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The Impact of IFRS Adoption and Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Audit Report Lag: Evidence from An Emerging Country

Author

Listed:
  • Souha Ben Gamra

    (Higher Institute of Computer Sciences and Management of Kairouan University of Kairouan, Tunisia)

  • Fadhila Hamza
  • Hela Borgi

    (Department of accounting, College of Business and Administration, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption and corporate governance mechanisms (e.g., Board characteristics and Audit Committee (AC) characteristics) on Audit Report Lag (ARL) in an emerging country, named Saudi Arabia. Methodology - We use a sample of 616 firm-year observations from the Tadawul Stock Exchange in Saudi Arabia for the period 2016-2019. Panel regressions were used. Findings - The results indicate that ARL has significantly increased after the IFRSs' adoption. This result may imply that IFRS adoption leads to a need of adaptation process. It may support the need for more training and IFRS education in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, both AC diligence and AC financial expertise significantly reduce ARL. It may support the Saudi regulatory requirement to equip audit committees with at least one member with accounting and financial expertise. However, the results show that AC size and Board characteristics (board size, board independence and board meetings) are not significantly associated with ARL. Contribution - Our study fills the gap in the existing literature by examining the impact of the IFRSs' adoption and the corporate governance characteristics on ARL, whose results remain mixed and rare in Saudi Arabia, an emerging and under-studied context.

Suggested Citation

  • Souha Ben Gamra & Fadhila Hamza & Hela Borgi, 2022. "The Impact of IFRS Adoption and Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Audit Report Lag: Evidence from An Emerging Country," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 21(4), pages 604-630, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ami:journl:v:21:y:2022:i:4:p:604-630
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Audit Report Lag; Corporate governance; Saudi Arabia; IFRS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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