The effects of audit quality on the costs of capital of firms in Ghana

William Coffie is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School. He has a PhD in Finance, Economics and Econometrics from the UK. He has extensive editorial and reviewing experience and currently the Case Editor at University of Ghana Business School. He has also edited for Inderscience Publishers and published in highly reputable journals including International Review of Financial Analysis, Global Business and Economics Review, Journal of Accounting and Finance, Afro-Asian Journal of Accounting and Finance, International Journal of Economics and Business Research, International Journal of Management Practice, Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies and several peer review conference papers. He has published six textbooks of which five have been published by the internationally reputable Pearson. Dr Coffie has won an Investigator-led research grant in capital market offered by Ghana Stock Exchange to investigate on stock market participation in Ghana. Dr Coffie has consulted for several reputable organisations including Bauchi State Government in Nigeria, National Union of Local Government Employees in Nigeria, Ministry of Finance/AfDB, etc. He has offered training in applied econometrics to institutions and groups for nearly 10 years and developed and taught applied econometrics in several universities at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Prior to University of Ghana, Dr Coffie was a Senior Lecturer in Finance and Econometrics and Programmes Director for MSc Finance and Accounting and MSc International Banking and Finance at University of Wolverhampton UK.

Ibrahim Bedi is a Chartered Accountant and Faculty at the Department of Accounting, University of Ghana Business School. He is a Fellow, the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (UK); Member, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana; Member, American Accounting Association; Treasurer, African Accounting and Finance Association; and member, International Association of Accounting Educators and Researchers. He holds Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Administration in accounting degrees. In 2010, he was a visiting scholar to the Open University, UK. He is Partner of Taylor, Folson and Associates (Chartered Accountants). He has publications on Compliance to the International Financial Reporting Standards, Earning Management, Tax Audit and Compliance, Impediments to Accountancy Education Change and Corporate Governance. He has successfully managed a number of research grants and has worked on several research teams.

Mohammed Amidu is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School. He is a Researcher with African Economic Research Consortium, and his areas of research include: accounting information quality financial inclusion and literacy, corporate governance, corporate tax policy, development finance, banking market structure, regulation and stability. The DANIDA Centre for International Business awarded him a research grant to conduct a study on “An Examination of Corporate Governance Practices of the Non-Traditional Export Sector of Ghana: An Exploratory Study” (With Kyereboah- Coleman, A, in 2007). In 2008 he successfully won a research grant to conduct a study titled “What Influence Bank Lending in Sub-Saharan Africa? Dr Amidu is also a Visiting Research Scholar to International Monetary Fund (IMF) US. In 2012 he was awarded VolkwagenStiftung Junior Fellowship Scholarship grant to conduct a research on the measurements, determinants and implications of competition in the African banking sector using new industrial organization literature”. The same institution (i.e. VolkwagenStiftung) awarded him a grant in 2014 to conduct a study on “Corporate social responsibility in extractive sector”. 1n 2013/14, the Dr Amidu won the ORID investigator led grant to undertake a research titled “Do firms manage earnings and avoid tax for corporate social responsibility?” His publications have appeared in journals such as Accounting Research Journal, European Journal of Finance, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, International Review of Financial Analysis, Review of Financial Economics; Journal of Risk Finance, Investment Management and Financial Innovations, Journal of Africa Business and Baltic Journal of Management. He is a referee in many of these and other journals.