Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Organizational Unit

Daniels College of Business

First Advisor

Adam J. Greiner

Second Advisor

Anthony Holder

Third Advisor

Jack Strauss

Keywords

Chief financial officer, Chief executive officer, Business, Governance, Audit, Gender, Accounting conservatism

Abstract

I examine the association between CEO, CFO, and audit partner gender and accounting conservatism using a unique sample that encompasses hand-collected data. While accounting conservatism reflects less risky accounting choices, risk aversion theory indicates that females are more risk averse than males. I apply risk aversion theory to accounting conservatism and investigate two research questions: (i) Does the CEO or CFO and audit partner gender influence accounting conservatism? (ii) Does a female audit partner influence the relationship between a male CEO or CFO and accounting conservatism? Using skewness as a proxy of accounting conservatism, I test three hypotheses. The results support my hypotheses and show: (i) the presence of a male CEO or CFO is associated with lower accounting conservatism, (ii) accounting conservatism is higher among firms with a female audit partner, and (iii) the presence of a female audit partner on the engagement increases the level of accounting conservatism with the presence of male CFO. The results of this study inform regulators, audit firms, researchers, governance boards, and shareholders on how females in the role of CEO, CFO, and audit partner influence accounting conservatism.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Ceara Hintz

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

79 pgs

Discipline

Business administration

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