Do (Fe)Male Auditors Impair Audit Quality? Evidence from Going-Concern Opinions

Recent research indicates that there may be a relationship between the characteristics of the audit engagement partner and audit quality. In this paper, we examine the relationship between audit quality and the presence of a female or male audit engagement partner. We use the likelihood that an auditor issues a going-concern opinion (GCO), conditional on the client's financial situation, as an indicator of audit quality. Using a sample of 7105 financially distressed, private Belgian companies, we find that female auditors are, ceteris paribus, more likely to issue GCOs than male auditors. Our results also show that this effect is stronger when clients are either important (i.e. represent a material portion of the auditor's revenues) or high-risk (i.e. associated with increased uncertainties and risks). Collectively, these results indicate higher audit quality by female auditors.     

机构投资者持股对持续经营审计意见市场反应的影响——基于2007—2014年深沪A股数据

研究不同类型持续经营审计意见市场反应的差异并检验机构投资者持股对其的影响,结果显示：被出具持续经营审计意见公司的累计超额收益率CAR显著为负,且被出具持续经营无法表示意见公司的CAR负值显著强于被出具持续经营无保留意见和保留意见公司的CAR的负值,但后两种审计意见对CAR的影响并无显著差异。另外机构投资者持股会加大不同类型持续经营审计意见市场反应的差异。结果表明,持续经营审计意见具有信息含量,并且机构投资者持股会加大该信息含量。     

Impact of renewable long-term audit mandates on audit quality

Anglo-American countries like the US and the UK allow companies to switch auditors every year. In contrast, some continental European countries restrict auditor switching by allowing only renewable long-term audit mandates. This paper aims to analyse the impact of renewable long-term audit mandates on audit quality. Audit quality is considered from the viewpoint of the external users of the financial statements. It is questioned whether renewable long-term audit mandates have an impact on the auditor's reporting behaviour and on auditor independence. This research is motivated by the lack of consensus in the literature on the impact of the length of the auditor client relationship on audit quality. Moreover, few empirical studies use publicly available secondary data in order to determine whether perceived threats to auditor independence actually compromise auditor independence. Therefore, our research methodology consists in the development of a logistic regression model in which the explanatory variables are measured using publicly available data. The results of the study suggest that long-term auditor client relationships significantly increase the likelihood of an unqualified opinion or significantly reduce the auditor's willingness to qualify audit reports. A significant difference was also found between the auditor's reporting behaviour in the first two years versus the last year of the audit mandate. Auditors are more willing to issue an unqualified audit report in the first two years of their official mandate than in the last year of their mandate. This could be an indication that the decision to renew the auditor's mandate is already taken and known to the auditor before he has issued his last audit report within his current mandate. The policy implications of these findings could be in favour of mandatory auditor rotation to maintain the value of an audit for the external users. However, given recent theoretic evidence on the adverse effects of mandatory auditor rotation, there is a need to develop alternative measures to safeguard auditors' independence.     

Does audit report information improve financial distress prediction over Altman's traditional Z‐Score model?

We analyze empirically the usefulness of combining accounting and auditing data in order to predict corporate financial distress. Concretely, we examine whether audit report information incrementally predicts distress over a traditional accounting model: the Altman's Z‐Score model. Although the audit report seems to play a critical part in financial distress prediction because auditors should warn investors about any default risks, this is the first study that uses audit report disclosures for predicting purposes. From a dataset of 1,821 Spanish distressed private firms, we analyze a sample of distressed and non‐distressed firms and develop logit prediction models. Our results show that while the only accounting model registers a classification accuracy of 77%, combined models of accounting and auditing data exhibit considerably higher accuracy (about 87%). Specifically, our findings indicate that the number of disclosures included in the audit report, as well as disclosures related to a firm's going concern status, firms’ assets, and firms’ recognition of revenues and expenses contribute the most to the prediction. Our empirical evidence has implications for financial distress practice. For managers, our study highlights the importance of audit report disclosures for anticipating a financial distress situation. For regulators and auditors, our study underscores the importance of recent changes in regulation worldwide intended to increase auditor's transparency through a more informative audit report.     

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。     

客户重要性与会计信息可比性 ——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

审计师的执业特征对被审计单位的会计信息质量有一定的影响。以审计师客户重要性为经,以会计信息可比性为纬,运用2005—2014年我国A股上市公司数据实证分析审计师客户重要性与会计信息可比性之间的相关性。实证结果表明：会计师事务所对某一客户的经济依赖越强,该客户的会计信息可比性越差;同样地,签字注册会计师的客户重要性与会计信息可比性呈现显著负向关系;并且,会计师事务所和签字注册会计师的客户重要性在对会计信息可比性的作用过程中存在互补关系。     

Discretionary Accruals and Auditor Behaviour in Code-Law Contexts: An Application to Failing Spanish Firms

