The gender‐diverse audit committee and audit report lag: Evidence from China

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between gender‐diverse audit committees and audit report lag. We examine a sample of Chinese listed companies during the period 2010–2018 and document a negative relationship between gender‐diverse audit committees and audit report lag. This is consistent with the premise that a gender‐diverse audit committee is able to better monitor the preparation of financial reports, communicate better with auditors in resolving disagreements between management and auditors and facilitate a more efficient audit engagement, thereby shortening the audit report lag. In additional analysis, we find that female audit committee members possessing professional accounting qualifications and accounting work experience are associated with shorter audit report lag.