The Determinants of Voluntary Audit Committee Formation and Audit Committee Quality in Taiwan Listed Companies

[[abstract]]本文以 2007 年至 2010 年在臺灣證券交易所及櫃檯買賣中心交易之上市櫃公 司為研究樣本，探討公司自願設置審計委員會以及審計委員會品質之決定因素。本 文衡量審計委員會品質的方式係建構一項包括審計委員會規模、成員具備會計或財 務專長之人數、公司治理專長、出席狀況、開會次數及召集人是否具備會計或財務 專長等六個指標的綜合性指標。實證結果發現，整體而言，董監事持股比率愈低、 董事會規模愈大、董事長未兼任總經理、經營績效愈佳、在海外發行有價證券、未 具官股性質及屬電子業的公司，愈可能自願設置審計委員會。此外，本文進一步發 現負債比率愈大、機構投資人持股比率愈高、董事會規模愈大及屬電子業的公司， 審計委員會運作的品質愈佳。 Using firms listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange and Over-The-Counter from 2007 to 2010 as a sample, this study examined the relationship between determinants of voluntary formation of audit committee and the quality of audit committee. Audit committee quality was measured using a comprehensive indicator comprising the following six indicators: the size of the audit committee, the numbers of member with expertise in accounting or finance, expertise in corporate governance, frequency of meetings, the attendance of member, and whether the convener has expertise in accounting or finance. We found that firms with lower ownership of directors and supervisors, larger board size, CEO non-duality, superior operating performance, issuance of securities overseas, non-government-owned and the electronics industry are associated with the voluntary formation of audit committee. We also determined that higher quality audit committee tend to be found in firms with higher debt ratio, higher ownership of institution investors, larger board size and the electronics industry