审计师辞聘影响因素:来自问卷调查的分析

审计师辞聘是审计师的主动辞职行为,对市场及投资者决策具有重要的信息含量.在我国,虽然证监会对上市公司及时向社会披露更换审计师的信息并说明引起审计师变更的原因做出了制度层面的规定,但我国上市公司披露审计师变更原因的比例并不高.尤其是发生审计师辞聘的公司,在年报中披露审计师辞聘信息并如实反映辞聘原因的情况更为鲜见.这给投资者以及监管部门了解在具备执行证券期货业务资格的会计师事务所工作的审计师(以下简称证券资格注册会计师)辞聘行为增加了难度.此外,对于非上市公司,目前尚未有明确的法律规定要求其对外公开披露审计师辞聘事件,对于在未获得执行证券期货业务资格的会计师事务所工作的审计师(以下简称非证券资格注册会计师)辞聘行为也是无从了解.本文采用问卷调查的方式研究证券资格注册会计师及非证券资格注册会计师辞聘的影响因素,探讨这些因素对这两类注册会计师的影响差异,以期为监管者及投资者决策提供参考.     

The use of analytical procedures by external auditors in Canada

The Enron debacle and other scandals highlight the issue of whether analytical procedures (APs) or more traditional audit approaches based on substantive testing are more appropriate. This paper surveys the use of APs by Canadian external auditors and augments understanding of the impact of auditing standards on professional practice. Our results demonstrate that APs are extensively applied in practice, particularly by larger firms, and that their use dominates the final review stage of the audit regardless of firm size. While standards do not appear to be an important influence upon practice for audit firms in general, this is not the case for smaller firms. Though auditors place more reliance on APs to reduce tests of detail, there are limits to this reliance. Our results indicate that while auditors may have increased their use of APs with the expectation of efficiency gains, these may be realized at present only partially.     

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.     

The impact of cultural environment on entry-level auditors’ abilities to perform analytical procedures

We focus on the impact of three of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism, on the results of analytical procedures conducted by entry-level auditors in Mexico and the U.S. Analytical procedures are ideal for this research as they require auditors to use professional judgment and appropriate levels of professional skepticism, abilities related to all three cultural characteristics. We find no other study investigating the impact of culture on the application of auditing procedures similar across the studied cultures.We find cultural characteristics do not affect the participants’ abilities to predict income statement balances, but they may influence the ability to predict changes in balance sheet accounts. We also find culture is associated with differences in risk assessments. Our results indicate that participants rarely differentiate accounts that change according to expectation from those that change contrary to expectation, but rather alter their risk assessments to match the direction of balances that increase or decrease.     

Assurance provided by auditors' reports on prospective financial information: implications for the expectation gap

The results of this study indicate significant differences in beliefs between auditors, users and preparers of prospective financial information, concerning forecast reliability and the role and responsibilities of auditors and management. Contrary to the usual published studies on expectation gap, it was found that auditors believe that forecasts are more reliable than users or preparers. Auditors also believe that they have a higher level of responsibility and accountability than is attributed to them by users or preparers. Beliefs were affected by the type of report issued by the auditor and subjects were able to discriminate between the level of assurance provided by positive and negative assurance opinions. However, based on the responses of shareholders, it appears that the negative assurance opinion on assumptions for an audit might confuse users and might not meet the demands of the market.     

Media image of the CEO and the impact on auditors' perception of financial reporting reliability and client risk assessments

Regulators and legislators have recently adopted new governance reforms in an attempt to encourage more normative behavior by those in charge of organizations. It should not be surprising, therefore, that the image of the CEO projected by the media has become increasingly salient to decision makers. Still, the impact of CEO image on stakeholders' perceptions and subsequent behavior has received little attention by accounting researchers. In response to this void, we examine the relationship between two important environmental cues: CEO's image as presented in the media and earnings consistency. Our interest is the degree to which these variables influence auditors' perception of the ethics of corporate management, as well as their assessments of the risk of fraudulent financial statements. We document that auditor perceptions are influenced by positive media cues as well as negative cues. These results are inconsistent with auditors exercising professional skepticism which implies no reliance on positive cues, especially “managed media cues”. These results suggest that auditors, similar to others, are not immune to positive media cues about the CEO. This study contributes to the research literature examining factors that affect the perceived reliability of financial information by considering the effect of non-financial information—CEO image.     

