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On the Role of Internationalization of Firm-Level Corporate Governance – The Case of Audit Committees

Author

Listed:
  • Afzali, Haaron

    (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland)

  • Martikainen, Minna

    (University of Vaasa, Faculty of Business Studies, Vaasa, Finland)

  • Oxelheim, Lars

    (School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway)

  • Randoy, Trond

    (School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway)

Abstract
Motivated by agency theory and arguments from linguistic studies, we argue in this paper the internationalization of a firm’s audit committee to be associated with weaker firm-level corporate governance. Based on 2,015 publicly traded European firms from 16 countries over 2000-2018, we find the presence of foreign directors on audit committees to have a significant negative impact on financial reporting quality (FRQ). The effect is found to be weaker in countries with strong investor protection. We find linguistic differences within audit committees an important explanation for the negative influence of foreign directors on FRQ. The results are robust to alternative FRQ measures and model specifications, including difference-in-differences and propensity score matching. While foreign directors on a corporate board may create value for the firm by boosting the advisory capacity of that board, recruiting a foreign director to that firm’s audit committee may compromise the board’s monitoring function and the firm’s FRQ.

Suggested Citation

  • Afzali, Haaron & Martikainen, Minna & Oxelheim, Lars & Randoy, Trond, 2020. "On the Role of Internationalization of Firm-Level Corporate Governance – The Case of Audit Committees," Working Paper Series 1370, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1370
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Reporting Quality; Foreign Directors; Audit Committee; Investor Protection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • M16 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - International Business Administration
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing

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