Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between audit report lag (ARL) and tax avoidance and test whether external auditor type affects this relationship. Design/methodology/approach ARL is measured as the number of days from fiscal year-end to the date of the auditor’s report, while tax avoidance is measured using effective tax rate. Findings Using a sample of 45 South African companies over the period of 2010–2013, the authors document that ARL is positively associated with tax avoidance and this relationship remains positive when the company is audited by a Big-4 audit firm and not significant when the company is audited by a non-Big-4. Originality/value The authors’ findings have important implications for auditors aiming to reduce audit risk as they may consider the impact of tax avoidance and pay more attention to companies with a high degree of tax avoidance.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to examine the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and audit report lag (ARL) and to test whether family directors affect the relationship.Design/methodology/approachICQ is measured by using the framework developed by Michelon et al. (2015), while ARL is measured as the number of days from fiscal year-end to the date of the auditor's report.FindingsUsing a sample of 190 French companies over the period of 2016–2019, the authors document that ICQ is negatively associated with ARL, suggesting that ICQ represents a key determinant of audit delay. When testing for the moderating effect of family directors on this relationship, findings show that under high percentage of family directors on the board, this relationship becomes insignificant.Originality/valueThis paper extends previous research on audit delays by investigating the moderating effect of family directors on the relation between ICQ and ARL in the French setting. The empirical evidence highlights the adverse effect of the concentration of family directors on the board on timely disclosure as proxied by ARL.

Purpose: The paper examines the association between internal control quality (ICQ) and dividend policy in the French setting. It also investigates how managerial ownership concentration moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approach: We measure ICQ by using the framework developed by Michelon, et al. (2015).Findings: Based on a sample of 760 firm-year observations over the period of 2011-2014, we find that ICQ is positively and significantly associated with dividend policy indicating that better controls increase dividend payout ratio. In addition, managerial ownership concentration moderates the association between ICQ and dividend policy since this association becomes non-significant under high percentage of managerial ownership.Originality/value: Our study adds to the internal control literature by focusing on a developed civil law market. With respect to investors, our results also provide substantive evidence that ICQ plays an important role in increasing dividend payout ratio.