abstract
We examine the relation between audit committee compensation and the demand for
monitoring of the financial reporting process. We find that total compensation and cash
retainers paid to audit committees are positively correlated with audit fees and the
impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our proxies for the demand for monitoring. Our
results are robust to the inclusion of audit committee quality, measured as the
committee chair financial expertise. Our results suggest a recent willingness by firms to
deviate from the historically prevalent one-size-fits-all approach to director pay in
response to increased demands on audit committees and differential director expertise.
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