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Board Characteristics and Audit Fees: Why Ownership Structure Matters?

Author

Listed:
  • Desender, Kurt A.

    (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)

  • Garcia-Cestona, Miguel A.

    (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)

  • Crespi, Rafel

    (Universitat Illes Balears)

  • Aguilera, Ruth V.

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

Analyzing 247 French and Spanish listed companies, we evaluate the influence of the ownership structure and the board of directors on the demand for external audit services. We argue that controlling shareholders influence the priorities of the board to focus on the provision of resources rather than monitoring. In contrast, boards in widely-held firms have a stronger focus on monitoring. To test our arguments, we explore how the relationship between the board of directors and the demand for audit is contingent on the firm's ownership structure. Our results show that the ownership structure has a significant influence on the board's priorities and the demand for audit. In addition, we uncover that for widely-held firms, board independence and CEO duality are positively related to the audit fees. In contrast, for closely-held firms, the relationship between board characteristics and the demand for external audit becomes insignificant.

Suggested Citation

  • Desender, Kurt A. & Garcia-Cestona, Miguel A. & Crespi, Rafel & Aguilera, Ruth V., 2009. "Board Characteristics and Audit Fees: Why Ownership Structure Matters?," Working Papers 09-0107, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:illbus:09-0107
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Margherita Saraceno, 2016. "Can Shareholder Litigation Discipline CEO Bonuses in the Financial Sector? The Role of Securities Class Actions," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 45(1), pages 3-36, February.
    3. Michail Nerantzidis, 2018. "The role of weighting in corporate governance ratings," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 22(3), pages 589-628, September.
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    5. Saibal Ghosh, 2011. "Firm ownership type, earnings management and auditor relationships: evidence from India," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 26(4), pages 350-369, April.
    6. Aguilera, Ruth V. & Desender, Kurt A. & Kabbach de Castro, Luiz Ricardo, 2011. "A Configurational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance," Working Papers 11-0103, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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