审计判断信心研究:一项实验的证据

行为决策理论认为判断信心是影响判断质量的一个重要因素。本文以内部控制风险判断和持续经营能力判断为实验任务,采用实验方法检验了审计人员经验、努力程度等因素与审计判断信心的关系。研究发现,审计人员的经验、努力程度与审计判断信心存在显著的正向关系,任务困难程度的主观感知与审计判断信心存在显著的负向关系,而男性审计人员判断信心明显高于女性审计人员。     

Disclosure of fair value measurement in goodwill impairment test and audit fees

Recent increases in the occurrence and magnitude of goodwill impairment charges highlight the increasing importance of the role of the auditor in goodwill accounting. This study examines the association between disclosures about the fair value measurement of goodwill and audit fees. We find that goodwill-related disclosures are positively related to audit fees, consistent with the idea that auditors increase their audit efforts to mitigate potential reputational and litigation losses (“audit risk effect”). Additionally, our results indicate that the information asymmetry and investor scrutiny moderate the association between goodwill-related disclosures and audit fees. One possible explanation is that auditors take goodwill-related disclosures as a signal of truthful goodwill accounting and this “signaling effect” partially offsets the “audit risk effect” of goodwill-related disclosures when information asymmetry or investor scrutiny is perceived as high.     

Audit Effort and Market‐perceived Risk: Evidence from South Korea

Auditors incur a loss of credibility and/or status or litigation costs only when investors recognise audit failures. In this respect, auditors may be concerned about an increase in market‐perceived risk even though the total amount of audit risk is constant. Consistent with this reasoning, I find that auditors increase audit effort in response to increases in market‐perceived information risk. This suggests that the expected costs of audit failures are a function of investors’ recognition, and thus increased market‐perceived risk causes auditors to become more concerned about their audit failures and to increase audit effort. Further, this study shows that audit effort is effective in reducing market‐perceived information risk, suggesting that auditors contribute to the information environment.     

Auditors' Perceived Business Risk and Audit Fees: Analysis and Evidence

This study analyzes the relation between auditors' perceived business risk and audit fees to determine whether audit firms or their clients bear the expected legal costs of business risk. We predict that hourly audit fees and the number of audit hours are increasing in business risk. Using confidential survey data collected by a large international accounting firm for 422 audits, we find that high business risk increases the number of audit hours, but not the fee per hour. This implies that firms perceive firm-level differences in business risk and obtain compensation through billing additional hours, not by raising the hourly charge.     

Effect of different types of feedback on the level of auditors' configural information processing

Previous audit judgement research has emphasized the importance of auditors processing information configurally (i.e. jointly considering the impact of different cues). This paper examines the impact of four different forms of feedback (outcome, task properties, cognitive and combined) on increasing the extent of configural information processing by auditors. We find that task properties, cognitive and combined (task properties plus cognitive) feedback all lead to increased configural information processing. There is no impact of outcome feedback. We also find that the extent of configural processing is positively associated with our measure of judgement performance. We discuss the implications of the results for audit firms.     

Auditor Expertise and the Estimation of Dollar Error in Accounts

A major task that auditors undertake in formulating their audit opinion is to estimate the dollar error that might exist in accounts in light of their evaluation of internal control strengths and weaknesses. The research that has been undertaken to evaluate the quality of auditor performance on this task, however, has produced mixed results. The current study tries to overcome some theoretical limitations and measurement limitations that have undermined prior studies. Forty practising auditors rated their abilities on fourteen characteristics derived from a model of expertise. They then undertook an experiment where they judged the extent of dollar error that might exist in the inventories of a manufacturing company. They based their judgments on working papers provided to them that contained, among other information, an evaluation of the company's internal control system. An estimate of the 'true' dollar error in the inventories was calculated using a program that simulated the company's internal control and accounting system. This estimate was then used to calculate the accuracy of the auditors' judgments. Their ratings on the expertise characteristics were not related to their judgment accuracy. Their ratings were related, however, to their confidence in their judgment accuracy. Auditors who considered themselves more expert at the task were more confident in their judgment accuracy but they were, in fact, no more accurate than auditors who considered themselves to be less expert at the task.     

