Résumé

This study examines whether and how the presence of women on both sides of the auditor-auditee relationship influences audit fees (AF). Using the specific context of Switzerland where audit reports are signed by two partners, we build a sample of 694 firm-year observations from listed firms over 2010-2017. First, we show that the presence of an audit committee chairwoman has a negative impact on AF. Second, we document a female audit premium that is enhanced by audit partner specialization. Finally, we find that the presence of women on both sides of the audit relationship has an overall positive effect on AF conditional on the audit partner specialization. This study shows how a female audit partner and an internal female audit committee member interplay to influence audit quality. These results are of interest to investors and regulators willing to promote gender diversity in finance functions.

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