Evidence," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(1), pages 55-99, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Paul Collier & Alan Gregory, 1996. "Audit committee effectiveness and the audit fee," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 177-198.
    10. Jeffrey Cohen & Ganesh Krishnamoorthy & Arnie Wright, 2010. "Corporate Governance in the Post†Sarbanes†Oxley Era: Auditors’ Experiences," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 751-786, September.
    11. Davidson, Wallace III & Xie, Biao & Xu, Weihong, 2004. "Market reaction to voluntary announcements of audit committee appointments: The effect of financial expertise," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 279-293.
    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. Sanjukta Brahma & Fotini Economou, 2024. "CEO power and corporate strategies: a review of the literature," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1069-1143, April.
    2. Sohail Ahmad Javeed & Tze San Ong & Rashid Latief & Haslinah Muhamad & Wei Ni Soh, 2021. "Conceptualizing the Moderating Role of CEO Power and Ownership Concentration in the Relationship between Audit Committee and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, June.
    3. 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.
    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. Cai, Yongbin & Li, Mengzhe, 2022. "CEO-CFO tenure consistency and audit fees," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. 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.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Lanfeng Kao & Min-Hsien Chiang & Anlin Chen, 2024. "To mitigate the effect of underwriter bargaining power on IPO pricing through audit committee under an economy of little information asymmetry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 147-167, July.
    7. Mahfuja Malik, 2014. "Audit committee composition and effectiveness: a review of post-SOX literature," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 81-117, October.
    8. 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.
    9. Florackis, Chris & Sainani, Sushil, 2021. "Can CFOs resist undue pressure from CEOs to manage earnings?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    10. Obermire, Kara M. & Cohen, Jeffrey R. & Zehms, Karla M., 2021. "Audit committee members’ professional identities: Evidence from the field," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. Achraf Haddad & Anis El Ammari & Abdelfattah Bouri, 2021. "Impact of Audit Committee Quality on the Financial Performance of Conventional and Islamic Banks," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Adi Masli & Matthew G. Sherwood & Rajendra P. Srivastava, 2018. "Attributes and Structure of an Effective Board of Directors: A Theoretical Investigation," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 54(4), pages 485-523, December.
    13. Umapathy Ananthanarayanan, 2018. "Do Corporate Governance Measures Impact Audit Pricing Of Smaller Firms? Evidence From The United States And New Zealand," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 12(2), pages 77-94.
    14. 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.
    15. Wu, Chloe Yu-Hsuan & Hsu, Hwa-Hsien & Haslam, Jim, 2016. "Audit committees, non-audit services, and auditor reporting decisions prior to failure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 240-256.
    16. 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.
    17. Jean Bédard & Suzanne M. Paquette, 2021. "Audit Committee Financial Expertise, Litigation Risk, and Auditor‐Provided Tax Services†," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 7-48, March.
    18. Yin, Meiqun & Zhang, Jidong & Han, Jing, 2020. "Impact of CEO-board social ties on accounting conservatism: Internal control quality as a mediator," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    19. Hermes, Cornelis & Oxelheim, L. & Randoy, Trond & Hooghiemstra, Reginald, 2015. "The impact of board internationalization on earnings management," Research Report 15010-I&O, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    20. Knechel, W. Robert & Thomas, Edward & Driskill, Matthew, 2020. "Understanding financial auditing from a service perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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:taf:raaexx:v:24:y:2017:i:3-4:p:421-439. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/raae20 .

    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.