Audit committee chairman characteristics and corporate performance: Empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of corporate governance (CG) characteristics, specifically audit committee chairman (ACC) characteristics. (tenure, expertise, and directorship) on corporate performance (CP). The study was executed on 44 firms, which were registered under the finance sector at Bursa Saudi Arabia. In terms of its scope, the study stretched over quite a long period of time and observed a considerable number of firms; more specifically, it lasted from 2015 to 2019, and observed 195 firms. The relationship between the characteristics of audit committee (AC) directors and CP has been studied extensively in the past. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the ACC's characteristics. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no study has yet studied the effect of CG's characteristics, specifically, the ACC characteristics on CP. The study’s conclusions indicate that corporate governance (CG) characteristics, specifically audit committee chairman (ACC) characteristics (tenure and expertise) are positively related to the performance of finance companies. However, the audit committee chairman’s multiple directorships, on the other hand, has no relationship with corporate performance. Review of literature on the audit committee chairman characteristics used in this study is offered, the practical implications and the recommendations for future research works is also emphasized.