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Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship existing between gender diverse (women directors) audit committees and audit fees. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a sample of 200 listed Indian firms over a four-year period (2011-2014). Ordinary least squares regression is used to assess whether and how the presence of women directors on audit committees affects the fee paid to the external auditor in India. To deal with the self-selection bias, the authors use a two-stage model developed using Heckman’s (1976) method. Findings The results show a significant positive relationship between the presence of a woman financial expert on the audit committee and audit fees after controlling for a number of firm-specific and governance characteristics and potential endogeneity with the propensity-matching score analysis. From the demand-side perspective of audit pricing, the results indicate that women financial experts on audit committees increase the need for assurance provided by external auditors. Using interaction terms, the authors find that women with financial expertise on an audit committee have a stronger association with audit fees as entity becomes more complex. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that audit committees with women financial experts are likely to demand higher audit quality, ceteris paribus. Practical implications Gender of the financial expert is critical to the audit committee’s effectiveness. The findings of this study have implications for the composition of an audit committee in a firm. Originality/value This study contributes to the extant literature by examining the less-researched topic of the association between the women representation on audit committees and audit fees. It also offers further empirical evidence that will influence the debate on the importance of gender diversity in corporations.

We examine the relationship between ownership and outside director attributes and corporate turnaround outcomes using matched samples of 99 turnaround and 99 non-turnaround listed Australian firms during the 2004–2015 period. Based on agency theory principles, we propose that key shareholder groups (block ownership, director ownership, institutional ownership) and outside directors are related to firm-level turnaround outcomes, and particularly changes in these attributes across decline to turnaround periods. Our results provide evidence that turnaround and non-turnaround firms differ in terms of their ownership and board composition structures, and that changes in director ownership and the degree of board independence are important in determining the likelihood of turnaround success. JEL Classification: G33, G34, M40

This study explores the role of strategic leadership in declining firms by empirically examining the association between various CEO characteristics such as duality, tenure, interlocking, founder status, functional background and the turnaround outcome for the firm. Using a match-pair sample of 94 turnaround and 94-non-turnaround Australian firms, results show that turnaround firms are more likely to have CEOs that are also board chairpersons, have more external board appointments and short tenures. In contrast, any significant association between a CEO’s functional background, founder status and likelihood of turnaround was not identified. Overall, the findings provide further empirical support for the role of CEOs strategic leadership in shaping organisational outcomes especially when companies are under performing.