Accounting Restatements and Departures of Audit Committee Members: Evidence from Director Characteristics

• In Event: Human Factor in Financial Accounting and Tax Reporting

Abstract

This study investigates whether the characteristics of audit committee members are associated with the likelihood of departures before and after the occurrence of financial restatements. In addition, we also explore how these characteristics are associated with other directorship loss following restatements. Using a sample of 141,782 director-year observations from 2004 to 2015, the results show that audit committee financial experts are more likely to leave before and after the occurrence of restatements. On the other hand, members with long tenure are less likely to leave. We also find that busyness and gender do not make a significant impact on the likelihood of departures. Regarding the loss in other directorships, the results suggest that audit committee financial experts and female members lose fewer positions following the occurrence of restatements. However, busy and long-tenured audit committee members lose more directorships on other boards. Our evidence provides some implications to the regulators, management, and practitioners that the departures of audit committee directors may serve as informative signals to corporate financial reporting failures.

Authors

• Wu-Po Liu, Florida International University

• Hua-Wei Huang, National Cheng Kung University