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This study aims to examine the relationship between audit committee (AC) effectiveness and firm performance (FP) with the moderation of knowledge intensity while observing the varying effect of each AC characteristic’s influence on its effectiveness.

This study examines 133 companies covering five years from 2016 to 2020 using the partial least squares-structural equation model and weighing AC effectiveness-related characteristics through multiple regression between AC characteristics and the AC effectiveness construct.

The results indicate that the knowledge intensity of the firms negatively influences the relationship between their AC effectiveness and FP, implying that the ACs are not sophisticated enough to monitor the knowledge component of the firm’s assets. Among AC characteristics, six attributes have a significant positive impact, two have a negative impact and three have no significant influence on AC effectiveness while influencing FP.

Apart from guiding the regulators, managers and other stakeholders to choose an appropriate mix of AC characteristics for enhancing FP, the study contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence that ACs are ineffective in monitoring the knowledge assets of the company compared to physical assets.

This study is pioneering in investigating the moderation role of knowledge intensity on the relationship between AC effectiveness and FP. While providing a comprehensive and holistic view of AC effectiveness by considering 11 AC characteristics’ individual as well as aggregate effects on FP, it removes the obsolescence of earlier research in the Indian context owing to the latest regulatory reforms.

This study aims to examine the influence of Audit Committee (AC) composition on Firm Performance (FP) by measuring AC composition (ACC) with a composite score based on the varying effect of each composition-characteristic.

Partial Least Squares- Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is used to weigh ACC characteristics. Based on 133 companies and covering five years from 2016 to 2020, the study analyses data after controlling endogeneity through the Gaussian Copula approach.

We find a significant positive influence of ACC on Firm Performance. Among the ACC characteristics, the absence of executive directors has the highest positive weight on ACC to influence FP, followed by AC size and Gender diversity. AC independence and members' accounting and financial expertise have no significant weight on its composition.

Apart from the theoretical contribution, the study reveals that each ACC characteristic has a varying effect on AC effectiveness to influence the FP that needs to be considered by regulators while framing regulations on ACC and by BOD while constituting AC for a company.

The study claims originality by being pioneering to reveal that AC composition, with a synergy of its disparate characteristics, positively impacts FP. It highlights that the absence of executive directors and gender diversity in AC (characteristics overlooked by the extant literature) significantly and positively influence FP. Methodologically, it introduces the use of the PLS-SEM algorithm to weigh the characteristics in governance studies. Further, these findings remain relevant amid recent Indian legal reforms, offering contemporary insights for policy consideration.

The study aims to investigate the mediation effect of the Audit Committee’s (AC) effectiveness on the relationship between knowledge intensity and firm performance (FP) by considering the disparate effect of each AC characteristic on its effectiveness.

The study uses the partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to weigh the AC characteristics for its effectiveness and analyzes the relationships between the variables included in the models. Data was collected from authentic sources for 133 National Stock Exchange (NSE)-listed companies in six industries covering the period 2016 to 2020.

The results indicate that eight out of eleven AC characteristics, namely, nonexecutive directors, independence, expertise, AC-charter, multiple directorships, frequency of AC meetings, attendance of AC meetings and board meetings by AC directors, significantly influence the AC effectiveness while mediating the relationship between knowledge intensity and FP. Further, each characteristic of AC has a disparate effect on AC effectiveness depending on the measurement context.

Apart from guiding the policymakers, management and stakeholders to effectively use AC characteristics in enhancing FP, this study further contributes to the literature by providing a new way to weight AC characteristics based on their individual contributions; and exploring new path models to analyze the multidimensional effect of various AC characteristics.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is the first to examine the mediation role of AC effectiveness on the relationship between the knowledge intensity of the firms and their performance. It demonstrates improvisation in measuring AC effectiveness using the disparate weights for each AC characteristic, computed based on their relative contribution to AC effectiveness.