联机收付系统总体方案设计

电子商务、电子政务的蓬勃发展，带动了网上支付、在线支付的需求。一些地区的人民银行以及结算中心．在大力推广使用中国现代化支付系统的同时，也以开展储蓄通存通兑、实时代收公共事业费用、电子缴税入库等业务为契机，积极组织联机收付系统的建设。     

The impact of confidence interval information on probability judgements

Previous efforts to demonstrate the value of confidence interval financial statements for credit evaluation and investment decisions have met with limited success. The present study examined the impact of nonfinancial confidence interval reports on predecisional behavior. A Bayesian revision task was used to investigate the impact of report type, information system uncertainty and decision problem uncertainty on the accuracy of probability judgements. All three variables influenced task performance. Moreover, subjects given confidence interval reports outperformed those who were given single-figure reports when significant information system and decision problem uncertainties were present. The results obtained here suggest several facets of the decision setting which may influence the value of confidence interval financial statements.     

A content analysis of auditors' reports on IT internal control weaknesses: The comparative advantages of an automated approach to control weakness identification

We employ an automated content analysis approach to provide a snapshot of the terminology auditors actually use to describe information technology weaknesses (ITWs). We develop and use a dictionary based on textual analysis of auditors' reports on internal control filed under Section 404 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act from 2004 to 2009. Using the dictionary with content analysis software led to the identification of 14 categories of ITWs in order of decreasing frequency of occurrence: (1) access, (2) monitoring, (3) design issues, (4) change and development, (5) end-user computing, (6) segregation of incompatible functions, (7) policies, (8) documentation, (9) masterfiles, (10) backup, (11) staffing sufficiency and competency, (12) security (other than over access), (13) outsourcing and (14) operations. The use of automated content analysis methodology also helped us identify potential disconnects between terminology used in auditors' reports and that used in published frameworks and guidelines. We provide the dictionary and discuss the methodology used in creating and applying the dictionary to the analysis of the textual content of auditors' reports on internal control, including the advantages and limitations of automated ITW identification.     

The effects of experience and explicit fraud risk assessment in detecting fraud with analytical procedures

This paper reports the results of an experiment that examined the effects of audit experience and explicit fraud risk assessment instructions on the effectiveness of analytical procedures in detecting financial statement fraud. The results of this study suggest that audit managers are more effective than audit seniors in assessing the risk of fraud with analytical procedures. Additionally, explicit fraud risk assessment instructions resulted in more effective assessments of the presence of fraud. These results have implications for the assignment of auditors to tasks and the structuring of these tasks.     

The effects of trust, client importance, and goal commitment on auditors' acceptance of client-preferred methods

The purpose of this study is to extend our understanding of the factors that impact auditor judgment and decision-making. Specifically, we investigate how two factors, client importance and auditor trust, impact auditors' directional goal commitment and decision-making at the transaction level. We find no impact of client importance on the auditors' goal commitment or acceptance of a client preferred accounting treatment. However, we find that trust in client's management is positively related to the commitment to the goal of supporting the client's preferred method of recognizing revenue. Further, we find that auditors' goal commitment is positively related to their acceptance of a client preferred accounting treatment.     

The profitability of asset sales as an explanation of asset divestitures

Using Korean fixed asset divestiture data, I extend the investigation of the financing hypothesis of divestitures proposed by Lang et al. (Lang, L., Poulsen, A., Stulz, R., 1995. Asset sales, firm performance, and the agency costs of managerial discretion, Journal of Financial Economics 37, 3.37). In particular, I take into account the profitability of announced asset divestitures and I employ a unique sample constructed to avoid effects that might confound the results. I also take into account the financial condition of the selling firms. The results are consistent with the financing hypothesis proposed by Lang et al. and show that the financing hypothesis of divestitures is robust to controls for the profitability of asset sales and the financial condition of selling firms.     

Impact of Underwriting Cycles on the Solvency of an Insurance Company

Abstract

This paper studies the solvency of an insurance firm in the presence of underwriting cycles. A small or medium-size insurance company with a price-taker position in the market is considered. Its premium income is assumed to obey an autoregressive process with cycles. Specifically, the premium income for a specific calendar year is influenced by the market experience for the last couple years. Under this classical AR(2) dynamics governing the premium income, an explicit expression for the ultimate ruin probability is derived, using a martingale approach, in the lighttailed claims case. Furthermore, the logarithmic asymptotic behavior of the ultimate ruin probability as well as the typical path to ruin are investigated. Then a comparison is made with the classical case where the same company operates on a market without such cycles. Asymptotically, the presence of market cycles is shown to increase the risk for the company. Numerical illustrations are performed on Canadian motor insurance market data and support the theoretical analysis.     

Use of forward versus backward reasoning during audit analytical procedures: evidence from a computerised-process-tracing field study

Audit judgement research has widely assumed that auditors rely primarily on backward reasoning during analytical procedures but the relative use of forward reasoning has not been directly examined. The present study explains how auditors use backward and forward reasoning during analytical procedures, discusses evidence from other research suggesting that forward reasoning could be more prevalent, and examines the relative use of forward reasoning during analytical procedures with data from a computerised process‐tracing field study. Results suggest that auditors rely extensively on forward reasoning when using analytical procedures. Findings motivate future research that examines when forward and backward reasoning are most effective.     

