Audit Committee Attributes and the Value of Firm: Evidence from Listed Insurance Companies in Nigeria

This study examines the relationship between audit committee attributes and firm value in listed Insurance companies in Nigeria, covering the period from 2013 to 2022. The research aims to enhance the understanding of corporate governance practices by evaluating how audit committee size, independence, and remuneration influence firm value. The study also seeks to provide insights that can inform company management, policymakers, investors, and regulators on improving governance practices to boost firm performance. Adopting an ex-post facto research design, the study utilizes secondary data from 10 listed insurance firms. Multiple regression models are employed to assess the impact of the three key audit committee attributes on firm value, measured through Tobin’s Q. Diagnostic tests, including tests for normality, multi-collinearity, and heteroscedasticity, ensure the robustness of the model. The findings reveal that audit committee size has a positive and significant effect on firm value. Audit committee independence while positively related to firm value, does not have a statistically significant impact on firm performance. On the other hand, audit committee remuneration exhibits a negative and insignificant relationship with firm value. Based on these findings, the study recommends that insurance companies prioritize the size and frequency of audit committee meetings to strengthen governance practices. Additionally, efforts should be made to select highly qualified and active independent directors, while remuneration policies should be aligned with performance to ensure accountability and engagement.