Does Woman Directors Influence the Relationship between Gender Diversity in Audit Committee Members and Financial Reporting Readability: Evidence from Saudi Arabia

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity in audit committee members and financial reporting readability. The study also investigates the impact of woman directors on this relationship as moderating variable. This study employs ordinal logistic regression method, as this type of regression is suitable for situations where the dependent variable is divided into ordinal groups. The sample encompasses 91 non-financial companies listed on Saudi Stock Exchange over the period 2018-2023, resulting in a total of 546 firm-year observations. This study's findings reveal a significant positive impact of audit committee gender diversity on financial reporting readability. Furthermore, the interaction term between audit committee gender diversity and woman directors suggests a moderating effect. A thorough review of the literature reveals no prior studies conducted within the Saudi Arabian context that investigate the moderating effect of woman directors on the relationship between audit committee gender diversity and financial reporting readability. This research gap positions the current study to contribute to the under-developed literature by analyzing the influence of woman directors on this association.