Strengthening the Financial Reporting System: Can Audit Committees Deliver?

This paper reviews the literature on audit committees in order to evaluate the extent to which committees are effective in terms of strengthening financial reporting. The paper aims to achieve two goals: first. to provide updated information about the effectiveness of the audit committee, and second to identify research opportunities. Compared with other reviews on the matter, we cover a broader spectrum of theoretical perspectives from various fields, methods, and countries. In particular, our review investigates from a meta‐perspective the results reported in studies which examine the relationship between certain audit committee characteristics and measures of audit committee effectiveness. It is hoped that this work will sensitize accounting researchers about the appropriateness of extending the boundaries of research on audit committees, from methodological, theoretical, and geographical points of view.