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The existence and independence of audit committees in France

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  • Charles Piot

Abstract

This paper uses an agency theory framework to investigate the determinants of audit committees in France. Empirical tests address a cross-sectional sample of 285 listed companies for the fiscal year 1997, which is two years after the first Viénot report recommending the creation of audit committees among listed companies. Multivariate analyses show that the existence of an audit committee, and the committee's independence, are both negatively correlated with insider ownership, consistent with the owner-manager agency theory that considers audit committees as devices aimed at strengthening the monitoring system, the quality of financial reporting and the whole corporate governance environment. The existence of an audit committee that complies with corporate governance recommendations (i.e., a minimum of three directors, all of whom are non-executive directors) also positively depends on leverage if the firm has a high-IOS (Investment Opportunity Set). The quality of accounting numbers thus seems important in shareholder-debtholder relationships if lenders are potentially more exposed to default risk and expropriation mechanisms. However, this result might be sensitive to the IOS measurement and classification of high- and low-IOS companies. Finally, the presence of an audit committee is found to be positively correlated with board size, firm size, auditor reputation, and with the diversity of the company's operations.

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  • Charles Piot, 2004. "The existence and independence of audit committees in France," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 223-246.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:34:y:2004:i:3:p:223-246
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2004.9729966
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    Cited by:

    1. David Carassus & Khaled Albouaini & Marie Caussimont, 2013. "Une analyse de l'Audit Expectation Gap dans le contexte français," Post-Print hal-02432110, HAL.
    2. Charles Piot, 2006. "Les déterminants de l’existence et de l’indépendance managériale des comités de rémunération et de sélection en France," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 9(2), pages 159-185, June.
    3. D. Retour & C. Piot, 2008. "L'influence des auditeurs externes et des comités d'audit sur le contenu informatif des manipulations comptables," Post-Print halshs-00450350, HAL.
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7549 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Puławska Karolina & Dobija Dorota & Piotrowska Katarzyna & Kravchenko Grygorii, 2021. "Audit Committee Formation: The Case of Poland," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 29(2), pages 169-212, June.
    6. Emna Ben Saad & Cédric Lesage, 2007. "Des Facteurs D'Independance A Un Systeme D'Independance : Proposition D'Une Nouvelle Grille D'Analyse De L'Independance De L'Auditeur," Post-Print halshs-00543079, HAL.
    7. repec:dau:papers:123456789/3526 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Carlo Regoliosi & Alessandro d’Eri, 2014. "“Good” corporate governance and the quality of internal auditing departments in Italian listed firms. An exploratory investigation in Italian listed firms," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 18(3), pages 891-920, August.
    9. C. Piot & L. Kermiche, 2009. "A quoi servent les comités d'audit ? Un regard sur la recherche empirique," Post-Print halshs-00537952, HAL.
    10. Charles Piot, 2005. "Les Comités De Rémunération Et De Sélection Sont-Ils Perçus Comme Des Mécanismes De Contrôle En France ?," Post-Print halshs-00581273, HAL.
    11. Taher Hamza & Nada Mselmi, 2017. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices: The Effect of Board of Directors and Audit Committee Independence," Post-Print hal-03380724, HAL.
    12. Benjamin T. Albersmann & Daniela Hohenfels, 2017. "Audit Committees and Earnings Management – Evidence from the German Two-Tier Board System," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 18(2), pages 147-178, May.
    13. Anis Mnif, 2009. "Corporate Governance And Management Earnings Forecast Quality: Evidence From French Ipos," Post-Print halshs-00459171, HAL.
    14. Tchakoute Tchuigoua, Hubert, 2015. "Determinants of the governance quality of microfinance institutions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 32-43.

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