【正文】
ors, and Remediation of Material Weaknesses in Internal Control Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and Remediation of Material Weaknesses in Internal Control This study examines whether the effectiveness of the audit mittee and the board of directors is associated with firms’ timeliness in the remediation of material weaknesses in internal control. The sample prises accelerated filers that disclosed at least one material weakness from July 2003 to December 2004 under Section 302 of the SarbanesOxley Act . Using logistic regression analyses, I find that firms with larger audit mittees, audit mittees with greater nonaccounting financial expertise, and more independent boards are more likely to remediate material weaknesses in a timely manner. These results show that the audit mittee and the board play an important role in monitoring the remediation of material weaknesses. Overall, the study contributes to our understanding of the effectiveness of the audit mittee and the board under the SarbanesOxley Act regime. The study also identifies important determinants of firms’ timeliness in the remediation of material weaknesses, which is key to improving financial reporting quality and restoring investor confidence. Studies have shown that the quality of the audit mittee is positively associated with the quality of the firm’s internal controls. Krishnan (2005) uses a sample of firms that changed auditors over the period 19942000 and finds that independent audit mittees and audit mittees with financial expertise are significantly less likely to be associated with internal control problems. Zhang et al. (2007) use a sample of firms that disclosed internal control deficiencies after the enactment of SarbanesOxley Act and find that these firms are more likely to have audit mittees that have less financial expertise. If audit mittee quality is associated with