This study examines the relationship between earnings management and auditor behaviour in the pre-bankrupt client segment of the Spanish audit market. As proxies for auditor behaviour, we use type of audit firm (Big N/non-Big N) and type of audit report. In contrast to the USA, audit reports in Spain often include modifications other than a going-concern opinion. This allows us to study the relationship in more detail than is possible with US data. The results of our study show that discretionary accruals are negatively related to going-concern opinions but are positively related to reports modified for reasons other than going-concern problems. However, unlike Butler et al. (Journal of Accounting and Economics, 37, pp. 139–165, 2004) the negative relationship is explained not by liquidity survival tactics but by auditor conservatism. We find this conservatism not only in the value of discretionary accruals but also in the qualifications that accompany a going concern. In these cases GAAP violations have a much greater income effect and a stronger relationship with the reversal of manipulation accumulated over the years than with the manipulation introduced during the last year. Finally, our results suggest that Big N differentiation in a code-law country is context-specific and depends on the business risk parameter of the ‘audit risk model’. In particular, for high-risk firms, Big N auditors show a significantly lower level of discretionary accruals and a greater propensity to issue a going-concern opinion.     

真实活动盈余管理影响审计师的风险决策吗？

以2000—2012年我国上市公司为样本,分析并检验客户公司的真实活动盈余管理对审计师风险决策的影响。研究发现：客户公司的真实活动盈余管理程度越大,审计师出具非标准审计意见的概率越大、审计收费越高,但和审计师变更没有显著关系。进一步研究还发现：在纵向上,随着法律制度不断完善,审计费用、非标准审计意见的概率和真实活动盈余管理程度之间的关系更敏感;在横向上,审计收费策略和非标准审计意见策略之间存在替代效应。     

持续经营审计判断模型研究:回顾与前瞻

本文分析国内外对持续经营审计判断模型的研究成果，从研究目的、变量设计、样本选取、建模方法、应用效果等方面比较研究各种模型，指出现有模型的不足和有待进一步研究的方向，以期对改进我国持续经营审计手段与方法提供借鉴。     

Auditing regulation and the statutory auditor's responsibilities in Norway

The first part of the paper gives an overview of the historic development and current auditing regulation in Norway. Although auditing is regulated by legislation, the government has relied on the profession's self-regulation, especially in matters related to the conduct of an audit. In most cases, the Norwegian regulation arrangements and the statutory auditor's responsibilities bear resemblances to those found in other countries, especially the other Nordic countries. The second part of the paper illustrates how government regulation and the profession's self-regulation have affected the auditor's responsibilities related to (1) stewardship verifications (i.e., verification of management's managing and control of the firm's financial affairs), and (2) the mandatory control of the auditee's tax obligations. Both these requirements have raised fundamental questions about the statutory auditor's responsibilities beyond the verification of the annual accounts, and may reflect distinct conceptions of the role of a statutory auditor in Norway. This study shows that it is not evident that the Norwegian auditor's responsibility for stewardship verifications has resulted in professional practice significantly different from common international practice. However, the Norwegian statutory auditor's responsibility for control of the auditee's tax obligations goes beyond the requirements in other countries.     

注册会计师虚假陈述民事责任若干基本观点

注册会计师出具的审计报告在本质上是一种特殊商品;现阶段在审理注册会计师虚假陈述证券民事赔偿案件时,判断审计报告真实性的现实标准只能是"法律真实"而不是"客观真实",会计、审计标准是衡量法律真实的直接依据;对审计报告"重大事件"的认定应优先采用"投资者决策标准";审计报告虚假陈述包括虚假记载、误导性陈述、重大遗漏和不正当披露四种形式;注册会计师审计报告虚假陈述民事赔偿责任的性质应为侵权责任,归责原则适用于过错推定原则;在认定注册会计师虚假陈述民事责任因果关系时,既科学又符合现实的方法是:信赖推定与事实推定相结合;同时,要建立完善的应对注册会计师民事责任的措施。     

The impact of litigation risk on the association between audit quality and auditor size: Evidence from China

We examine whether audit quality varies across different sizes of CPA firms under high or low auditor‐specific litigation risk exposure. We measure audit quality by the issuance of modified audit opinions and the audit fees charged to clients, and we use the organizational form of CPA firms as the proxy for auditors’ litigation risk exposure, where a partnership (limited liability) CPA firm represents a high (low) litigation risk exposure. Built on Choi, Kim, Liu, and Simunic's (2008) theoretical framework, we hypothesize that the litigation risk exposure of CPA firm moderates the association between auditor size and audit quality. Our results show that when the auditor's liability is capped (i.e., registered as a limited liability form of CPA firm), larger size CPA firms are associated with higher audit quality when compared to smaller size CPA firms. However, this positive association between auditor size and audit quality disappears for audit firms that are subject to high litigation risk exposures (i.e., registered as a partnership form of CPA firm). Our research provides new insights on the impact of auditor‐specific litigation risks on the relation between audit quality and auditor size. In particular, we show that only when auditor‐specific litigation risk is limited, do large CPA firms appear to perform higher quality audits than small CPA firms.     

