Audit committee characteristics and quality of audit: an interconnection from the perspective of an emerging economy

Purpose The purpose of the study is to examine the association between audit committee (AC) characteristics and audit quality of the listed companies of Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach A total of 140 firm years covering the period of 2017–2021 of DS30 index listed companies have been taken as the sample size. Auditor type and audit fee have been used as the proxies of audit quality. AC size, independence, diversity, number of meetings and presence of professional expertise have been used as the proxies of AC characteristics. Both logit regression and pooled OLS with panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) methods have been used in the study. Findings The outcomes of the study intimate that the existence of professional experts in the AC and the committee size have positive and significant association with audit quality. The rapport between other characteristics and audit quality are found to be insignificant. Practical implications Policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders such as investors, lenders, auditors may find the findings useful. The findings of the study will help the policymakers to investigate the conformance and efficacy of the corporate governance code and introduce new guidelines for the committee. Originality/value To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study to investigate the relationship between AC characteristics on audit quality in the context of Bangladesh.