Title: The impact of audit committee characteristics on auditor remuneration: UK evidence

Authors: Jihad Al-Okaily; Salma Naueihed

Addresses: Accounting and Finance Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia ' Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut Beirut, Lebanon

Abstract: This study contributes to the literature through examining the impact of audit committee characteristics on auditor remuneration during the 2008-2010 period where widespread concerns were raised about the role of external auditors, and the crucial role that audit committees could play in safeguarding audit quality. The findings reveal that the external audit oversight role of audit committees has positive impact on enhancing audit quality through demanding wider audit scope from external auditors. However, non-audit fees are positively related to audit committee meetings, suggesting that the committee supports the simultaneous provision of audit services and non-audit services to facilitate a beneficial knowledge spill-over between the two services which in turn results in better audit quality. These findings imply that researchers would explore multi-theoretical approaches which could better explain organisational complexities and their environmental circumstances. Moreover, policy makers would consider the results while setting new corporate governance reform recommendations.

Keywords: audit committees; audit fees; auditor remuneration; financial crisis; non-audit fees; UK.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAAPE.2023.130533

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2023 Vol.19 No.1, pp.22 - 52

Received: 11 Jun 2021
Received in revised form: 04 Feb 2022
Accepted: 22 Sep 2022
Published online: 26 Apr 2023 *