Effects of corporate governance reform on the quality of internal controls: Evidence from Japan

This study examines Japanese corporations that disclose significantdeficiencies (SDs) in internal controls and analyses whether replacing the chief executive (CEO), enhancing the independence of boards of directors, and upgrading the financial expertise of corporate boards are followed by a remediation of SDs. This study demonstrates that Japanese companies which report SDs are more likely to replace their CEOs and to increase the independence of their board of directors. In addition, it finds that replacing CEOs and increasing the board’s independence are unrelated to remediating SDs. However, upgrading the board’s accounting expertise correlates positively with remediation of SDs.