The power of institutional investors: empirical evidence on their role in investment in internal audit function

Purpose Institutional investors are major shareholders in publicly traded firms and play crucial roles in the financial and governance aspects of these firms. Despite their importance, little is known about their role in internal auditing. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the relati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Managerial auditing journal 2024-02, Vol.39 (2), p.166-190
Main Author: Al-Qadasi, Adel Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Audit committees
Corporate governance
Emerging markets
Financial reporting
Institutional investments
Internal auditing
International finance
Investors
Public companies
Regression analysis
Securities markets
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Summary:Purpose Institutional investors are major shareholders in publicly traded firms and play crucial roles in the financial and governance aspects of these firms. Despite their importance, little is known about their role in internal auditing. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between institutional investors’ ownership and investment in the internal audit function (IAF). Design/methodology/approach The study uses ordinary least squares regressions with two-way cluster-robust standard errors (firm and year) to estimate the relationship between institutional investors’ ownership and investment in IAF for Malaysian listed firms between 2009 and 2020. Findings The findings show that companies with higher levels of institutional ownership invest more in IAF, suggesting that institutional investors can effectively monitor managers due to their large holdings. Moreover, both transient and dedicated institutional investors are more likely to invest in IAF. Originality/value The results highlight the importance of institutional investors as a significant determinant of investment in IAF, which can aid regulators and managers in understanding the institutional investors’ role in governing and optimizing the efficient use of a firm’s resources. The findings also provide insight into institutional investors’ behavior regarding monitoring systems, which may inspire regulators and policymakers to consider increasing institutional investors’ participation to enhance governance structures.
ISSN:0268-6902
1758-7735
0268-6902
DOI:10.1108/MAJ-04-2023-3882