[[alternative]]The Association between Independent Director Characteristics and Financial Reporting Quality

[[abstract]]獨立董事制度自2002年起引進我國至今已有十餘年，其中更在2006年證券交易法修正時正式將其法制化，本研究以獨立董事之各種特性檢驗其對不同財務報導品質的影響。研究結果發現，若企業於董事會中聘任擁有財務專業背景的獨立董事或是獨立董事的教育程度較高，將能降低財務報表被重編的可能性。而董事會中若包含有年資較長或兼職數量較多之獨立董事，企業將會擁有較小的裁決性應計數絕對值。最後，若獨立董事擁有較長的年資以及法律相關專業背景，或獨立董事兼職數量較多、教育程度較高，將能在資訊揭露評鑑中獲得較高的評比，即代表其財報資訊透明度較佳。因此，獨立董事特性確實能在公司治理過程中產生一定程度的影響。 本文並額外將樣本區分為審查準則修改前後上市上櫃的兩個群組來測試後發現，不管是盈餘管理樣本或是資訊揭露樣本，在2002年後遵循審查準則設置獨立董事方上市上櫃之公司，其獨立董事特性對財務報導品質的影響較佳，由此可知，藉由法規強制規範獨立董事的設置確有其必要性。我們期望本研究結果將能作為企業未來聘任獨立董事的依據，幫助公司尋找人才，以健全台灣獨立董事制度發展。 In this study, we investigated how the characteristics of independent directors influence the quality of financial reporting. Our results indicate that hiring independent directors with financial expertise or a higher educational background for the board of directors of a corporation can help to alleviate the need to restate financial reports. In cases where the board of directors includes independent directors with greater seniority or a larger number of part-time positions, the absolute value of discretionary accruals for the corporation will tend to be lower. Finally, in cases where independent directors have greater seniority and a professional background in law or have a greater number of part-time positions and strong educational background, their firms tend to receive higher ratings in their evaluations related to the disclosure of information, which means that the financial information they provide will tend to display greater transparency. The samples in this study were further divided into those that were listed before and those that were listed after the revision of review criteria, thereby revealing that in the samples that included earnings management as well as those of information disclosure that established independent directors after 2002 according to the review criteria, the characteristics of independent directors had a more positive influence on the quality of financial reporting. This is a clear demonstration that legally mandating the establishment of independent directors is necessary. These findings provide a valuable reference for corporations seeking to hire independent directors in the future and may assist companies in finding talent to reinforce the independent director system in Taiwan.[[notice]]補正完