继任审计师关注前任审计师的声誉吗?——前任会计师事务所的审计质量与可操控性应计利润

本文讨论了前任会计师事务所的审计质量对公司更换审计师以后可操控性应计利润的影响。我们发现,四大对国内非四大转过来的新客户更加谨慎。这些客户在接受四大审计的第一年,可操控性应计利润水平显著低于四大所审计的其他公司,包括从其他四大转来的公司。这说明,四大已经在客观上提高了前非四大客户的审计风险。但是对于非四大而言,则没有这种差异,无论新客户的前任审计师是四大还是非四大,其所审客户的整体可操控性应计利润水平没有显著差异。本文的研究结果表明在一定程度上国内事务所对前任事务所审计风险的敏感度低于四大。     

AUDIT FEES AND AUDITOR CHANGE; AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PERSISTENCE OF FEE REDUCTION BY TYPE OF CHANGE

Despite concern expressed over 'low-balling' or competitive price reduction in the market for audit services, the only empirical investigation of the relationship between initial audit fees, fee recovery and auditor change which has been carried out is by Simon and Francis (1988) using US cross-sectional data, although Pong and Whittington (1994, forthcoming) examine the impact on first year fees. We investigate the impact of auditor change on cross-sectional UK data for 1991 with the aim of discovering whether there is any evidence of price cutting and subsequent price recovery in a European, rather than a US context. We find that there is evidence of such a phenomenon, and investigate further to see whether this effect is robust with respect to the definition used of 'auditor change', and whether the effect varies according to whether the old auditor was a 'Big Six' or 'non-Big Six' firm. We find that the largest reductions (controlling for auditor size) are experienced by firms changing to 'Big Six' firms. We further show that involuntary changes (by auditor acquisition) are associated with positive (although statistically insignificant) increases in fees, whereasvoluntary changesare associated with negative (andsignificant) feereductions. These effects are shown to be robust with respect to model specification. This suggests that fee reductions cannot be ascribed to economies of scale or scope, but is consistent with a 'low-balling' model of behaviour.     

监管风险、事务所规模与审计质量

我国会计师事务所规模与审计质量之间是否存在正相关关系,现有研究一直存在争议。本文从注册会计师的执业环境出发,对此进行了重新审视。用上市公司实际控制人的控制权与现金流权之差衡量事务所面临的监管风险,研究发现,大事务所只对监管风险较高的客户提供高质量的审计服务。进一步的研究表明,事务所面临的监管环境改善后,大事务所才对所有客户提供高质量的审计服务,审计质量与事务所规模之间的正相关关系不再依赖监管风险而存在。因此,在法律环境相对薄弱的情况下,加强监管是促使会计师事务所提供高质量审计服务的有效机制。     

分所审计是否影响审计质量和审计收费?

随着注册会计师行业的扩大和分所的不断增加,分所的执业行为值得关注。我们采用2005—2008年会计师事务所分所数据,考察了会计师事务所总所和分所在审计质量和审计收费上的差异,以及分所规模大小对审计质量和审计收费的影响。结论总体上表明,会计师事务所分所的审计质量和审计收费更低,并且,规模越小的分所,其审计质量和审计收费越低。在此基础上,我们根据样本是否由十大会计师事务所审计,进行了分组检验,结果显示分所审计质量和审计收费更低主要体现在非十大会计师事务所上。     

Audit Quality and Auditor Size: An Evaluation of Reputation and Deep Pockets Hypotheses

Empirical studies have shown that large auditors are more accurate than small auditors. The reputation hypothesis states that large auditors have more incentive to be accurate because an inaccurate report may lead to a loss of client-specific rents (DeAngelo, 1981). The deep pockets hypothesis states that large auditors should be more accurate because they have greater wealth at risk from litigation (Dye, 1993). This paper presents evidence on the relationship between auditor size and litigation and on the market shares of criticised and uncriticised auditors – the findings give greater support to the deep pockets hypothesis than the reputation hypothesis.     

