會計師獨立董事對董事會監督內部控制效力之影響

The Effect of Audit-Partner Independent Directorships on the Effectiveness of the Board of Directors’Supervision of Internal Controls

本研究探討獨立董事的會計師經驗對該公司內部控制（簡稱內控）發生重大缺失可能性的影響。會計師本身擁有多年查核各種上市櫃公司和產業內控的直接經驗和專長，因而當會計師在提供獨立董事服務時，能有效審視公司訂定或修正的內控以及考核內控，甚至能嚇阻員工使其較不敢違反內控之規定。簡言之，會計師獨立董事在預防、遏阻以及偵測等構面皆有其作用，可提升內控品質。本文的實證結果發現會計師獨立董事比率與內控重大缺失呈顯著負相關，較可能在公司發生重大內控缺失時，於內控聲明書中誠實聲明內控無效，以及及早更正內控重大缺失，因而發生重大缺失的年數較短。

This study examines the effect of the independent directorships held by audit partners on the likelihood of internal control material weaknesses by the company for which they provide director services. Audit partners have many years of direct experience with (and thus have developed expertise in) the auditing of internal controls of a wide range of companies and industries. Therefore, when these partners provide director services, they can effectively review the internal controls established or revised by the company and deter employees from violating internal controls, thus leading to higher-quality internal controls. Using Taiwanese public firms for the period of 2006–2018, our results reveal that independent directors who have experience serving as audit partners decrease the likelihood of material weaknesses in internal controls. The results also show that audit-partner independent directors do not allow management to circumvent the disclosure of material weaknesses in internal controls under circumstances that give rise to material weaknesses. Finally, we find that audit-partner independent directors reduce the duration of such material weaknesses in internal controls. Collectively, our findings suggest that audit-partner independent directors increase the monitoring effectiveness of corporate boards on internal controls.