External audit quality and clients' corporate governance mechanisms in Nigeria: Any nexus?

Abstract

This study examined the influence of an entity's corporate governance practices on independent external auditor quality, proxied with auditor industry specialization, in Nigeria. The explanatory research design was adopted. Data were sourced from annual reports and accounts of thirty-five (35) quoted non-financial firms for 11 years from 2008 to 2018. After that, panel regression analyses were employed as the estimating technique for the model specified. The empirical results revealed that independent external audit quality is positively influenced by the firm's size but negatively influenced by board Independence and the proportion of female directors on board. Overall, aggregate explanatory variables adopted in this study accounted for 50% changes in external audit quality. Though these findings largely negate previous ones, they contribute to the extant literature and provide further directions for a future attempt at researching within emerging territories.