Women leading the audit process and audit fees: A European study

This study investigates if a gender effect exists on the audit fees associated with the presence of women in roles closely related to the audit process. The analysis is based on the largest European corporations studied between 2016 and 2018. The results show that firms with female chief financial o...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Garcia-Blandon, Josep, Argilés-Bosch, J.M., Ravenda, Diego, Castillo-Merino, David
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Ramon Llull (URL)
Repositorio:DAU Arxiu Digital de la Universitat Ramon Llull
OAI Identifier:oai:dau.url.edu:20.500.14342/3769
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/3769
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iedeen.2022.100206
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Female auditor
Female director
Female CFO
Audit fees
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Descripción
Sumario:This study investigates if a gender effect exists on the audit fees associated with the presence of women in roles closely related to the audit process. The analysis is based on the largest European corporations studied between 2016 and 2018. The results show that firms with female chief financial officers and more female directors on the audit committee pay significantly lower audit fees than other firms. However, the results for the remaining gender variables (audit partner, chair of the audit committee, and chief executive officer) do not show any association. Additionally, we find that accounting expertise drives the association between female directors and audit fees. Therefore, neither non-expert female directors nor, more surprisingly, female directors who are labelled as financial experts, have any significant effects on audit fees. Another interesting finding is that the gender variables provide significant results when they are observed in more gender egalitarian contexts, though not in less egalitarian settings. These results have interesting implications at various levels.