Audit committee effectiveness, auditor type and earnings management in Ghana
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Date
2023
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KNUST
Abstract
This study aims at investigating the relationship between audit committee effectiveness, auditor type, and earnings management in the context of Ghanaian firms covering the years 2012 to 2021. Motivated by the imperative to enhance corporate governance practices and financial reporting integrity in emerging markets, our research employs panel regression analysis to analyze a carefully selected sample of firms. The primary goals are to ascertain whether an effective audit committee influences the occurrence of earnings management, assess its impact on auditor type, and explore its influence on the connection between auditor type and earnings management. The study's results reveal that the relationships between audit committee effectiveness and earnings management are not significant. But the relationship between audit committee size and earnings management showed a positive and significant relationship. Moreover, the moderating effects of audit committee characteristics on auditor type and earnings management relationship were also negative and significant , suggesting an alignment with the expectation that a strong audit committee can act as a mitigating factor in the management of earnings, serving as a check and balance to potentially unfavorable actions associated with specific auditor types. The study encourages organizational flexibility in tailoring audit committee structures to individual circumstances, which can enhance their ability to ensure financial reporting integrity and mitigate earnings management risks effectively.
Description
A thesis submitted to the department of accounting and finance, school of business, Kwame Nkrumah university of science and technology, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of master of business administration (accounting option)