Regulatory Sanctions on Independent Directors and Their Consequences to the Director Labor Market: Evidence from China

We investigate the regulatory sanctions imposed on independent directors for their firms’ financial frauds in China. These regulatory sanctions are prima-facie evidence of significant lapses in business ethics. During the period 2003–2010, 302-person-time independent directors were penalized by the regulator (the China Securities Regulatory Commission—the CSRC), and the two stock exchanges. We find that the independent directors with accounting experiences are more likely to be penalized by the CSRC, though they do not suffer more severe penalties than do the other sanctioned independent directors. We also find that independent directors suffer less severe penalties than do the insider directors. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the sanctions on independent directors are tied to their assumed ethical and legal responsibilities. Following a regulatory sanction, penalized independent directors experience a significant decline in the number of other board seats held. However, they can gain board seats in better quality firms. We find that interlocked firms that share penalized independent directors with the fraud firm do not suffer from a valuation decline. Overall, our results suggest that regulatory sanctions have not triggered further sanctions on the penalized directors in the labor market but they have, instead, created a disincentive for these directors to serve on the company boards of high-risk firms.     

Busy Auditors,Ethical Behavior,and Discretionary Accruals Quality in Malaysia

The required professional and ethical pronouncements of accountants mean that auditors need to be competent and exercise due care and skill in the performance of their audits. In this study, we examine what happens when auditors take on more clients than they should, thus raising doubts about their ability to maintain competence and audit quality. Using 2803 observations of Malaysian companies from 2010 to 2013, we find that auditors with multiple clients are associated with lower earnings quality, proxied by total accruals and discretionary accruals. Our results demonstrate that associating client firms’ reported discretionary accruals with individual auditors, rather than their firms or offices, is important in determining audit quality. Moreover, we demonstrate that the disclosure of auditors’ signatures on their reports is useful for assessing auditor quality at the individual level, thus contributing to the debate on the usefulness of having auditor identities on reports.     

Financial Statement Frauds and Auditor Sanctions: An Analysis of Enforcement Actions in China

The rising tide of corporate scandals and audit failures has shocked the public, and the integrity of auditors is being increasingly questioned. It is crucial for auditors and regulators to understand the main causes of audit failure and devise preventive measures accordingly. This study analyzes enforcement actions issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission against auditors in respect of fraudulent financial reporting committed by listed companies in China. We find that auditors are more likely to be sanctioned by the regulators for failing to detect and report material misstatement frauds rather than disclosure frauds. Further analysis of the material misstatements indicates that auditors are more likely to be sanctioned for failing to detect and report revenue-related frauds rather than assets-related frauds. In sum, our results suggest that regulators believe auditors have the responsibility to detect and report frauds that are egregious, transaction-based, and related to accounting earnings. The results contribute to our knowledge of auditors’ responsibilities for detecting frauds as perceived by regulators.     

Auditor Experiences,Accounting Firm Size,and Client Ownership

This study investigates whether accounting firms match the experience level of individual auditors with the risk level of clients in order to control audit risk. We find that accounting firms tend to assign more experienced auditors to non-state-owned clients that typically have higher tendency to engage in earnings management. Such an assignment pattern is more pronounced for non-Big 4 accounting firms. Further analysis suggests that auditors＇ experience helps reduce clients＇ earnings management level, proxied by abnormal accruals, and thus improves the audit quality. This study enriches the literature on the allocation of human resources and the risk control mechanism in the audit services industry, which has been seldom explored in prior studies.     

"四大"在中国A股证券审计市场的行为研究

"四大"在全球资本市场中扮演着重要的角色,很多学者直接将"四大"作为高质量审计的代名词。本文对"四大"于2003至2006年期间在中国A股证券审计市场的行为进行了研究,研究发现:"四大"的市场占有率逐年提高,同时各成员所之间也存在着激烈的竞争,较之"非四大",其选择的客户的规模大、财务质量高、ST(或*ST)客户比例低,另外,"四大"的独立性强,在相关行业已培育了显著的行业专长,能够提供高质量的审计服务,同时收取较低比率的审计费用。     

Ethical Issues Related to the Provision of Audit and Non-Audit Services: Evidence from Academic Research

Audit standards require auditors to conduct audits being independent in mental attitude from their clients. Regulators and financial statement users are concerned that auditors compromise their independence by allowing clients that contract for consulting services, i.e., non-audit services, more financial statement discretion relative to clients that demand relatively little non-audit services from their auditor. This paper begins by discussing the role of auditing in the capital markets and the various stakeholders that rely on audited financial information in making their capital allocation decisions. The paper continues by explaining the ethical dilemma inherent in audit contracts in general, and more specifically, how the provision of non-audit services threatens auditor independence. The paper concludes by summarizing research studies that report conflicting evidence that there is a violation of auditor independence due to the provision of non-audit services to audit clients.     

