The Relationship between Audit Committee’s Characteristics and Risk  Management in Kuwait

Auditing, Risk management, Audit committee, Corporate governance, KuwaitAbstract: The purpose of the current study is to extend prior audit research on the relationship between Audit Committee’s (AC) characteristics and risk management by performing empirical examination about this relationship in the context of the Kuwaiti market. In particular, this study uses data related to a sample of Kuwaiti listed firms to examine whether AC characteristics have an impact on the establishment of a separate risk management committee within firms. This research endeavor is motivated by the scarcity of empirical evidence about this relationship in the context of developing countries’ markets. The results reported in the current study provide evidence of a significantly positive relationship between firms’ formation of a standalone risk committee and certain AC characteristics, namely size and financial expertise.