Reining in auditors: On the dynamics of power surrounding an “innovation” in the regulatory space

In the aftermath of Enron and the collapse of Arthur Andersen, new “independent” institutions were created to oversee financial auditing. Based on a modified version of Lukes’ multidimensional model of power, we first investigate how the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) has affected the dynamics of power among the main players enlisted in Canada’s regulation of public accounting. Our findings strengthen the view that a “form of allegiance” was, at the time of data collection, developing between CPAB and the largest Canadian accounting firms. Through a second analytical movement, we extend the boundaries of our argument, showing that patterns of resistance against the logic of arm’s length regulation operate in a variety of audit regulatory sites. Our conclusion points, in particular, to the spatial gap - and incidentally the limitations - of any attempt to control and supervise a globalized industry from a national or regional perspective.     

Gender equity in public accounting: Evidence from single audit partner and director engagement leaders

While women are hired in equal numbers to men in public accounting, they are not proportionately promoted to partner, reflecting “vertical gender segregation.” This study examines vertical segregation in director positions which are an alternative terminal destination to the partnership. Using a U.S. non-profit setting, our results demonstrate that directors signing single audit reports are more likely to be female after controlling for client and signer characteristics, a clear pattern of gender-based vertical segregation among engagement leaders. This finding provides insights into practices which divert women to lower prestige director positions. In a supplemental test, we also find a fee premium for female partners but a fee discount for female directors, which may lead to gender-bias in compensation. These findings are particularly timely considering the disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on women.     

Do auditors’ early-life socioeconomic opportunities improve audit quality? Evidence from China

Prior research documents significant variation in audit outcomes based on individual auditors' demographic features, working experience, educational background, and social connections. This study examines whether individual auditors' early-life socioeconomic opportunities also affect audit practices. We expect that auditors from big cities have more access to socioeconomic opportunities and accumulate more human capital in early life, thus are more capable of providing high-quality audits after they start careers. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that auditors from big cities make more audit adjustments to earnings compared with auditors from small towns. Additional tests suggest that this early-life effect on audit quality is moderated when auditors receive higher education or gain more auditing experience and is more pronounced in downward adjustments than in upward adjustments. We also find a fee premium for auditors from big cities. Overall, this paper provides evidence that auditors’ early-life socioeconomic opportunities have a far-reaching influence on audit quality.     

Is investment decision-making influenced by perceptions relating to auditors’ client dependence and amount of audit fees?

The objectives of this study are to examine whether investing decisions are affected by knowledge about the auditor's revenue dependence on a client and whether the amount spent by a company on audit fees affects decisions to invest in the company. A behavioral experiment is conducted where risk assessments and investing decisions are made for four hypothetical investing scenarios. The study finds that investing decisions are affected by knowledge about an auditor's revenue dependence on a client, but are not affected by knowledge about the size of a client's audit fees.     

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.     

央行内部控制与风险管理探析

本文主要针对内部控制与风险管理之间的关系,探讨央行应如何将内部控制框架建立与风险管理相结合,通过完善内部控制机制和风险管理体系,有效地防范风险,从而促使央行科学、高效地履行职责。     

构建商业银行经济责任审计模式之探讨

经济责任审计是商业银行内部审计的重要形式。银行业的风险管理正处于提升的时期,商业银行必须强化和提升风险管理水平。风险管理是商业银行高级管理人员的重要职责,经济责任审计必须以风险为本,构建适应商业银行全面风险管理的经济责任审计模式。     

基于数据挖掘的商业银行对公信贷资产质量审计研究

根据商业银行信贷资产质量审计问题的特点,本文研究构建了商业银行信贷资产质量审计属性选择、决策树和支持向量机等数据挖掘算法体系。以A银行对公信贷实际数据为基础,运用定性的经济涵义和量化的属性选择算法,对其进行属性选择分析,并结合商业银行数据库中数据特点,完成数据预处理工作。对经过预处理后的数据集,进行关联规则和分类模式挖掘分析,通过在A商业银行的审计实践应用,识别出了一定金额影响该行资产质量的贷款记录,取得切实的审计成效。     

Are fully independent audit committees really necessary?

Accounting scandals and concerns about the quality of financial statements have led to many calls for improved audit committee effectiveness. Prior research indicates that audit committee independence is positively related to effective oversight of the financial reporting process. Unfortunately, prior research has not provided an answer as to how much independence on the audit committee is enough. This is an important unanswered question because while Section 301 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) currently requires all listed companies to maintain an audit committee that is 100% independent there has been much debate regarding easing the SOX requirements for smaller and foreign companies. In this paper we examine whether the regulatory requirements of a completely independent audit committee are necessary to obtain the monitoring benefits related to audit committee independence that have been documented in prior literature. Our results suggest that the benefits of audit committee independence are consistently achieved only when the audit committee is completely independent. These results provide support for the SOX requirement of 100% independent audit committees.     

风险导向审计模式下公共财政绩效审计思路探讨

审计署2008至2012年审计工作发展规划提出要全面推进绩效审计,提高财政资金和公共资源配置、使用、利用的经济性、效率性和效果性。到2012年,每年所有的审计项目都开展绩效审计。可见,公共财政绩效审计是在财政财务收支审计发展到一定阶段推出的又一新的审计领域。本文着力探讨了在公共财政绩效审计中引入风险导向审计模式的理论可行性,以及在实践中运用风险导向审计模式的基本思路。