EFFECT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE SIZE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE GENDER DIVERSITY ON FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY OF LISTED MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Financial reporting quality is essential for promoting transparency, accountability, and investor confidence in corporate governance. It is against this backdrop that this study examines the effect of audit committee size and audit committee gender diversity on financial reporting quality of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This study covered the period from year 2010 to 2024 and employed an ex-post facto research design, with a population consisting of 46 listed manufacturing firms on the Nigerian Exchange as a sample of 35 firms was selected using a filtering technique. Panel data spanning 15 years were analysed using panel-corrected standard errors regression to account for heteroskedasticity and cross-sectional dependence. The findings revealed that both audit committee size and audit committee gender diversity have a positive and statistically significant effect on the financial reporting quality of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This study concludes that adequately sized and gender-diverse audit committees strengthen oversight and reporting quality. It is recommended that firms maintain properly sized audit committees, promote gender diversity, adopt structured internal monitoring, and provide capacity-building programs to enhance committee effectiveness and overall governance of firms in Nigeria.