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Journal of Accounting and Economics Vol. 50 No. 1 2010

Financial executive qualifications, financial executive turnover, and adverse SOX 404 opinions

Chan Li1; Lili Sun2; Michael Ettredge3

1 University of Pittsburgh · 2 University of North Texas · 3 University of Kansas

Abstract

This study attempts to provide a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships among chief financial officers’ (CFOs’) professional qualifications, SOX Section 404 internal control weakness, CFOs’ turnover, CFOs’ qualification improvement, and correction of material weaknesses. We find that firms receiving initial adverse SOX 404 opinions for 2004 have less qualified CFOs. Adverse SOX 404 opinion recipients experience more CFO turnover in 2005, and these firms are more likely to hire CFOs having improved qualifications. Results show that simply hiring a new CFO is not associated with SOX 404 opinion improvement. Opinion improvement requires hiring a better qualified CFO.

DOI
10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.01.003
Volume
50
Issue
1
Pages
93-110
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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