产权性质、不良贷款率与审计费用——来自上市商业银行的经验证据

本文运用2003—2008年我国A股上市商业银行的数据,采用偏最小二乘法和广义最小二乘法,实证分析了我国银行产权性质、不良贷款率与审计费用之间的关系。研究发现:国有控股银行的审计费用更高,且流动性比例对审计费用的影响更大;不良贷款率高的银行审计费用也较高。不同产权性质的银行中,各类风险对审计费用的影响存在着一定的差异,如国家控股银行的流动性比例对审计费用的影响更为明显。所以,审计机构需根据产权性质对各类风险指标给予不同程度的关注。     

非审计服务影响注册会计师独立性吗?——来自中国证券市场的经验数据

长期以来,非审计服务对审计独立性的影响问题备受各界争议,且目前国内尚无人从实证研究角度进行验证。本文以2001—2004年报中同时披露审计与非审计费用的A股上市公司为研究对象,以操控性应计利润作为审计独立性的替代变量,在国内首次验证了非审计服务对审计独立性的影响。检验结果表明：非审计费用及其与总费用比重的大小对操控性应计利润没有明显影响。也就是说,在我国,没有证据显示,非审计服务的提供会影响注册会计师的审计独立性。     

管理层干预、审计委员会独立性与盈余管理

已有研究发现,审计委员会独立性通常能够有效监控财务报告流程,而那些在形式上独立的审计委员会可能在实质上并不独立,公司管理层对董事会的干预可能对审计委员会监控作用产生重要影响。本文通过盈余管理来检验管理层干预是否会削弱审计委员会的监控效力。研究发现,当公司管理层没有涉入董事任命时,审计委员会独立性能够发挥较好的监控作用,但是,一旦公司管理层涉入董事任命,审计委员会独立性的监控作用将被削弱。     

盈余管理对审计费用影响分析——来自中国上市公司首次审计费用披露的证据

审计收费作为客户与注册会计师之间重要的经济联系,是审计研究的重要对象;而在资本市场与会计市场的发展过程中,盈余管理问题也引起了广泛而高度的重视。那么,上市公司的盈余管理问题是否会影响到注册会计师的收费呢?自2001年开始,上市公司需要在年报中披露支付给会计师事务所的报酬情况,本文选取了2001年报按照证监会要求披露审计费用的282家公司作为研究样本,发现公司盈余管理的表现之一,即公司的净资产收益率(ROE)处于“保牌”区间,是年度财务审计费用的显著影响因素;此外,公司规模、是否由国际5大(4大)所审计显著正向影响年度财务审计费用。     

创建第三方审计费用支付平台——消除审计费用支付对审计独立性的影响

审计独立性是注册会计师执行审计业务的灵魂。本文针对目前我国审计费用支付方式存在的问题进行分析,阐述其对审计独立性的影响,并提出创建"第三方审计费用支付平台",改变当前审计费用支付方式,切断被审计单位与会计师事务所存在的直接经济利益关系,增强注册会计师的审计独立性,提高审计业务质量。     

审计费用信息隐藏与审计质量——基于审计独立性和投资者感知视角的研究

根据证监会的规定,上市公司应当在年度报告中披露支付给会计师事务所的报酬。然而,我国每年仍有一定数量的公司没有按照规定披露审计费用。为此,本文从审计独立性和投资者感知审计质量两个视角分析审计收费信息隐藏情境下的审计质量。研究发现:(1)如果上市公司不披露审计费用信息,那么会弱化可控应计与非标审计意见之间的正向关系,这意味着不披露审计费用可能会有损审计独立性;(2)不披露审计费用的公司所披露的超预期盈余的盈余反应系数较低,即投资者对这类公司的感知审计质量较低。     

审计费用的特征及其分析——来自沪市上市公司的经验证据

研究结果发现，会计师事务所的规模以及上市公司的行业分布、股权性质、盈利情况等因素，对审计费用具有显的影响。同时，在研究过程中我们发现，目前存在比较严重的审计费用拖欠情况，相关监管部门应该重视这一问题并予以解决。     

国外有关商业银行贷款损失拨备与经济周期关系的研究

贷款损失拨备是商业银行抵御风险的第一道防线,其计提充分与否能影响银行资本吸收损失的能力,进而对经济周期的波动产生影响。在当前国内外金融监管当局再次关注金融机构跨经济周期稳健经营问题的背景下,本文总结了国外有关商业银行贷款损失拨备与经济周期关系的研究。     

