从“效用”的角度构建审计委托代理关系模型

影响审计独立性的因素有很多,其中现行失衡的审计委托关系是造成审计独立性缺失的关键性因素。基于此,文章从"效用"的角度,将影响审计独立性的因素抽象为七个经济变量(审计收费、审计师做假的额外收益、审计师做假被查出的惩罚值、审计师与管理当局审计合谋时的期望效用和审计师与管理当局不发生合谋所得到的期望效用、审计做假被查处的概率和审计师不做假被管理当局解聘的概率、市场利率以及审计师被解聘后寻找下一个客户的成本),进而构建审计委托代理关系模型。     

我国审计师解聘对审计质量影响的对策分析

审计质量对促进资本市场的有效性至关重要。审计师承受着来自审计市场竞争与客户的巨大压力,因此,投资大众、财务报表用户和监管机构都十分关心审计师是否很容易受到威胁解聘,迫使他们牺牲独立性,抑或是公司通过实际解聘审计师达到改善审计意见的目的。文章在对威胁解聘和实际解聘两种审计师解聘类型进行界定的基础上,就由此对审计质量造成的影响进行对策分析。     

审计市场集中度、产权性质与内部控制审计意见

本文利用沪深A股上市公司2012~2015年数据,实证检验审计市场集中度与内部控制审计意见之间的关系,分析审计市场集中度对内部控制审计意见在国有企业和非国有企业中的影响差异。研究发现:在未形成垄断的情况下,审计市场集中度越高,审计师发表非标准内部控制审计意见的可能性越大;相对于国有企业,审计市场集中度对非标准内部控制审计意见的正向影响在非国有企业中更加明显。本文基于审计师议价能力、审计市场结构的视角来解释审计师发表内部控制审计意见时独立性、专业胜任能力的问题,扩展了内部控制审计意见影响因素的研究。     

长审计任期导致了审计意见购买吗——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

本文选取2001年至2002年间1297家收到标准无保留意见的上市公司为研究样本,使用审计师是否从事了审计意见购买行为作为审计独立性的衡量指标,考察了长审计任期与审计独立性之间的关系。研究发现,长审计任期与审计意见购买行为之间存在着显著的正相关关系,即长审计任期的确对审计独立性造成了损害,而当审计师预期到其丧失独立性的行为在事后被发现的可能性较大时,审计独立性受到损害的可能性较小。     

长审计任期导致了审计意见购买吗——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

本文选取2001年至2002年间1297家收到标准无保留意见的上市公司为研究样本,使用审计师是否从事了审计意见购买行为作为审计独立性的衡量指标,考察了长审计任期与审计独立性之间的关系。研究发现,长审计任期与审计意见购买行为之间存在着显著的正相关关系,即长审计任期的确对审计独立性造成了损害,而当审计师预期到其丧失独立性的行为在事后被发现的可能性较大时,审计独立性受到损害的可能性较小。     

承销商声誉、审计独立性与审计师选择

审计师选择一直都是审计学术界和实务界共同关注的重要问题.通过研究IPO公司的承销商声誉对审计师选择的影响,并且进一步探讨审计独立性的提高是否会影响承销商声誉与审计师选择之间的关系,以及这些影响在国有企业和非国有企业是否存在差异.研究结果表明,IPO公司的承销商声誉越高,越倾向于选择代表高审计质量的“十大”审计师,国有企业的承销商声誉越高,越倾向于选择代表高审计质量的“十大”审计师,非国有企业的承销商声誉与审计师选择之间没有显著的相关性;审计独立性的提高,既削弱了承销商声誉与高质量审计师之间的正相关关系,也削弱了国有企业的承销商声誉与高质量审计师之间的正相关关系,但没有对非国有企业的承销商声誉与审计师选择之间的关系产生影响.研究结论可以为政府监管部门、企业管理者以及投资者提供决策依据.     

注册会计师的选择：审计意见与经济利益的交换

注册会计师作为经济警察,又作为市场经济中的利益主体,在尊严与利益之间选择。审计收费直接影响注册会计师的独立性与审计质量,由于审计意见有不同类型,因此审计意见类型与审计收费存在更紧密的关系。本文以审计意见类型与审计收费关系为基础,结合注册会计师独立性影响因素,对审计意见与经济利益交换行为的存在性进行了分析,并对供给方注册会计师的效用函数进行了分析,揭示出注册会计师在决定是否接受审计意见与经济利益的交换时考虑的因素,并对这种行为提出相应的解决方案。     

管理层风险偏好与审计意见购买

基于审计意见购买模型,考察管理层风险偏好对审计意见购买的影响及其引发的经济后果,结果发现:管理层风险偏好越强,上市公司越倾向于通过审计意见购买获得更有利的审计意见;在审计师变更时机和变更方向上,审计意见购买在审计师晚变更、降级变更方面体现得更明显;审计意见购买行为降低了审计质量.结论扩展了资本市场审计意见购买影响因素方面的研究,并为审计意见购买的经济后果研究提供了经验证据,对监管政策制定与利益相关者决策具有重要的参考价值.     

