Audit committee composition and auditor reporting
Joseph V Carcello; Terry L Neal
The Accounting Review; Oct 2000; 75, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 453
THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW Vol. 75. No. 4 October 2000 pp. 453-467
Audit Committee Composition and
Auditor Reporting
Joseph V. Carcello
University of Tennessee
Terry L. Neal
University of Kentucky
ABSTRACT: This study examines the relation between the composition of financially distressed firms’ audit committees and the likelihood of receiving going-concern reports. For firms experiencing financial distress during 1994, we find that the greater the percentage of affiliated directors on the audit committee, the lower the probability the auditor will issue a going-concern report. These results support regulators’ concern about financial-reporting quality and the recent calls for more independent audit committees.
Key Words: Audit committee composition, Affiliated directors, Auditor report¬ing behavior, Going-concern reports.
Data Availability: The data are available from public sources. A list of sample
firms is available from the second author.
I. INTRODUCTION
T
he role of audit committees continues to be of importance to regulators, the account¬ing profession, and the business community. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) recently co-sponsored a Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) to make recommendations for improving the effectiveness of audit committees (BRC 1999). The NYSE- and NASD-sponsored Blue Ribbon Com¬mittee’s first recommendation addresses the composition of audit committees and calls for audit committee members to be independent of management.
In this study, we examine the relation between audit committee independence and auditor reporting behavior. For companies experiencing financial distress, we consider the relation between (1) the percentage of audit committee members affiliated with the company (i.e., directors who lack independence), and (2) the likelihood that the auditor will issue a going-concern report. Affiliated directors include current or former officers or employees
We thank Mark Beasley, Bruce Behn, Dana Hermanson, Jim McKeown, Jane Mutchler, Zoe-Vonna Palmrose, Sean Peffer, Bob Ramsay, Dick Riley, Dan Simunic, participants at a Boston College Accounting Research Work¬shop, two anonymous referees, and Jerry Salamon (the former editor) for many helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Chris Daugherty and Michelle Keasler for research assistance.
Submitted January 1999 Accepted May 2000
453
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