盈余管理、事务所客户资源控制权的归属与审计质量——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

与西方市场仅能观察到事务所变更不同的是,中国资本市场还同时提供了审计师变更的佐证。基于此,本文应用新制度经济学中的资产专有理论,从审计师和事务所两个角度,分析了中国证券市场特有的审计师/事务所变更行为,并结合盈余管理和审计意见进一步分析这种行为的原因和后果。文章通过对比签字审计师离开事务所并带走客户的公司与签字审计师离开事务所没有带走客户的公司后,发现在审计师跳槽之前,公司的盈余管理越强,越会跟随审计师到新的事务所,表明客户资源的控制权归审计师而非事务所所有。并且,我们还发现,这类公司在审计师变更前的审计质量更差。本文的研究丰富了审计理论的研究手段和现有成果,并对于规范审计师行为和提高审计独立性具有积极的理论价值和现实意义。     

Non-audit Services and Auditor Independence: New Zealand Evidence

Abstract:  This paper examines evidence in New Zealand about whether auditors providing more non-audit services are less independent. Three sets of tests are used to address the issue. The first examines whether there is a relation between non-audit fees and audit fees, the second examines whether there is a relation between non-audit fees and audit report qualification or modification, and the third examines whether there is a relation between non-audit fees and stability of audit tenure. The results suggest a potential for the impairment of auditor independence in appearance when auditors provide non-audit services but no evidence of any impact on independence of mind.     

Auditor rotation and the appearance of independence: Evidence from non-professional investors

We examine the impact of audit firm versus partner rotation on non-professional investors’ independence-related perceptions, extending prior research on auditor rotation and independence in fact. Arguments for mandatory audit firm rotation continue to be made by regulators and investor groups based, in part, on the idea that firm rotation will incrementally strengthen independence in appearance relative to audit partner rotation. We report the results of two experiments. The first examines 5-year audit firm versus partner rotation under relatively weak or strong audit committees. We find no statistically significant difference in beliefs about how much of an income reducing audit difference management will record, or in beliefs about auditor independence, between the two auditor rotation conditions. On the other hand, we find that non-professional investors do believe more of the audit difference will be recorded, and the auditors will be more independent, under a strong audit committee than a relatively weak audit committee. The second experiment provides further evidence on audit firm versus partner rotation by examining a setting involving a 26-year audit firm–client relationship. Again, no statistically significant differences between the two auditor rotation conditions were found. These findings suggest that compared to audit partner rotation, audit firm rotation does not strengthen independence in appearance among non-professional investors and that non-professional investors recognize the value of strong audit committees.     

Capital and Earnings Management: Evidence from Alternative Banking Business Models

This paper examines whether institutional characteristics distinguishing Islamic from conventional banks lead to distinctive capital and earnings management behavior through the use of loan loss provisions. In our sample countries, the two banking sectors operate under different regulatory frameworks: conventional banks currently apply the “incurred” loan loss model until 2018 whereas Islamic banks mandatorily adopt an “expected” loan loss model. Our results provide significant evidence of capital and earnings management practices via loan loss provisions in conventional banks. This finding is more prominent for large and loss-generating banks. By contrast, Islamic banks tend not to use loan loss provisions in either capital or earnings management, irrespective of the bank's size, earnings profile, or the structure of their loan loss model. This difference may be attributed to the constrained business model of Islamic banking, strict governance, and ethical orientation.     

审计师变更与盈余管理关系的实证研究--来自中国A股市场的经验证据

通过对2001～2003年A股上市公司的实证研究发现:审计师变更与公司可操纵应计利润的增长具有显著正相关关系,且两者关系在不同年度、不同前期审计意见的情况下有所不同.这表明,一方面审计师变更影响到后任审计师的独立性,即公司能够通过更换审计师实现盈余管理的目标;另一方面,对前期非标审计意见的公司,审计师采取了较为谨慎的做法,且伴随着监管政策的逐渐强化,后任审计师的独立性逐年提高.     

