Association between independent audit committee members' human‐resource features and underpricing: The case of Singapore IPOs from 1997‐2006

Purpose – The primary objective of this paper is to examine the association between the seven human‐resource features (spanning three major themes: qualifications and credentials; business and initial public offering (IPO) launch experience; and diversity) of independent audit committee members and the level of underpricing.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 410 Singapore IPOs listing on the stock exchange of Singapore from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006 was used.Findings – Empirical results overall suggest no overwhelming association between the human‐resource features of IPO audit committees and underpricing. Rather, the findings suggest only some specific human‐resource features (e.g. presence of an independent audit committee member with accounting qualifications and credentials) are of significance. Others (e.g. gender diversity of independent audit committee members) have little or no association. Also, results do not suggest a major category of human‐resource features (i.e. qualificati...