审计任期与审计质量:来自中国证券市场的经验证据

本文以中国证券市场上2000年至2002年期间获得标准无保留审计意见的上市公司为样本,使用经过一定调整后的截面Jones模型估计出的公司操纵性应计利润的绝对值作为审计质量的衡量指标,考察了会计师事务所审计任期与审计质量之间的关系。研究发现,在控制了事务所变更、事务所特征、行业成长性、公司规模、经营业绩、资产负债率、上市年龄以及样本所在年度后,审计任期与公司操纵性应计利润的绝对值呈正U型关系,即审计任期与审计质量呈倒U型关系。进一步分析发现,当审计任期小于一定年份(约6年)时,审计任期的增加对审计质量具有正面影响,而当审计任期超过一定年份(约6年)时,审计任期的增加对审计质量具有负面影响。

Auditor tenure and Audit Quality: Empirical Evidence from the Chinese Securities Market

This paper,using the data of those listed firms that received clean audit opinions during 2000 to 2002 in the Chinese Securities Market,and measuring audit quality by the discretionary accruals calculated by the Cross-sectional Jones Model,investigates the relationship between auditor tenure and audit quality.We find that,after controlling the influence of other variables,the relationship between auditor tenure and the absolute value of discretionary accruals is “U” shape,i.e.,the relationship between auditor tenure and audit quality is inverse “U” shape.Further analysis indicates that,when auditor tenure is less than 6 years,the increase of tenure has positive effects on audit quality,but when auditor tenure is more than 6 years,it has negative effects on audit quality.