上市公司审计师变更问题研究

随着我国证券市场的不断发展,上市公司变更审计师的现象频频发生,恶意变更审计师的行为不胜枚举,这其中可能潜藏着相当数量的不正当竞争和审计独立性减损问题。本文将结合我国上市公司在年度报告中披露的审计师变更数据,选择可能影响审计师变更行为的若干因素,对2004—2008年上市公司审计师变更进行了分析,发现非标准审计意见,是审计师变更的根本原因,企业财务困境也相关。     

注册会计师的选择：审计意见与经济利益的交换

注册会计师作为经济警察，又作为市场经济中的利益主体，在尊严与利益之间选择。审计收费直接影响注册会计师的独立性与审计质量，由于审计意见有不同类型，因此审计意见类型与审计收费存在更紧密的关系。本文以审计意见类型与审计收费关系为基础，结合注册会计师独立性影响因素，对审计意见与经济利益交换行为的存在性进行了分析，并对供给方注册会计师的效用函数进行了分析，揭示出注册会计师在决定是否接受审计意见与经济利益的交换时考虑的因素，并对这种行为提出相应的解决方案。     

胁迫威胁下的审计独立性问题研究

审计独立性是决定审计质量能否得到保证和审计目的能否实现的关键因素。在我国,审计人员受被审单位管理当局胁迫而出具不实审计报告的问题十分突出,胁迫威胁的存在严重地影响了审计的独立性。本文试图通过博弈分析来专门探讨经营者的胁迫威胁对审计人员独立性的影响,并据此提出保护审计独立性的有效手段。     

审计任期与审计独立性——持续经营审计意见的经验研究

以注册会计师是否因财务方面存在可能导致公司持续经营能力问题的事项或情况对上市公司出具持续经营审计意见作为审计独立性的衡量指标,分别从签字注册会计师任期与会计师事务所任期两个角度具体考察了审计任期与审计独立性之间的关系。结果发现,无论是注册会计师任期,还是事务所任期,审计任期越长,审计独立性就越低。这为我国已实施的签字注册会计师强制轮换政策的合理性提供了经验支持。     

审计师轮换类别与审计结果——基于“关系”的视角

审计师强制轮换制度能够从制度上对审计师独立性给予一定程度的保证,而社会关系的存在会对审计师的独立性产生影响,但同时也能够增加前后任审计师工作交接的效率。以2007—2019年签字审计师轮换为样本研究发现,同一事务所内签字审计师的变更会使得后任审计师出具清洁审计意见的可能性提升,后任审计师审计当年发生财务重述的可能性较低,且可操纵性应计利润较低。但是,后任审计师获取的审计费用并没有显著降低。与不同事务所之间的签字审计师轮换相比,同一事务所审计师轮换情况下,由于更易进行信息共享与沟通,后任审计师的审计质量更高,且与前任审计师审计质量相比,后任审计师审计质量有所提升。     

The Empirical Research on Auditor Independence and Mandatory Auditor Rotation

Using, the method of correlation coefficient, this paper discusses the empirical relationship between audit tenure and audit opinion in annual reports in China A-share market and period of mandatory rotation of auditor. The research finds that the negative correlation between auditor tenure and non-standard unqualified audit opinion is statistically significant, and auditor tenure might impair his/her independence. To enhance auditor independence and improve audit quality, it is necessary to rotate mandatory auditor. The results also fred that consecutive auditing years should not exceed 5 years when the existing auditor has been the auditor of listed company, and mandatory rotation of auditor adapts to the rotation of CPA firms in charge of a client.     

An Experimental Analysis of the Effects of Non‐audit Services on Auditor Independence in Appearance in the European Union: Evidence from Germany

The provision of non‐audit services by the statutory auditor may have a negative impact on auditor independence. Therefore, the European Union decided to prevent auditors from offering a significant extent of non‐audit services to audit clients. Prior research has revealed that different advisory services have different effects on perceived auditor independence. This could be caused by differences in number and intensity of independence threats (self‐interest, familiarity, self‐review, advocacy). Therefore, this experimental study investigates the effect of such threats on independence perceptions in the case of German individual investors. Multivariate analyses indicate that a high self‐interest and a high‐familiarity threat may impair auditor independence in appearance. On the other hand, our findings do not reveal a significant effect of an existing advocacy threat on investors’ trust in auditor independence. A negative effect of a self‐review threat is not directly confirmed. However, the provision of services with regard to internal controls, and thus the self‐review threat, interacts with the self‐interest threat. They potentially impact perceived auditor independence negatively when non‐audit fees are high. In contrast, no significant interactions with familiarity are found. Based on these findings, a general prohibition of non‐audit services does not seem to be necessary. On the other hand, a non‐audit fees cap might be reasonable.     