产权性质视角下的银行业审计质量与经济利益关系研究——基于偏最小二乘法的估计

以中国2001—2010年A股上市商业银行为研究样本,运用偏最小二乘法,检验不同产权性质的商业银行支付给审计师的经济利益与审计质量的关联性。研究发现:相对于非政府控制的上市银行,政府控制的上市银行支付给审计师的经济利益越大,盈余管理幅度越高;在为政府控制银行提供业务的过程中,银行给予审计师的经济利益过高,导致审计师未能有效地抑制银行的盈余管理行为,审计质量受损,而在为非政府控制的上市银行提供业务情形中,审计质量并未随着经济利益的增加而降低。     

Auditor switching, earnings manipulation and auditor independence: Evidence from A-share listed companies in China

Based on data from Chinese A-share listed companies between 1999 and 2004, this paper examines the causes of auditor switching and its effects on the independence of successive auditors from the perspective of earnings manipulation. Results show that: (1) listed companies manipulate their earnings through replacing their auditor and the successive auditor fails to exercise necessary prudence; (2) for companies reporting profit in the year of auditor change, the formerly low discretionary accruals usually increase significantly after the switch mostly resulting from assets devaluation and adjustments to non-recurring items; (3) In contrast, for companies reporting losses in the year of auditor change, they take a “big bath” to adjust lower earnings of the same year. These findings indicate that auditor change is related to the conservatism of predecessor auditors and it damages the independence of successive auditors.      

The Effect of Clients’ Auditing Experience and Concession-Timing Strategies on Auditor-Client Negotiations

The objective of this study was to examine the role of auditing experience, in auditor-client negotiations, in determining the value of the negotiated outcome. We also assessed whether it alters the effect of auditors’ concession timing-strategies on this outcome. Using an experimental method, we selected our respondents from two groups of financial officers (clients), those with and those without auditing experience. To determine the effect of the financial officers’ auditing experience and the concession-timing strategies adopted by their auditors, we measured the magnitude of the audit adjustment in an auditor-client negotiation. Our findings showed that auditing experience and concession-timing strategies affect the magnitude of the audit adjustments separately, but that auditing experience has no moderating effect on the relationship between concession timing and the final audit adjustment of the financial officers. A practical implication of this study is that it identified the ways in which auditor-client negotiations actually work. It is important that auditors obtain background information about their clients before they start a negotiation, as this information may affect its outcome.     

客户依赖、审计师独立性与审计质量——来自上市公司的经验证据

在我国审计市场竞争激烈的背景下,事务所容易形成对客户的经济依赖。实证研究发现,审计师对客户的依赖度越强,则事务所为上市公司提供的审计服务质量越低,这种关系在非"四大"事务所中表现得尤为明显;而在颇具规模与品牌声誉的"四大"中并未发现这种显著的关系。因此,应优化审计市场结构,鼓励会计师事务所做大做强,加强审计相关法律法规等制度建设,加大对会计师事务所违规的处罚力度。     

Audit quality in common-law and code-law emerging markets: Evidence on earnings conservatism, agency costs and cost of equity

This study focuses on firms that are audited by a big auditor and examines the differentiation in the earnings management potential and the level of conservatism. It also investigates whether being audited by a big auditor would lead to lower agency costs and lower cost of equity. The study focuses on emerging common-law South Africa and code-law Brazil, and seeks to identify whether there are material differences given their dissimilar institutional characteristics. The study reports that even though firms may be audited by high quality auditors, their institutional differences influence significantly firms' earnings conservatism, agency costs and cost of equity. Client firms of big auditors in both common-law South Africa and code-law Brazil exhibit lower discretionary accruals. The study has found evidence of more conservative earnings for South Africa but insufficient levels for Brazil. For common-law South Africa, the presence of effective corporate governance mechanisms reduces agency costs. For code-law Brazil, the corporate governance mechanisms generally display an insignificant impact on reducing agency costs. For common-law South Africa, firm-level performance, growth and market determinants tend to lead to a lower cost of equity. For code-law Brazil, it is found that significant discretionary accruals, market beta and analyst forecast dispersion would result in higher uncertainty and would consequently raise the cost of equity.     

Managerial legal liability and Big 4 auditor choice

This study investigates the effect of directors' and officers' (hereafter D&O) liability insurance coverage on auditor choice. Based on a sample of 671 Taiwanese listed firms with D&O legal liability insurance data, our evidence shows that companies with excess D&O liability insurance coverage are less likely to appoint Big 4 auditors. Furthermore, we find that Big 4 auditors are more likely to issue unclean opinions and to constrain the abnormal accruals and ‘beating or meeting’ earnings benchmarks for their clients with excess D&O liability insurance coverage. The findings document that a higher level of D&O liability insurance coverage increases Big 4 auditors' concerns about the credibility of financial statements. Given this, Big 4 auditors have incentive to require more conservative accounting choices for these clients in order to minimize possible litigation risk and reputation damage.     

