Contribution of Audit Committee Characteristics to Corporate Governance Practices of Regulatory Authorities in Tanzania: Mediating Effect of Audit Committee Effectiveness.

Suluo, Habibu Juma Saidi (2025) Contribution of Audit Committee Characteristics to Corporate Governance Practices of Regulatory Authorities in Tanzania: Mediating Effect of Audit Committee Effectiveness. Doctoral thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

This study aimed to examine the contribution of audit committee characteristics to the corporate governance practices of regulatory authorities in Tanzania, using audit committee effectiveness as a mediating variable. The study was conducted in 18 regulatory authorities of Tanzania Mainland, at their head offices in Arusha, Dar es Salaam, and Dodoma. The survey strategy was used to collect data from a sample of 300 participants, using a structured questionnaire, where 241 participants responded, equivalent to 80.3%. The IBM SPSS Statistics version 26 was used for descriptive data analysis, data screening, and reliability tests, while the Jamovi Software version 2.3.28 was used for structural equation modelling analysis, including testing the 12 hypotheses of the study. The findings showed that, except for the audit committee size, the other constructs of the audit committee characteristics; advisory role, financial expertise, independence, and frequency of meetings significantly and positively influence audit committee effectiveness, which consequently mediates 60.3% of the total impact of audit committee characteristics on the corporate governance practices, confirming its partial mediation and pivotal role. Specifically, the advisory role construct from the resource dependency theory was found to be statistically significant, and positively influences audit committee effectiveness, thus confirming its theoretical contribution to the agency theory. The study recommends strengthening the board appointment process, enhancing financial expertise, optimizing audit committee size, enhancing auditing functions, improving financial reporting and accountability, and strengthening corporate governance practices of regulatory authorities in Tanzania. Keywords: Audit Committee, Agency Theory, Corporate Governance, Regulatory Authority, Resource Dependency Theory

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