審計委員會設置及其品質對公司價值的影響

The Effects of the Establishment and Quality of Audit Committees on Firm Value

本文採用Tobin’s Q 作為公司價值的代理變數，探討企業設置審計委員會與公司價值之關聯性，並進一步分析審計委員會運作品質之良窳是否會影響公司價值。本文衡量審計委員會品質的方式係建構一項包括審計委員會規模、召集人或成員具備專業性（財務（或會計）專長、公司治理專長）及活動力（開會次數、出席狀況）等綜合性指標。實證結果發現，整體而言，在設有獨立董事的公司中，相對於採用監察人制度的公司，採用審計委員會制度的公司，其公司價值較高；而且審計委員會品質愈好，公司價值會愈大。此外，本文進一步發現公司價值與審計委員會規模、召集人具備財務專長、成員實際出席率呈顯著正相關，而與財務（或會計）專長人數卻呈顯著負相關。

Using Tobin’s Q as a proxy for firm value, this study examines the effects of the establishment and quality of audit committees (AC hereafter) on firm value. Audit committee quality was measured using a comprehensive indicator comprising the following six indicators: the size of the AC, whether the convener has expertise in finance (or accounting), the numbers of member with expertise in finance (or accounting) and expertise in corporate governance, frequency of meetings, and the attendance of members. Among firms with independent directors, we find that firms establishing AC have significantly higher firm value than those establishing supervisors. In addition, we find that firms with better AC quality have higher firm value. Finally, we also find that firm value is positively correlated with the size of AC, whether the convener has expertise in finance (or accounting), and members’ attendance, but negatively correlated with the number of members with expertise in finance (or accounting).