Audit Committees in Germany – Theoretical Reasoning and Empirical Evidence

This paper shows that due to legal restrictions, audit committee formation in Germany is not only a matter of enhancing monitoring effectiveness, but also a means of increasing Supervi-sory Board efficiency. This result is linked to some empirical findings derived from a ques-tionnaire developed especially for the survey and sent out to 100 German Supervisory Board/audit committee chairpersons in April 2004. The questionnaire covered the motivation, composition, qualification, organisation, and responsibilities of current German audit commit-tees. The results show that free float, perceived independence of members, and the size of audit committees significantly influence audit committee composition, and that tasks that are mainly auditor-related are treated as supplementary.