Abstract: The standard independent directors can effectively improve the governance structure of the listed companies, and promote the effectiveness of internal control. Based on the theories of Team Heterogeneity and Top Management Team, this paper takes China′s A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2015 as samples to empirically analyze the effect of independent directors heterogeneity on the quality of internal control deficiencies disclosure. The study finds that education heterogeneity and part-time number heterogeneity have a significant positive correlation with the quality of internal control deficiencies disclosure, tenure heterogeneity and remuneration heterogeneity have a negative correlation with the quality of internal control deficiencies disclosure, and age heterogeneity, gender heterogeneity, major background heterogeneity, academic background heterogeneity and professional background heterogeneity have no significant influence on the quality of internal control deficiencies disclosure. The results above not only draw much attention to the importance of internal control construction, but also help the listed companies to strengthen the construction of independent directors team from the perspective of management team characteristics and improve the level of corporate governance. Also, this paper further expands the research on the quality of internal control deficiencies disclosure.

Key words: independent director, heterogeneity, internal control deficiencies, disclosure quality