Audit committee, internal audit function and earnings management: evidence from Jordan
ISSN: 2049-372X
Article publication date: 8 January 2019
Issue publication date: 18 February 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the influence of audit committee existence and internal audit function on the earnings management of companies.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses generalised least squares regression to investigate the influence of audit committee existence, internal audit function and the interaction of these two mechanisms on earnings management for a sample of 86 industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange over a four-year period from 2007 to 2010. The paper uses the extent of discretionary accruals as the proxy for earnings management.
Findings
This paper finds that audit committee existence and the internal audit function reduce the level of earnings management. The number of meetings between the audit committee and internal audit function also reduces discretionary accruals. Overall, this study finds that audit committee existence and internal audit function decrease earnings management and improve the financial reporting quality.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study is that it investigates the combined effects of audit committee existence and internal auditors on earnings management. Furthermore, this study is the initial paper to examine the impact of audit committee and internal audit on earnings management in Jordan.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges the helpful comments and suggestions received from the two anonymous reviewers. Editor-in-Chief Charl de Villiers and Associate-Editor Phillip de Jager provided excellent editorial support.
Citation
Alzoubi, E.S.S. (2019), "Audit committee, internal audit function and earnings management: evidence from Jordan", Meditari Accountancy Research, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 72-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEDAR-06-2017-0160
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited