Abstract:

In China's capital market,the dispute over the role of independent directors,especially the accounting profession independent directors,in improving the quality of accounting information of listed companies has been going on and on. In addition,the proportion of accounting profession independent directors with accounting firm background has been rising since 2013. Therefore,it is necessary to study the influence of accounting profession independent directors with accounting firm background on the accounting information transparency on the one hand,and the moderating effect of internal control environment on such influence on the other. The empirical results based on the data of Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2016 show that accounting profession independent directors with accounting firm background have reduced the accounting information transparency,and those who hold current positions of the accounting firm during the accounting period have more obvious role in reducing the accounting information transparency. In addition,the role will be significantly weakened in companies with better internal controls,and it will be enhanced in companies with less internal controls.

Key words: accounting firm background, accounting profession independent director, internal control, accounting information transparency, information disclosure rating