A Study on Nonlinearity between Corporate Governance and Credit Rating: Focusing on the independence of the Audit Committee

This study examined whether there is a nonlinear characteristic between the independence of the audit committee and the credit rating that can function as a monitoring body. In addition, it was examined whether the results of this analysis have significant differences depending on the audit corporation. The analysis results show that, first, the independence of the audit committee showed a significant nonlinear relationship with the credit rating and credit rating of corporate bonds. This indicates that the independence of the audit committee increases to a certain level or higher, so that the more sufficient control and monitoring effects exist, the higher the credit rating can be. Second, the nonlinear relationship between the independence of the audit committee (the ratio of appointments) and the credit rating was significant in Big4 audit firms than in Non-Big4 audit firms.