Ownership concentration,modified audit opinion,and auditor switch: New evidence and method

This study investigates: 1) how does the ownership structure of listed firms influence the relation between their earnings management behavior and auditor opinion; 2) how does the ownership structure influence the relation between the auditor opinion and auditor switch. We find that the level of listed firms’ earnings management is positively associated with the propensity of being issued modified audit opinions (MAOs) by auditors when their ownership structure is highly concentrated. However, the issuance of MAOs is not associated with the auditor switch under such condition. On the contrary, a high level of earnings management is not associated with the propensity of being issued MAOs when firms’ ownership structure is less concentrated. Further, the issuance of MAOs may increase the likelihood of auditor switch. The empirical findings suggest that auditors may cater for the preferences of the real controller of listed firms when issuing audit opinions. Moreover, the “auditor opinion shopping” behavior by listed firms is also affected by listed firms’ ownership structure.     

自愿性变更审计师与审计意见关系的验证

明晰自愿性交更审计师行为与审计意见二者深层次关系可以更好地把握审计产品质量.之前一些关于上期非标准审计意见将会导致本期公司变更审计师的观点有失偏颇.在关于上期审计意见对本期变更审计师、本期变更审计师对后期审计意见类型影响的研究中,相对于被出具标准审计意见的公司而言,上期被出具非标准审计意见的公司不仅不会倾向于本期变更审计师,而且当公司上期被出具的是持续经营非标准审计意见时,本期发生变更审计师的可能性会显著降低.本期变更审计师行为显著提高了公司后期被出具标准审计意见的概率,显著降低了公司被出具持续经营非标准审计意见的概率.变更审计师的决策依据是预期审计意见的改善而不是上期审计意见类型.     

审计师与管理者博弈下的审计独立性与审计质量——纵横国际的例证分析

审计独立性与审计质量始终是审计研究领域的核心问题。本文以纵横国际为例,采用博弈论的方法,从审计师与公司管理者的较量角度审视审计独立性与审计质量的关系。我们认为:制度对审计独立性和审计质量的影响并不是直接的,而是通过影响审计师在与客户管理当局的博弈中的决策行为而对审计独立性发挥作用,然后带来审计质量的变化。     

Market Implications of the Audit Quality and Auditor Switches: Evidence from China

Independent audits enhance the credibility of corporate financial reports and assist investors to make rational decisions in the capital market. Nonetheless, the utility of the auditing function depends upon the quality of audits, which is determined by the independence and expertise of auditors. Hence, auditor choice and switch will not only affect an audit's quality, but will also influence decisions made by investors and other market participants. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how investors respond to the quality of audits and auditor switches in the Chinese context. Empirical results show that the quality of an audit and switching to a larger auditor have a positive (negative) impact on earnings response coefficients (ERCs) for firms with positive (negative) abnormal earnings. In contrast, switching to a smaller auditor has a negative (positive) impact on ERCs for firms with positive (negative) abnormal earnings. These results suggest that large auditing firms (Top 10) in China are perceived as more effective for curbing income-increased earnings management, which leads to higher (lower) ERCs for clients with positive (negative) abnormal earnings. Firms' switching to a larger auditor may signal high-quality earnings. Therefore, investors more often increase stock prices when firms have positive abnormal earnings and less often depreciate prices for negative abnormal earnings. Similarly, switching to a smaller auditor may signal lower earning quality, resulting in opposite market responses. In general, the empirical evidence suggests that audit information is valued by the capital market in China. Large auditing firms have been able to product-differentiate themselves within the Chinese stock market.     

Review of empirical research on rotation and non-audit services: auditor independence in fact vs. appearance

Confidence in the processes of corporate reporting and auditing has rapidly decreased recently due to front-page accounting scandals in both the United States and Europe. The goal of audit regulations, such as the Sarbanes Oxley Act in the United States (US) and the 8th Directive in the European Union (EU), is to restore public trust in the auditing process. Along with other regulatory aspects, requirements related to audit partner rotation and bans on providing concurrent non-audit services were implemented to maintain auditor independence, both in fact and in appearance. However, the implementation of audit regulation implies that increased requirements are able to enhance the failed audit function. Empirical research should help to understand the impact of these two regulatory aspects and indicate their effectiveness in maintaining auditor independence. Thus, we outline the newest empirical research related to audit partner rotation and non-audit services and independence in fact or in appearance. Overall, we conclude that prior research does not point to one particular requirement that would most effectively restore trust in the audit function. Rather the existence of multiple threats to auditor independence might demand a combination of several requirements to maintain auditor independence. Thus, more research is needed to investigate the joint effects of different threats to auditor independence, e.?g., non-audit fees and audit partner tenure.