The Effect of Changing the Audit Committee Chair on the Audit Quality, Auditor's Opinion Type, and Audit Fee

This study examines the relationship between the change of the audit committee chairman on audit quality, the type of auditor's opinion, and the audit fee. In order to achieve the goal of the research, a sample equal to 142 companies admitted to the Tehran Stock Exchange during the period of 2018 to 2023, equivalent to 710 company-years, was analyzed using multiple regression analysis based on combined data. The findings indicate that the change of the head of the audit committee has a negative relationship with audit quality. In addition, the findings showed that the change of the chairman of the audit committee has a positive and significant effect on the audit fee. Also, in this study, no significant relationship was found between the change of the chairman of the audit committee and the type of auditor's comments. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the new heads of the audit committee are aware of their supervisory shortcomings, therefore they demand the use of more audit procedures from the independent auditor, which leads to an increase in the audit fee. However, it seems that the increase in audit procedures cannot compensate for the supervisory deficiencies associated with the change of audit committee chairpersons and, as a result, the reduction of audit quality.Contribution: The findings of this research can be considered by regulatory bodies, company managers, independent auditors, shareholders and other stakeholders, when the chairman of the audit committee changes.