Audit Committees’ Effectiveness in Tanzania: The Case of Selected Public Authorities in Tanzania

Abstract

Audit committees are important parts of an entity’s governance structure which play a significant role in assisting entities in achieving their planned objectives. This study aimed at assessing the factors affecting audit committees’ effectiveness in the selected public authorities in Tanzania specifically Morogoro region. The study used survey research design based on the mixed research approach i.e., both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used. A multistage sampling technique were used to select 120 representative respondents for this study. Both primary and secondary data were collected using questionnaires and documentary review respectively. The Logit regression model was used in this study in examining the factors affecting the auditing committees (AC) effectiveness. Also, the maximum likelihood method using SPSS 25 was used to estimate the coefficients of the specified logistic regression model. The study result from logit regression analysis revealed that independence and number of meetings of AC members were statistically significant and positively related to effectiveness of AC while age and gender of the audit committee members were significant but negatively related. Moreover, education level, size of AC and expertise were not statistically significant but positively related to dependent variable. Therefore, for the aim of attaining effective performance of the audit committee in the stated public bodies in Tanzania, it is very vital to take into account the contributions of the determining factors.