Determinants of audit report lag: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a meta‐analysis of the determinants of audit report lag, defined as the period between a company's fiscal year end and the audit report date. We group the meta‐analyzed studies into three categories: (a) audit and audit‐related determinants, (b) corporate governance‐related determinants, and (c) firm‐specific determinants. We find that audit opinion and audit season variables increase audit report lag, whereas Big 4 affiliation, nonaudit services, and auditor tenure decrease audit report lag. Among the corporate governance determinants, the existence of a financial expert member on an audit committee, and ownership concentration, reduce audit report lag. Finally, an examination of firm‐level characteristics reveals that firm complexity increases audit report lag, whereas profitability reduces it. We employ a meta‐regression technique and identify publication bias. Although we find some evidence of journal quality as a contributor to publication bias, the extent of publication bias from this source is small.