Through the Ethics Looking Glass: Another View of the World of Auditors and Ethics

Most people are familiar with the traditional view of the role of ethics in the auditing profession – the need for auditors with integrity and objectivity. This essay addresses a second dimension of ethics in the auditing profession – the demand for auditors to assess the integrity and ethical values of clients. This second dimension is a difficult task for auditors in practice and demands a deep and robust understanding of ethics, ethical infrastructures, and the products of those infrastructures. The essay proposes how educators and researchers might facilitate that understanding.     

The Price of Morality. An Analysis of Personality, Moral Behaviour, and Social Rules in Economic Terms

The focus of the present study was the rationality of moral behaviour and moral conviction. Assumptions like "morality pays" or "good ethics is good business" are not a priori right. Whether morality as personal conviction is also economically rational or not depends in large part on the institutional setting of a society and the likelihood that immoral behaviour will be sanctioned. The systematic approach to morality thus appears to be political economy and the institutional setting: rules and laws. However, the conditions for morality depend not only on the formal structures but also on the informal structures of rules and sanctions. Hence, the systematic approach to morality is most closely linked with the culture of a society; the efficiency of individual morality depends on social conditions. It is costly for individuals and societies to establish and entertain conditions that set clear incentives for moral behaviour. In this context, moral competencies, learning, and education play a crucial role.     

The Joint Effect of Ethical Idealism and Trait Skepticism on Auditors’ Fraud Detection

Journal of Business Ethics - Although regulators have identified ethical lapses as a key factor contributing to auditors’ failure to detect their clients’ fraudulent financial reporting...     

事务所转制、法律风险与审计质量

文章以我国财政部、工商总局联合推动的会计师事务所向“特殊普通合伙组织形式”转制这一特色事件为契机,基于审计师法律责任的视角,选取2008-2013年我国A股上市公司及其主审会计师事务所为样本,动态实证分析事务所转制对审计质量的影响。研究结果表明：具备证券资格的事务所全部完成特殊普通合伙转制之后,审计质量的整体水平显著提升;而且有限责任制转换为特殊普通合伙制增加了审计师的法律责任,同时也提高了其法律风险意识。具体表现为：转制之后,审计师对高法律风险客户的盈余管理容忍度下降,也更倾向于对高风险客户出具非标审计意见。由此可见,我国会计师事务所特殊普通合伙转制方案取得了显著成效,这将有利于我国注册会计师行业的持续发展和做强做大。     

How and why auditors’ social exchange relationships influence their attitudes and behaviors: Implications for audit quality

External auditors regularly interact with various parties at work, such as their accounting firms, engagement team members, and clients. These interactions can help shape the nature of auditors’ social exchange relationships with these entities, which in turn may influence their behavior toward these targets. This installment of Accounting Matters draws from recently published research by Herda and colleagues to (1) explain how constructive auditor-target connections can develop and lead to beneficial outcomes like reduced auditor burnout and turnover intentions, as well as more citizenship behavior, and (2) discuss how these upshots might ultimately affect audit quality. This topic is important because audit quality translates into improved financial reporting, which helps stakeholders who rely on audited financial statements to make informed business decisions. Specifically, we underscore the key role auditors’ perceptions of fair treatment from a relationship partner play in fostering a strong psychological bond with the target via perceived support. We further consider how auditors’ consequent commitment to the target can result in favorable organizational outcomes, including enhanced audit and financial reporting quality. We also discuss practical implications for accounting firms.     

审计师个人视角下客户影响力与审计质量的关系研究

利用中国A股上市公司2012～2015年的数据,采用面板数据模型与文本挖掘方法检验了审计师层面的客户费用影响力、规模影响力、舆论影响力与审计质量的关系.研究发现: 客户的费用影响力、舆论影响力与审计质量显著正相关,在控制了事务所层面的客户影响力与内生性问题后该结果依然稳健.进一步研究显示,审计师部分个人特征、客户所处的法律环境、舆论环境等因素会对主要结果起到一定的调节作用.研究结果为客户影响力与审计质量的关系提供了进一步的理论解释和全新的经验证据,其重要启示是: 在我国的审计市场中,客户影响力并未迫使审计师在审计质量上做出让步,为避免审计失败可能造成的声誉损害、经济损失和诉讼风险,审计师有动机为影响力高的客户提供高质量的审计服务.     

No Need to Compromise: Evidence of Public Accounting's Changing Culture Regarding Budgetary Performance

McNair (1991) discusses the "proper compromises" made by junior auditors in large public accounting firms by arguing that the conflict between high-quality and low-cost auditing leads to "ethically ambivalent" behavior. Specifically, McNair provides evidence that success during the early stages of a public accounting career requires auditors to complete quality audits in an unreasonably short period of time. Completing quality audits within insufficient time constraints puts junior auditors in the following dilemma: report time truthfully and fail versus underreport time and succeed. We reevaluate this conflict approximately one decade after McNair's study and provide evidence that pressures toward "ethical ambivalence" have been reduced in public accounting firms.