THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUDIT COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE: A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS OF BIST-100 FIRMS

Abstract

This study examines the effect of audit committee characteristics on firms’ financial performance. The existence of inconsistent findings in the literature, despite the expectation that audit committees will strengthen financial reporting processes, constitutes the main motivation of the study. In the research, 156 firm-year observations belonging to 39 firms listed in the BIST-100 index during the 2021–2024 period were analyzed using panel data methodology. The Breusch–Pagan LM and Hausman tests indicated that the fixed effects model should be preferred, and the findings were further supported by the Driscoll–Kraay robustness test. According to the results obtained, audit committee size (ACSIZE) is positively associated with financial performance, although this relationship is significant only at the 10% level in the Driscoll–Kraay estimation. The proportion of female members (ACGENDER) is not significant in either model. While the number of meetings (ACOPL) is not significant in the classical fixed effects estimation, it has a negative and significant effect on financial performance at the 5% level in the Driscoll–Kraay results. In addition, audit fees (LNAUDFEE) have a negative and strong effect at the 1% level in all models. Similarly, leverage (LEV) is a significant variable that negatively affects financial performance in both models. Firm size (LNFSIZE) is not significant. Working with a Big4 auditor (AUDFIRM) yields positive and statistically significant results at the 5% level in the classical fixed effects model, whereas it loses its significance in the Driscoll–Kraay estimation. Overall, the findings indicate that the effects of audit committee characteristics on financial performance are limited and model-dependent, whereas audit costs and leverage levels are determinants of firms’ profitability. Furthermore, the fact that the Big4 effect is significant only in the standard FE model suggests that the audit quality–performance relationship does not exhibit stability within the sample.

Keywords

• Audit Committee
• Financial Performance
• Auditing

DENETİM KOMİTESİ YAPISI VE FİNANSAL PERFORMANS ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ: BIST-100 FİRMALARI ÜZERİNE BİR PANEL VERİ ANALİZİ

Abstract

Bu çalışma, denetim komitesi özelliklerinin firmaların finansal performansı üzerindeki etkisini incelemektedir. Denetim komitelerinin finansal raporlama süreçlerini güçlendireceği yönündeki beklentilere rağmen literatürde tutarsız sonuçların bulunması, çalışmanın temel motivasyonunu oluşturmuştur. Araştırmada, 2021–2024 döneminde BIST-100 endeksinde yer alan 39 firmaya ait 156 firma-yıl gözlemi panel veri yöntemiyle analiz edilmiştir. Breusch–Pagan LM ve Hausman testleri, sabit etkiler modelinin tercih edilmesi gerektiğini göstermiş; bulgular ayrıca Driscoll–Kraay sağlamlık testiyle desteklenmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlara göre, denetim komitesi büyüklüğü (ACSIZE) finansal performansla pozitif yönde ilişkili olmakla birlikte bu ilişki sadece Driscoll–Kraay tahmininde %10 düzeyinde anlamlıdır. Kadın üye oranı (ACGENDER) her iki modelde de anlamlı değildir. Toplantı sayısı (ACOPL) klasik sabit etkiler tahmininde anlamlı bulunmazken, Driscoll–Kraay sonuçlarında finansal performans üzerinde %5 düzeyinde negatif ve anlamlı bir etkiye sahiptir. Bunun yanında denetim ücretleri (LNAUDFEE) tüm modellerde %1 düzeyinde negatif ve güçlü bir etkiye sahiptir. Benzer şekilde kaldıraç oranı (LEV), her iki modelde de finansal performansı negatif yönde etkileyen anlamlı bir değişkendir. Firma büyüklüğü (LNFSIZE) anlamlı değildir. Big4 denetçisiyle çalışmak (AUDFIRM) klasik sabit etkiler modelinde %5 düzeyinde pozitif ve istatistiki olarak anlamlı sonuç verirken, Driscoll–Kraay tahmininde anlamlılığını kaybetmektedir. Genel olarak bulgular, denetim komitesi özelliklerinin finansal performans üzerindeki etkilerinin sınırlı ve modele duyarlı olduğunu; buna karşılık denetim maliyetlerinin ve borçluluk düzeyinin firmaların kârlılığında belirleyici olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca Big4 etkisinin yalnızca standart FE modelinde anlamlı çıkması, denetim kalitesi–performans ilişkisinin örneklemde istikrar göstermediğine işaret etmektedir.

Keywords

• Denetim Komitesi
• Finansal Performans
• Denetim

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