Audit committee roles on the association between family ownership and firm value in an Asian country

The audit committee is vital for corporate governance and stakeholder transparency (Alruwaili, 2024; Primasari & Mutmainah, 2026). Utilizing hierarchical regression on a panel dataset of Thai listed companies (2011–2022), this study investigates whether specific audit committee characteristics moderate the negative relationship between family ownership and firm value. The findings reveal that family ownership correlates with lower firm value, with the sharpest declines occurring at higher ownership thresholds. Crucially, while committee independence or frequent meetings alone offer limited protection, their combination effectively mitigates this negative impact, creating a robust governance mechanism that constrains harmful behavior by controlling family members. These results suggest that regulators in family-controlled markets should enforce stricter audit committee mandates. For investors and managers, joint committee independence and activity serve as primary indicators of governance quality. Finally, future research should explore other committee traits—such as financial expertise, gender diversity, and size—and evaluate these dynamics across alternative ownership structures and emerging economies.