Auditor specialization, perceived audit quality, and audit fees in the local government audit market

Prior governmental research implies a positive relation between auditor specialization and audit quality, but the effect of specialization on audit fees is mixed. However, no single governmental study investigates the effect of auditor specialization on both audit quality and audit fees. Also, prior studies focus on either large- or small audit firms and often employ indirect proxies for audit quality. We study the effects of auditor specialization on perceived audit quality and audit fees. Our data represent both Big 5 and smaller audit firms and include three market-based measures of specialization. We survey 241 Florida local government finance directors and find that specialization is positively associated with perceived audit quality but not with audit fees. We also find that Big 5 auditors, often used as a proxy for higher audit quality in prior research, are not uniformly associated with increased perceived audit quality but consistently charge higher audit fees. Our results confirm a relation between measures of audit firm specialization and audit quality and raise questions regarding audit firm size and audit quality in the municipal sector. Our findings suggest that engaging specialized auditors may be good policy for many local governments.     

The Effect of Audit Partner Diversity on Audit Quality: Evidence from China

This study examines the effects of audit partner diversity on audit quality. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2004–2018, we find that audit quality is positively associated with audit partner diversity in educational background, gender, and generational cohort. These findings suggest that diverse partner teams outperform homogenous teams and support the information perspective that audit partner diversity produces different viewpoints and perspectives, thus reducing judgement bias and leading to higher audit quality. Furthermore, we find that client information asymmetry, auditor task motivation, and task ability play a moderating role in reinforcing the positive effects of audit partner diversity on audit quality. Our findings have practical implications for audit firm personnel dispatching and team formation, and heighten the need to integrate team dynamics in the audit quality framework.     

The Importance of Business Risk in Setting Audit Fees: Evidence from Cases of Client Misconduct

Previous research provides evidence that, for the clients of a large audit firm, audit clients with higher perceived business risk bear the expected costs of this risk with higher audit fees. We extend the literature, which focuses on the relation between litigation risk and audit fees, by examining alleged client misconduct that is not illegal but possibly increases business risk. In particular, we examine the relation between audit fees and business risk for audit clients doing business in developing countries where bribery of top government officials has been an accepted business practice. We hypothesize that bribery‐paying clients are riskier because of both client business risk and audit business risk. Using data collected from Securities and Exchange Commission filings and audit fee data in the 1970s, before the passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, we provide evidence that audit fees were higher for clients that disclosed paying bribes. This evidence is consistent with an audit market where auditors assess business risk at the client level, then pass their expected costs to the client in the form of higher audit fees.     

An empirical investigation of the impact of audit and auditor characteristics on auditor performance

We use a unique and confidential database of 15,392 tax audits performed by the Croatian Tax Administration during the 2002–2006 period to examine the impact of task complexity, auditor experience, and auditor effort on audit performance. We provide external validation to prior experimental and analytical research showing that task complexity decreases while auditor experience and effort increase audit performance. We also extend this literature by examining the roles of task complexity and experience in moderating the impact of the effort on audit performance. We find that task complexity mitigates, while experience enhances the positive relationship between auditor effort and performance. However, we also find that auditor experience reinforces the positive effect of auditor effort on performance to a greater degree when complexity is high. Taken together, our findings provide new evidence on how audit and auditor characteristics impact audit performance, and new insight into how task complexity and auditor experience separately and jointly moderate the impact of auditor effort on performance.     