Future Events—A Conceptual Study of their Significance for Recognition and Measurement A Review Article

A number of research papers present evidence of fee premiums paid to specialist auditors. In this paper, we explore for listed and unlisted New Zealand firms not only the question of whether such premiums exist, but perhaps more importantly why they exist. We find evidence of fee premiums for auditor specialisation defined at the city level but not at the national level. We extend testing to examine the issue of self-selection of auditors by clients; we examine several different industry classification schemes and a number of different specialisation measures; and we consider the issue of portfolio specialists. We find from these additional tests that self-selection does not account for the existence of specialisation premiums; various alternative classification schemes all result in premiums at the city level; and portfolio specialists also earn fee premiums when portfolio specialisation is measured at the city level. We find that these specialist premiums apply most consistently to larger client firms and to low-risk firms. We consider various explanations and conclude that this result is consistent with non-specialist auditors providing discounts to attract desirable clients. Desirable clients – those that are large or low risk – are not able to negotiate fees as successfully with auditors who have differentiated themselves via industry specialisation.     

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.     

Big Six auditors and audit quality: The Korean evidence

This study investigates the association between discretionary accruals and Big Six and non-Big Six auditors, and the direction of auditor change. We hypothesize that there is no significant difference in discretionary accruals between Big Six and non-Big Six clients when there is low incentive for auditors to provide high-quality audits, as in Korea.Upon examination of the discretionary accruals of firms listed on the Korean Stock Exchange from 1994 to 1998, we find there is no significant difference between the discretionary accruals of firms with Big Six and non-Big Six auditors. This holds true for firms that switch from non-Big Six to Big Six auditors and vice versa. These resources imply that there may be no difference in audit quality between Big Six and non-Big Six auditors in Korea. This is consistent with other studies in Korea, while inconsistent with the findings of previous studies on audit quality in other countries.     

The Impact of Managing Director Changes and Financial Distress on Audit Qualification and Auditor Switching

Abstract:   This study examines the interactive effects of change in managing director/chief executive officer (MD) and financial distress together with five control variables (type of audit firm; audit fees; gearing; time; and company size) on first, audit opinion and secondly on auditor switching. Based on a sample of 297 UK listed companies between 1987 and 2001, we find that companies that are financially distressed and change their MD are most likely to receive a qualified audit report, ceteris paribus . In addition, we find evidence of both familiarity and intimidation threats and that the probability of a switch increases with the severity of qualification.     

The Market for External Audit Services in the Public Sector: An Empirical Analysis of NHS Trusts

This study investigates the market for audit services in the UK National Health Service (NHS). The market has a number of interesting features, including the presence of the Audit Commission as a regulator, appointer and provider of audit services. Following a theoretical overview of audit pricing in the NHS, evidence is provided on the behaviour of private sector auditors in an environment where audit risk characteristics differ from the private sector. The research also investigates, for the first time in the public sector, the relationship between audit fees and non–audit (consultancy) fees. Comparisons are also drawn between audit fees in the public and private sectors in an analysis of audit fees by industry. Despite some key similarities, the study shows that a number of differences exist between private and public sector audit fee models. In particular, we find no evidence of Big 6 (or mid–tier) auditor premiums, but we do find a significant negative relationship between audit and consultancy fees providing support for the 'knowledge spill–over' hypothesis. In addition, the fees charged to trusts appear significantly lower than their private sector counterparts, despite trust auditors having additional duties to perform. Possible explanations for this finding are offered in the paper.     

审计师变更与审计质量:一个理论分析

本文通过建立股东、管理层和审计师三方参与的两委托人-单代理人博弈模型,研究了固定审计费用下不同审计师变更方式对审计质量的影响。研究结果表明,审计师强制性单期变更与审计师强制性定期变更下,审计师与管理层之间的合谋将导致严重的财务舞弊;而在审计师自愿性变更下,股东可以利用解聘现任审计师这一威胁来阻止审计师和管理层之间的合谋,使得审计师和管理层的最优策略均为真实披露公司的盈余信息,并发表标准无保留审计意见。     

国际金融危机、审计费用溢价与审计质量

以2003-2017年我国A股上市公司为样本,考量当企业受到金融危机冲击时,审计费用与审计质量之间关系的变化。研究结果表明,金融危机期间存在审计费用溢价现象,然而更多的收费却伴随着审计质量的下降。研究结论对于在市场危机环境下进行审计风险管控和审计市场的规范具有一定的借鉴意义。