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Independent director reputation incentives, accruals quality and audit fees

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  • David B. Bryan
  • Terry W. Mason

Abstract

While prior research provides abundant evidence that independent directors are associated with favorable outcomes, researchers have only recently started to investigate the impact of independent director reputation incentives. This study examines whether the reputation incentives of independent directors are associated with accruals quality and audit fees. The results reveal a negative relationship between the proportion of independent directors with relatively low reputation incentives and accruals quality. Further, the proportion of independent directors with relatively low reputation incentives is positively associated with audit fees, suggesting that auditors view lower reputation incentives as increasing risk. We also find that Big 4/5 auditor office size moderates the relationship between independent director reputation incentives and audit fees. Specifically, our results indicate that audit fees increase less in response to lower reputation incentives as office size increases, suggesting that larger offices respond to the risks associated with lower reputation incentives more efficiently than smaller offices.

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  • David B. Bryan & Terry W. Mason, 2020. "Independent director reputation incentives, accruals quality and audit fees," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 982-1011, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:47:y:2020:i:7-8:p:982-1011
    DOI: 10.1111/jbfa.12435
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    3. Wael Almaqoushi & Ronan Powell, 2021. "Audit committee quality indices, reporting quality and firm value," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 185-229, January.
    4. Yanlin Li & Gary Gang Tian & Xin Wang, 2023. "Effects of appointing new independent directors who are professionally affiliated with their predecessors: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 267-307, January.
    5. Bushra Komal & Bilal & Ernest Ezeani & Asim Shahzad & Muhammad Usman & Juncheng Sun, 2023. "Age diversity of audit committee financial experts, ownership structure and earnings management: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2664-2682, July.
    6. Khondkar E. Karim & Jiayan Li & Karen Jingrong Lin & Ashok Robin, 2022. "Do directors have style? Board interlock and accounting properties," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1-2), pages 3-32, January.
    7. Liu, Julia Junxia & Liu, Yu, 2023. "Multiple directorships and firm performance: Evidence from independent director effort allocation in Hong Kong," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Ebenezer K. Lamptey & Jin Dong Park & Isaac Bonaparte, 2023. "Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect the Timeliness of Audited Financial Information? Evidence from “100 Best Corporate Citizens”," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, January.
    9. Chistopher Day & Martin Bugeja & Helen Spiropoulos & Zoltan Matolcsy, 2023. "Non‐executive directorship importance and takeover hostility: Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 769-793, March.
    10. Eunice S. Khoo & Youngdeok Lim & Louise Y. Lu & Gary S. Monroe, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility performance and the reputational incentives of independent directors," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5-6), pages 841-881, May.
    11. Le, Quyen & Vafaei, Alireza & Ahmed, Kamran & Kutubi, Shawgat, 2022. "Independent directors' reputation incentives and firm performance – an Australian perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
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