Purpose – This study aims to critically analyse the independence of the internal audit function through its relationship with management and the audit committee. Design/methodology/approach – Results are based on a critical comparison of responses from questionnaires sent out to Australian...

The corporate form that developed in the early 20th century created enormous pressure for corporate governance mechanisms to curb the power of corporate managers. Berle and Means, legal pluralists, warned about concentrating economic power in the hands of a small but powerful class of...

In response to recent criticisms of audit committee performance, new SEC and stock exchange rules require companies to prepare an audit committee charter and to publish the charter in their proxy statement at least once every three years. Audit committees also must disclose how they discharged...

This study investigates whether incentive-based compensation for audit committee members is associated with accounting restatements. We use an agency framework to predict that short-term (long-term) incentive compensation for audit committee members will increase (decrease) the likelihood of...

This study reports the results of an experiment that investigates the effects of financial-report timing, EPS proximity to analyst forecast, and external auditor argument consistency on audit committee members' support for a proposed audit adjustment. We use source credibility theory to predict...

This study examines differences in audit committee member judgments before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("pre-SOX") versus after the act was passed ("post- SOX") as well as audit committee member perceptions of the effects of SOX. Based on experimental materials administered to 372 public company...

Issues related to the composition of audit committees have attracted significant interest from legislators and regulators in recent years. In my dissertation, I examine one overlooked component of audit committee composition – namely, the presence of female directors on the audit committee. I...