Audit committee characteristics and firm performance: Evidence from the insurance sector in Oman

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effect of audit committee characteristics on the performance of the eleven insurance companies listed in Oman between 2015 and 2019. This study focuses on the audit committee meetings and their frequency, the size of the committee, their independence, and the knowledge or expertise they possess. After conducting data analysis on the specified dataset, the regression results revealed that audit committee size is statistically significant at a p-value less than .05. This indicates that the size of an audit committee has a significant impact on an insurance company's performance. In addition, the audit committee independence was statistically significant at p=.05, demonstrating that the independence of an audit committee plays a significant role in determining the performance of a company. Moreover, the Audit committee expertise variable had a p-value of less than 0.05, indicating that it is statistically significant. This can be interpreted as meaning that the frequency of meetings has a statistically significant impact on the performance of a company. The statistical significance of only three of the four variables was determined. The variable was excluded from the regression model because its p-value was greater than .05. Therefore, the three characteristics of audit committees in the Omani market have a significant impact on the performance of an insurance company, and senior management should ensure that audit committees have approximately four members, are fully independent to limit control by the firm's management, and have extensive financial experience in order to function effectively. This study will be very useful to financial practitioners and policymakers since it contains practical ideas and recommendations. The research results may also contribute to the creation and implementation of strategic policies for improving corporate governance practices with the goal of maximizing profit and wealth.