雾霾污染对审计费用和审计质量的影响研究

以2013—2017年沪深两市A股上市公司为研究样本,实证分析了雾霾污染对会计师事务所审计费用和审计质量的不同影响。研究结果表明：雾霾污染会导致审计费用增加和审计质量下降。这一结论在替换雾霾污染指标、改变雾霾污染衡量方式、替换雾霾污染数据、替换审计质量指标、替换控制变量、采用极端天气比例、考虑雾霾污染的预期效应和采用倾向得分匹配方法等稳健性检验后依然成立。进一步分析发现：雾霾污染会通过增大企业经营风险和企业问题曝光风险来提高审计费用;雾霾污染会通过减少审计师的审计时间来降低审计质量;审计费用溢价增强了雾霾污染对审计质量的负向影响;雾霾污染对审计费用的正向影响和对审计质量的负向影响仅在非重污染企业样本中和非重污染地区样本中显著成立。研究结论有助于厘清雾霾污染影响审计行为的作用机制,为主管部门在雾霾污染环境中加强审计市场监管提供理论依据。     

复杂供应链网络风险识别下的审计质量研究——基于全球断供冲击的视角

通过重点考察复杂供应链网络风险识别下的审计质量，研究发现全球断供冲击下我国下游企业供应链运营的中断风险显著提升了审计质量。作用机制表明，全球断供冲击会影响审计师执业风险，进而提高下游企业的审计质量。异质性分析显示，上述效应在事务所信息化水平高、企业供应商集中度低、审计师具备行业专长及大规模事务所的样本中更加显著。经济后果检验表明，在全球断供冲击下高质量审计供给有助于降低企业股价同步性，提高资本市场定价效率。研究结论不仅丰富了供应链网络风险与审计质量的相关研究，也为识别复杂供应链网络风险传播机理、增强供应链竞争力提供了理论依据与经验参考。     

政府管制、事务所规模与审计意见——基于我国SEO管制的实证研究

结合我国特有的SEO管制环境,从制度变迁的视角动态地考察事务所规模对审计意见签发的影响及其相应的监管后果。经验数据表明,事务所规模对审计意见签发的作用程度会随着SEO管制环境的加强而得到强化,表现为小型会计师事务所在管制环境变迁后显著的不倾向于签发非标意见,而监管者对这一行为在统计上并没有如同变迁前一样进行有效的识别。本文的研究不仅为深入理解事务所规模对审计意见签发的作用程度受制度变迁的影响及其监管后果提供了直接的经验证据,也为当前我国证券市场的改革提供一定的政策启示。     

审计意见与银行贷款续新决策关系研究

银行因不同类型的审计意见而作出不同的贷款决策,审计意见在银行贷款的决定过程中具有一定的价值相关性.新准则的改进进一步增强了审计报告的可理解性和决策有用性.     

强制规则下内部控制审计的价值相关性研究——来自2011—2014年A股上市公司的经验证据

在强制规则下,披露非标准内部控制审计意见的公司数量在增加,但这些非标准内控审计意见是否具有信息含量有待检验。基于有效市场假说,以2011—2014年沪深两市A股上市公司为研究对象,运用事项研究方法实证考察非标准内部控制审计意见类型的上市公司披露内控审计报告之后的市场反应,同时实证回归不同类型非标准内控审计意见与市场反应之间的关系,结果显示：被出具非标准内部控制审计意见的上市公司,在内部控制报告披露之后的短期窗口之内具有负的累计超额收益率,但是无保留带强调项与保留意见、无法表示意见的市场反应区别不大。这表明内部控制审计意见具有价值相关性,有利于督促管理层加强内部控制建设,但是内部控制审计质量需要进一步提高。     

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.     

非金融企业委托贷款影响审计定价吗？

基于我国2011—2021年非金融类A股上市公司样本,实证考察了非金融企业委托贷款对审计定价的影响及其作用路径。研究发现,非金融企业委托贷款会显著提高审计定价,这种提升作用在股权关联型委托贷款、委托贷款业务复杂度高和处于货币政策紧缩期的企业中更显著。机制检验表明,经营风险和审计延迟是非金融企业委托贷款提高外部审计师审计定价的部分中介因子。研究从非金融企业委托贷款视角丰富了审计定价的相关理论研究。     

Legal Liability,Government Intervention,and Auditor Behavior: Evidence from Structural Reform of Audit Firms in China

This paper investigates how legal liability influences audit quality and audit fees, particularly in the presence of government intervention. Since 2010, all Chinese audit firms were required to transform from a structure of limited liability company (LLC) to limited liability partnership (LLP), which removes the cap on the liability exposure of negligent auditors. By adopting this natural experiment, we document the following findings: first, after audit firms reorganize as LLPs, auditors are more likely to (1) issue modified audit opinions and going-concern opinions, (2) constrain clients’ earnings management, and (3) charge a premium in audit fees, which suggest that exerting unlimited legal liability on negligent auditors improves both audit quality and audit fees. Second, the effect of the LLP adoption is more pronounced when auditors are from local audit firms, and clients are controlled by local governments. Further analyses suggest that the stock prices of clients positively react to the reform event, which indicates that LLP adoption improves the overall value of audits. In summary, our empirical findings are consistent with the argument that legal liability is able to effectively shape auditor behavior in emerging markets where the other institutional mechanisms are relatively weaker and government intervention is heavy.