市场化程度、审计师选择与借款融资——来自中国民营上市公司的经验证据

以2004～2009年民营A股上市公司为样本,具体考察了审计师选择对公司借款融资的影响。研究表明,民营上市公司选择"四大"为外部审计师,会显著有助于公司后续的借款融资;进一步研究发现,在市场化程度较低的地区,民营上市公司选择"四大"为外部审计师对获取借款融资的影响有所加强。分析认为,基于信号传递理论,银行为了降低对市场化程度较低地区企业的贷款风险,由高质量事务所代表的高质量审计必然成为公司外部治理环境不完善的一种有效替代机制,以降低银行和公司间的信息不对称,实现上市公司借款融资的目的。     

区域竞争与商业银行的盈余质量——基于我国商业银行的经验证据

本文运用2002-2014年间我国商业银行的数据,实证检验了银行业区域竞争程度对商业银行盈余质量的影响。研究结果显示,商业银行的区域竞争程度越高,银行的盈余质量水平越低。进一步,从银行规模和上市情况来看,随着竞争的加剧,规模较小的商业银行以及非上市的商业银行更倾向于进行盈余管理。同时,区域竞争对商业银行盈余质量的负向影响在由小所进行审计的银行中更加显著。本文的研究不仅丰富了商业银行盈余质量的影响因素及银行竞争的经济后果等方面的文献,还能在一定程度上深化利益相关者对我国商业银行盈余质量的认识。     

Audit report information content and the provision of non-audit services: Evidence from Spanish lending decisions

This study examines whether auditor economic independence affects the information content of going concern audit reports in the European setting. We conduct an experiment where 80 experienced Spanish loan officers from the second largest European commercial bank review a loan request under two lending scenarios: (1) a potential borrower receiving an unqualified but modified going concern opinion, and (2) a potential borrower receiving a qualified going concern opinion. Auditor economic independence, measured by the provision of non-audit services (NAS), is manipulated (absence vs. presence of significant NAS). We find that a qualified going concern audit report is interpreted as a primary warning signal (death penalty). However, the provision of NAS acts as a second order mechanism that only activates loan officers’ professional skepticism in the case of an unqualified but modified going concern report scenario. Therefore, we find evidence suggesting that the potential negative impact of a perceived lack of auditor independence depends on the nature of the audit report. Our findings have important implications for the European regulator, which is currently considering establishing an auditor independence regulation framework similar to that in the United States of America.     

Auditor independence, executive pay and firm performance

This paper investigates whether compensation committees actively intervene to adjust accounting performance‐based incentive schemes for the real, or perceived, reduced earnings credibility signalled by the purchase of non‐audit services. Using a nonlinear, two‐stage least‐squares method that accounts for the simultaneity of executive pay, firm performance and non‐audit fees, we find a significant negative relationship between non‐audit fees and the sensitivity of chief executive officer (CEO) pay to firm performance. Point estimates suggest that the reduced weight applied to accounting performance lowers the incentive component of executive pay between roughly 5 and 8 per cent for the CEO of the ‘average firm’.     

Auditor sanction and reputation damage: Evidence from changes in non-client-company directorships

This study examines whether audit partners who have also served on the boards of directors of companies other than the audit firms' clients lose their directorships after they are sanctioned. Using 2002–2015 Taiwanese samples, the empirical results at the company level show that sanctioned audit partners, particularly those with a serious sanction, are less likely to gain or retain their directorships than the non-sanctioned ones following sanctions. Moreover, the results at the individual level show that, among the audit partners already serving as directors, those who have a serious sanction hold fewer directorships and are more likely to exit the director market than the non-sanctioned ones. Among the audit partners not yet holding director positions, those who have been sanctioned, regardless of the sanction severity, are less likely to enter the director market than the non-sanctioned ones. These contrasting results suggest asymmetric reputation penalties for existing partner directors and potential partner directors following auditor sanctions. Overall, sanctions damage auditors’ reputation capital, and the adverse consequences spill over into the director market.     

我国商业银行贷款损失准备的效率分析

提取贷款损失准备金是商业银行应对信用风险的措施,无效的贷款损失准备对银行资本与盈利有一定的影响。以往的研究主要集中在银行有意愿操纵贷款损失准备方面,而对其贷款损失准备的决策效率很少涉及。贷款损失准备效率是指银行管理者对银行贷款损失准备决策的有效性,即实际设置的贷款损失准备与其有效边界的偏离程度。本文运用随机前沿模型研究了1998～2004年我国商业银行贷款损失准备的决策效率,实证结果发现,我国商业银行贷款损失准备决策效率具有一定的无效性,没有达到效率边界;股份制商业银行贷款损失准备的决策效率高于国有商业银行。