Does gender diversity in the audit committee influence key audit matters' readability in the audit report? UK evidence

Abstract

AbstractThis paper investigates the relationship between the percentage of women on audit committees (WOAC) in UK firms and auditors' disclosures on key audit matters (KAM) from 2014 to 2015. The results show that firms with a higher percentage of WOAC have higher readability of KAM disclosures as measured by the Flesch reading ease index. By modifying our dependent and independent variables, sensitivity tests (Blau index and Fog readability index) also corroborate the expectation that WOAC will lead to greater readability of KAM disclosures, with stricter monitoring activities and greater risk avoidance in the audit committee. We provide a useful contribution to recent empirical sustainable corporate governance literature for practices, researchers, and regulators.