Corporate Governance and Audit Fees Evidence from Bangladeshi Listed Banks and NBFIs

Abstract

The study examines influence of corporate governance mechanisms on audit fees in listed Bangladeshi banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) with Dhaka Stock Exchange. Data have been collected from published annual reports of the 46 firms covering the period of 2013-2017. Among them 30 firms are banking companies the remaining firms belong to NBFIs. Using fixed-effect model, the study finds that board independence, female member representation in board, board diligence as well as audit committee diligence have positive influence on audit fees. As opposed to previous literature, the study reports that in the context of Bangladeshi banks and NBFIs board size, audit committee size, audit committee independence are negatively associated with audit fees.