The effect of general counsel prominence on the pricing of audit services

We investigate the effect of corporate general counsel (GC) ascension to the senior management team on the pricing of audit services. Prior research suggests that the GC position may have a significant influence in setting the tone at the top by promoting corporate integrity, ethics, and serving as a governance and monitoring mechanism, but also recognizes that prominent GCs may face ethical dilemmas, causing them to disregard professional responsibilities to curry the favor of the CEO and other executives. Using audit fees to proxy for audit engagement risk, we find a negative association between GC ascension to top management and audit fees. We investigate the mechanisms behind this relation and find GC ascension is associated with a reduction in both default risk and financial misstatement risk, which supports auditors’ perceived reduction in client business risk and audit risk, respectively.     

Audit quality indicators: Perspectives from Non-Big Four audit firms and small company audit committees

Through a combined study, we explore the professional perspectives of two distinct PCAOB constituent groups related to the PCAOB's proposed regulatory approach for audit quality indicators. First, we examine the comment letters of Non-Big Four audit firms and find that this specific constituent group views most of the PCAOB's proposed audit quality indicators as infeasible and redundant. Further, Non-Big Four audit firms contend that the indicators require greater clarification from the regulator as well as substantial accompanying qualitative context to avoid misinterpretation that may lead to unintended consequences. Second, we survey a collection of audit committee members from small, publicly-traded companies regarding the current evaluation and perceived effectiveness of eleven specific PCAOB audit quality indicators, each of which is well-established in the extant audit quality literature. We find indicators related to auditor personnel with specialized skill and knowledge, experience of audit personnel, and the timely reporting of internal control issues are perceived to possess the highest level of effectiveness in the evaluation of audit quality.     

内部控制缺陷信息披露对个人投资者风险认知的影响:一项实验研究

研究个人投资者对内部控制信息披露的反应机理具有重要的与内部控制披露管制相关的政策含义。本文运用实验研究方法,研究了内部控制缺陷信息披露对个人投资者风险认知的影响。研究发现,内部控制缺陷的严重程度对个人投资者的风险认知具有显著影响,但投资者对不披露任何缺陷与披露重要缺陷并没有进行差异化的风险认知反应;管理层对内部控制缺陷的描述程度对个人投资者的风险认知无显著影响。本文研究还发现,对管理者的信任是内部控制缺陷对个人投资者风险认知影响的一个重要中介变量;注册会计师的内部控制审计报告对个人投资者风险认知具有显著影响,在披露内部控制缺陷的情况下,对内部控制审计报告的使用程度越高,越能强化内部控制缺陷对个人投资者风险认知的消极影响。     

Effect of perceived conflict among multiple performance goals and goal difficulty on task performance

Contemporary performance measurement systems, such as the balanced scorecard, often advocate the use of an array of financial and non‐financial measures. Despite many claimed advantages for these systems, recent research shows that the inclusion of multiple performance measures sometimes has undesirable effects. The present study examines one of the potential problems of implementing these systems; namely, the impact of perceived goal conflict on task performance. Using survey data from employees working in multiple call centres in a telecommunication company, we find that perceived goal difficulty increases perceived goal conflict. Additionally, perceived goal difficulty also has a negative, indirect effect of task performance, through the mediating role of perceived goal conflict. Our results have important implications for both the research literature and the designers of performance measurement systems.     

Political connection and cost of debt: Some Malaysian evidence

This paper investigates the association between Malaysian politically connected (PCON) firms and the cost of debt. We extend previous research that finds Malaysian PCON firms are perceived as being of higher risk by the market, and by audit firms, by providing evidence that lenders also perceive these firms as being of higher risk. We also find that PCON firms have a significantly (1) higher extent of leverage, (2) higher likelihood of reporting a loss, (3) higher likelihood of having negative equity, and (4) higher likelihood of being audited by a big audit firm. We suggest that PCON firms are charged higher interest rates by lenders as a result of efficient contracting given their higher inherent risks. Additionally, we find that CEO duality present in PCON firms is perceived by lenders as being more risky, and that a higher proportion of independent directors on the audit committee mitigate this perceived risk.     