External auditors' willingness to rely on the work of internal auditors: The influence of work style and barriers to cooperation

The extent to which external auditors rely on the work of internal auditors is an important judgment. Recently, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has recommended that external auditors “rely (more) on the work of others” to reduce the greater-than-expected costs associated with compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act. Reliance decisions, however, are complex decision tasks that require professional judgment and may be influenced by a number of factors, both external (environmental) and internal (cognitive and affective), including the auditors' working style and pervious experiences related to barriers to external/internal auditor cooperation (e.g., previously experienced low versus high internal auditor objectivity and/or competence). We experimentally examine these influences in our research reported herein. Consistent with expectations, external auditors' work styles significantly influenced the extent of planned audit testing, internal auditor reliance judgments, and interpretation of analytical procedures results. Auditors' perceptions about internal auditors' competence and objectivity, developed over years of interaction, also influenced these judgments, and interacted with work styles. Inconsistent with expectations, auditor rank (senior versus manager) did not influence judgments.     

Endogenous entry/exit as an alternative explanation for the disciplining role of independent analysts

Gu and Xue [2008. The superiority and disciplining role of independent analysts. Journal of Accounting and Economics, this issue, doi:10.1016/j.jacceco.2008.02.002] study the disciplining effect of independent analysts on the accuracy and forecast relevance of the forecasts of non-independent analysts. One of the intriguing results is that while independent analysts issue inferior forecasts, their presence appears to reduce the forecast bias, improve the forecast accuracy and increase the forecast relevance of forecasts issued by non-independent analysts. We explore alternative explanations for the Gu–Xue results. Our evidence of endogenous entry and exit of independent analysts provides a more compelling explanation for the reported results.     

Impact of an accounting environment on cash flow prediction

This study investigates the impact of an accounting environment on the performance of cash flow prediction models. It is hypothesized that the cash flow model by Barth, Cram, and Nelson [Acc. Rev. 76 (2001) 27] performs well in countries where the accruals are used mainly to correct cash flows to better reflect current profitability of the firm, i.e., in countries with high information content of accruals. The results suggest that the model performs consistently across countries, except in Germany. As hypothesized, the impacts of the explanatory variables are similar in market-oriented countries with separated financial accounting and taxation, with strong shareholder protection and legislation based on common-law origin, i.e., in countries with high quality of accruals. By contrast, the impacts are different in countries with low quality of accruals. The results imply that the cash flow prediction model by Barth et al. [Acc. Rev. 76 (2001) 27] can be used in different kinds of accounting environments. However, the exact parameter values are dependent on the accounting environment.     

An explanation of the forward premium 'puzzle'

Existing literature reports a puzzle about the forward rate premium over the spot foreign exchange rate. The premium is often negatively correlated with subsequent changes in the spot rate. This defies economic intuition and possibly violates market efficiency. Rational explanations include non-stationary risk premia and econometric mis-specifications, but some embrace the puzzle as a guide to profitable trading.
We suggest there is really no puzzle. A simple model fits the data: forward exchange rates are unbiased predictors of subsequent spot rates. The puzzle arises because the forward rate, the spot rate, and the forward premium follow nearly non-stationary time series processes. We document these properties with an extended sample and show why they give the delusion of a puzzle.     

An alternative explanation of the price puzzle

This paper proposes an explanation for the frequent appearance of a price puzzle in VARs designed for monetary policy analysis. It assumes that the data are generated by a model in which output and output gap are not equivalent, while an econometrician follows the common practice of including only output in the VAR. The omission of the output gap is shown to spuriously produce a price puzzle (and several other incorrect conclusions) in a class of commonly used models. This can happen even if the model admits a triangular identification and if the forecasts produced by the misspecified VAR are optimal. When the model is tested on US data, all predictions are supported. A commodity price index is not needed to solve the puzzle.     

Strategic timing of annual earnings announcements: evidence from an order-driven market

Using Spanish data, this paper examines, for the first time, the differences in the intraday response of an order-driven market to earnings announcements made during trading and non-trading hours. We show that the speed of reaction depends on timing of the announcement: for overnight (daytime) announcements, the improvement in liquidity is (not) immediate. This finding could explain why Spanish firms prefer to release the bad (good) earnings announcement in trading (non-trading) hours. This strategic timing differs from the traditional disclosure policy in American markets, suggesting that different microstructures may react differently to news releases and, consequently, drive the strategic timing of corporate disclosures.