Table I.

Variable definitions

Definition
Test variables
Affiliated alumniEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, at least one of the audit committee members is a CPA with an employment history at the incumbent audit firm, zero otherwise
Unaffiliated alumniEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, at least one of the audit committee members is a CPA with an employment history at an audit firm other than the incumbent audit firm, zero otherwise
Affiliated alumni chairEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, the audit committee chair is Affiliated alumni, zero otherwise
Unaffiliated alumni chairEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, the audit committee chair is Unaffiliated alumni, zero otherwise
  
Dependent variables 
Log of audit feesLog of audit fees in dollars
Log of non-audit feesLog of non-audit fees dollars
The ratio of nonaudit fees to total feesNon-audit fees divided by total fees
Control variables*
Financial expertEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, at least one of the audit committee members, who is not alumni or accounting expert, is a bank designated financial expert, 0 otherwise
Accounting expertEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, at least one of the audit committee members, who is not alumni is an accounting financial expert, 0 otherwise
Financial expert chairEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, the audit committee chair, who is not alumni or accounting financial expert, is a bank designated financial expert, 0 otherwise
Accounting expert chairEquals to 1 if, based on BoardEx biographies, the audit committee chair, who is not alumni, is an accounting financial expert, 0 otherwise
CEO/chair dualityEquals to 1 if the CEO also serves as the board chair, 0 otherwise
CEO is CPAEquals to 1 if the CEO is a CPA, 0 otherwise
CFO is CPAEquals to 1 if the CFO is a CPA, 0 otherwise
CFO affiliated with the auditorEquals to 1 if the CFO was previously affiliated with the incumbent audit firm, 0 otherwise
Log of boardsizeLog of the number of members on the board of directors
Board independenceProportion of board members that are independent
Log of AC sizeLog of the number of members on the audit committee
Proportion of women on ACNumber of women divided by audit committee size
Log of total assetsLog of total assets in thousands of dollars
Change in assetsChange in assets from t − 1 to t − 0 divided by lagged assets
Impaired loansImpaired loans divided by lagged total assets
Tier1 ratioTier 1 capital ratio
Commercial loansCommercial loans divided by lagged assets
Consumer loansConsumer loans divided by lagged assets
Real-estate loansReal-estate loans divided by lagged assets
Other loansOther loans divided by lagged assets
Return on average assetsReturn on three-year average total assets
Big 4 audit firmEquals to 1 if the audit firm is one of the four largest audit firms, 0 otherwise
Auditor changeEquals to 1 if the bank has changed the auditor from t − 1 to t − 0, 0 otherwise
M&A or restructuringEquals to 1 if the bank is engaged in a merger or acquisition based on the Audit Analytics internal control data indicating exemptions to the internal control assessment or if the bank reported restructuring charges, 0 otherwise
Material weaknessEquals to 1 if the bank has material weaknesses in the internal controls, 0 otherwise
RestatementEquals to 1 if the bank has issued a restatement, 0 otherwise
Bank typeIndicator variables for National Commercial Banks (SIC 6021), State Commercial Banks (SIC 6022), Other Commercial Banks (SIC 6029) and Federally Chartered Savings Institutions (SIC6035)

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