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“Good” corporate governance and the quality of internal auditing departments in Italian listed firms. An exploratory investigation in Italian listed firms

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  • Carlo Regoliosi
  • Alessandro d’Eri

Abstract

One of the most important issue relating to corporate governance reports refers to their ability to provide users with a complete set of information regarding the effective ability of an entity to achieve oversight objectives by the compliance to corporate governance practices required by a specific law or industry code. In addition, other features, such as the quality of the internal auditing function or the sensitivity of top management to issues relating to corporate internal controls and risk management, can also be taken into account when formulating a judgment on the quality of corporate governance practices. Is there an association between the compliance to codes and internal controls effectiveness? We propose to assess the quality of corporate governance through a proxy that considers several characteristics of internal audit departments and combines them to determine an Internal Audit Departments global quality index—IAD Index. To define IAD global quality we consider the effectiveness of an internal audit function analysing its operational aspects. The IAD Index is based on several signalling elements that previous literature assumed as proxies for quality of IADs which are grouped into four pillars: a formal quality index; a static quality index; an activity-related quality index; and a performance-linked quality index. We then test the IAD index on a sample of Italian listed firms and conclude that there are significant associations (positive and negative) between the degree of compliance to some corporate governance regulations for listed firms and the IAD Index for the sample being considered. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:18:y:2014:i:3:p:891-920
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-012-9254-1
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    Cited by:

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    2. Redhwan Ahmed Al-Dhamari & Bakr Al-Gamrh & Ku Nor Izah Ku Ismail & Samihah Saad Haji Ismail, 2018. "Related party transactions and audit fees: the role of the internal audit function," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(1), pages 187-212, March.
    3. Stefano Azzali & Tatiana Mazza, 2018. "The Internal Audit Effectiveness Evaluated with an Organizational, Process and Relationship Perspective," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(6), pages 238-238, April.
    4. Al Shbail, Mohannad & Salleh, Zalailah & Mohd Nor, M. N., 2018. "Antecedents of burnout and its relationship to internal audit quality," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(4), pages 789-817, August.
    5. Mélanie Roussy & Alexandre Perron, 2018. "New Perspectives in Internal Audit Research: A Structured Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 345-385, September.
    6. Rita Lamboglia & Daniela Mancini, 2021. "The relationship between auditors’ human capital attributes and the assessment of the control environment," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(4), pages 1211-1239, December.
    7. A. Tafuro & A. Costa & A. Fanelli & А. Тафуро & А. Коста & А. Фанелли, 2016. "Организационные аспекты внутреннего аудита в итальянских корпоративных группах // Organizational aspects of the internal audit of Italian corporate groups," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 4(3), pages 68-90.

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