Communicating production outcomes as gains or losses,operator skill and their effects on safety-related violations in a simulated production context

In this study, violation-producing conditions from an organizational and individual point of view are investigated. In concrete terms, framing effects of production outcome displays in relation to production goals, the risk of a technical accident, as well as person-related variables and their impact on violations are investigated based on the theoretical assumptions of prospect theory and risk-taking. It is assumed that violations are more likely when performance is below the aspiration level associated with an anticipated loss. A 2?×?3 factorial experimental design (n?=?118) was selected in accordance with the ‘Asian Disease’ decision scenario in the form of a computer-simulated task environment Simulation Waste Water Treatment. Participants acted out the role of a production supervisor running a plant. Experimental conditions were (1) the framing of individual performance outcomes in relation to the production goals in terms of losses or gains, and (2) the risk (20, 35, and 5%) with which an accident (a deflagration) might occur through using a corner-cutting procedure. A significant main effect of the framing conditions and no effect of risk conditions or interaction effect emerged. An additional path analysis shows the influence of risky decision-making and acquired skills in terms of knowledge of the safety-related procedure on a violation. In summary, violations are strongly affected by (a) framing effects of production outcomes when the performance is below the aspiration level and (b) person-related variables, in particular risky decision-making and skill. Results strongly emphasize that we found violation-producing conditions over and above what has so far been proposed and give rise to our claim that communicating production outcomes as gains and the increase of skill increases the likelihood of compliance with safety-related procedures.     

小额赢利、独立董事和审计鉴证

有关中国资本市场的研究揭示,微利公司更容易被出具非标准无保留意见,本文通过此类非标准意见的说明段,发现其涉及事项和独立董事关注的公司非正常治理结构明显重合。进一步的检验则揭示,独立董事比例的增加能够提升公司机会主义特征激发非标准审计意见的概率,聘入行业专家型的独立董事则有利于公司的营运能力激发标准的审计意见。结论表明独立董事在规避渎职风险的过程中,通过充分披露信息来避免过高的机会主义阻止成本,和审计鉴证发生了协同效应。     

How do auditors view managers’ voluntary disclosure strategy? The effect of earnings guidance on audit fees

The objective of this study is to examine the relation between attributes of earnings forecasts issued by managers and audit fees. Although there is an extensive literature on managers’ disclosure of earnings forecasts, there is a paucity of research on how auditors incorporate information from these voluntary disclosures. We find that the issuance of an annual or quarterly management earnings forecast in the prior period is positively associated with the current period audit fees. Our results indicate that on average, audit fees are higher by about 7% for firm-years associated with an annual forecast. Among the firms that issue earnings forecasts, we find no association between audit fees and likelihood of updating a previously issued earnings forecast, indicating that auditors do not view such behavior negatively. Further, we find audit fees to be positively associated with the error and the bias (or optimism) in the forecasts for annual forecasts but not for quarterly forecasts. Overall, these results suggest that management’s forecast behavior captures higher business risk for the auditor via greater risk of earnings management or litigation risk.     

Audit personnel salaries and audit quality

This study examines the relation between audit personnel salaries and office-level audit quality. We measure audit personnel salaries at the associate, senior, and manager ranks for Big 4 audit offices from 2004 to 2013, using unique individual-auditor-level data obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor. We find that offices that pay lower salaries have a higher percentage of clients that experience restatements. In related analyses, we also find lower levels of audit quality when audit employees are paid less, relative to other lines of service in accounting firms. Finally, we document positive and significant associations between salary and fees, suggesting that audit offices pass some of the cost of higher labor onto their clients. Overall, our findings provide important initial evidence on the role of audit salary and its relation to audit quality and audit fees.     

Do corporate governance attributes affect adverse selection costs? Evidence from seasoned equity offerings

We examine the relation between corporate governance attributes and perceived information asymmetry. In a sample of seasoned equity offerings between 1996 and 2001, we find that board independence, size of the audit committee, and officer and director ownership mitigate the negative effect of the equity offering announcement on share prices. These results are consistent with the notion that investors perceive certain governance systems to better align manager and shareholder incentives, which improves firm access to capital markets.