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Managerial overconfidence, ability, firm-governance and audit fees

Author

Listed:
  • Santanu Mitra

    (Wayne State University)

  • Bikki Jaggi

    (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)

  • Talal Al-Hayale

    (University of Windsor)

Abstract

Prior studies document that managerial overconfidence potentially increases the risk of financial misstatements, and that overconfident managers purchase lower quality audits and pay lower audit fees. As a part of the research that evaluates the information value of managerial characteristics to auditors, our study examines how the relationship between managerial overconfidence and audit fees is impacted by managerial ability, and board and audit committee effectiveness in the post-Sarbanes–Oxley (post-SOX) environment. In general, we find a significantly positive relationship between managerial overconfidence and audit fees consistent with the supply-side risk based perspective of audit pricing. However, this relationship is significantly attenuated in higher managerial ability firms where overconfident managers are better able to make proper accounting estimates and judgements required for producing reliable financial statements, and synthesize firm-specific information into appropriate forward looking projections. We find that on an average, the overconfident firms with higher managerial ability pay 6.3% lower audit fees than the overconfident firms with lower managerial ability. Our analyses further show that board characteristics positively impact the relationship between managerial overconfidence and audit fees, suggesting that stronger board monitoring increases the demand for higher quality audits to mitigate the reporting risk of the overconfident firms. On an average, the firms with managerial overconfidence pay additional 9.3% higher audit fees when they are subject to stronger and more effective board oversight. However, we find weaker evidence on the effect of audit committee characteristics on audit fees of the overconfident firms. Our primary results hold for a battery of supplemental tests including the tests using propensity-score matched sample. The study contributes to audit fee and corporate governance literature, and has useful implications for regulators, accounting practitioners, and auditors.

Suggested Citation

  • Santanu Mitra & Bikki Jaggi & Talal Al-Hayale, 2019. "Managerial overconfidence, ability, firm-governance and audit fees," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 841-870, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:52:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11156-018-0728-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-018-0728-3
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    5. Eulaiwi, Baban & Al-Hadi, Ahmed & Taylor, Grantley & Dutta, Saurav & Duong, Lien & Richardson, Grant, 2021. "Tax haven Use, the pricing of audit and Non-audit Services, suspicious matters reporting obligations and whistle blower hotline Facilities: Evidence from Australian financial corporations," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    6. Shu-Fen Chuah & Swee-Sim Foong, 2019. "Managerial Ability and Firm Performance in Malaysia: Do Familiness and Foreignness of the CEOs Matter?," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-31, September.
    7. Xue, Bai & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2023. "The determinants of audit fees in the alternative investment market (Aim) in the UK: Evidence on the impact of risk, corporate governance and auditor size," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    8. Iman Harymawan & Aditya Aji Prabhawa & Mohammad Nasih & Fajar Kristanto Gautama Putra, 2021. "Risk Management Committee, Auditor Choice and Audit Fees," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, August.
    9. Liu, Xinghe & Xu, Huifeng & Lu, Meiting, 2021. "Do auditors respond to stringent environmental regulation? Evidence from China’s new environmental protection law," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 54-67.
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    12. Marwa Elnahass & Kamil Omoteso & Aly Salama & Vu Quang Trinh, 2020. "Differential market valuations of board busyness across alternative banking models," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 201-238, July.
    13. Xing-Xing He & De-Cong Xie & Ze-Min Hu & Xing-Li Bao & Lin Li, 2020. "Impact of managerial overconfidence on abnormal audit fee: From the perspective of balance mechanism of shareholders," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-13, September.
    14. Luminita Enache & Antonio Parbonetti & Anup Srivastava, 2020. "Are all outside directors created equal with respect to firm disclosure policy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 541-577, August.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Audit fees; Audit risk; Board and audit committee characteristics; Managerial ability; Managerial overconfidence;
    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

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