Board gender diversity and going concern audit opinions

This paper examines the relation between gender diversity on the board of directors and audit committee and the likelihood that a company receives a going concern audit opinion. We find that, after controlling for the strength of corporate governance and relevant financial characteristics, boards with at least one female director are less likely to receive a going concern opinion. We attribute this result to the improved monitoring and risk aversion of female directors. We find that the presence of an audit committee is associated with an increased likelihood of a going concern opinion indicating the important role that the audit committee has in ensuring the integrity of financial reporting. However, we do not find this relation is strengthened by the existence of a female audit committee member.