Non‐Audit Service Fees and Financial Reporting Quality: A Meta‐Analysis

Auditing as a corporate governance mechanism has attracted considerable research attention. Because of the information asymmetry between corporate managers and outside shareholders, auditors are hired to provide independent assurance that financial statements are prepared following generally accepted accounting principles. The credibility of such assurance depends on the independence, both in fact and in appearance, of the auditor. Over the years, however, the independence of auditors has come under increased scrutiny because of their joint provision of both audit and non‐audit services. A sizable literature on the impact of non‐audit fees on financial reporting quality has developed. The evidence from this literature, however, remains inconclusive. This paper provides a meta‐analysis of the available literature by assessing (a) the net effect of non‐audit fees on financial reporting quality, and (b) whether there is homogeneity in the financial reporting quality proxies used in the extant literature. Findings suggest that the level of client‐specific non‐audit fees is associated with reduced financial reporting quality. However, the underlying studies used to conduct this meta‐analysis are not homogenous.     

经济依赖度、盈余管理水平与审计独立性——来自上市商业银行的经验证据

以2001～2010年我国上市商业银行为研究对象,从盈余管理的角度,以异常贷款损失拨备作为审计独立性的代理变量,以未预期费用作为经济依赖的代理变量,验证了审计师在银行业的经济依赖对审计独立性的影响.研究结果表明,未预期审计费用、总费用和非审计费用率对异常贷款损失拨备没有显著影响,而未预期非审计费用则对异常贷款损失拨备具有显著的负向影响.总体而言,审计师在为上市商业银行提供业务过程中,过高的经济依赖,促使其接受了客户的盈余管理偏好,审计独立性受到损害.     

审计师声誉机制：概念、特征及作用机理

当前”大力创建自主知名品牌”已成为注册会计师行业发展的目标之一,研究品牌声誉理论迫在眉睫。本文认为,审计师声誉机制是社会公众及利益相关者对审计师努力建立声誉、利用声誉获取溢价、毁损声誉以获得利润及付出艰辛重获声誉活动的整体认知与反馈。审计师声誉机制包括形成机制、作用机制、毁损机制与修复机制,这四种机制均有各自的特征,并在时间维度的动态过程中体现出长期博弈、价值波动与不规则运动三种作用机理。     

审计收费、审计师变更与意见购买

实证研究表明,虽然变更审计师增加了上市公司年报被出具非标准审计意见和审计意见恶化的可能性,但是审计师变更更为显著地提高了审计意见改善的可能性;审计收费异常增加与被出具非标准审计意见和审计意见恶化的可能性负相关.公司管理层在一定程度上可以成功实现审计意见购买的动机.此外,异常审计收费、审计收费异常增加和异常降低与审计师变更之间不存在显著的交互效应.     

论事务所规模化与审计质量保证

本文从会计师事务所规模和审计质量相关性的两个主要理论出发,分析了声誉机制和法律风险机制的运行效率,并指出当前我国的会计师事务所只有在“法律风险-声誉积累-规模化”的共生互动中才能真正走上做大做强的发展之路.     

人民币加入SDR前后的国际货币权力变化及趋势

国际货币的权力分配随着国际货币体系演进呈现动态变化,近10年变化趋势与人民币的国际地位演进密切相关.本文使用货币共同变动回归方法,对2010-2016年和2016-2019年两个时期内储备货币区规模进行比较,研究不同国家货币与特别提款权(SDR)篮子的联动程度,得出人民币加入SDR前后的国际货币权力变化趋势.研究结果表...     

内部控制有效性研究

随着市场经济水平的发展，企业内部控制制度得到了越来越多的重视。很多学者提出了有效的内部措施会提高企业的营业效率的说法，但这一说法还缺乏相应的实事依据。通过对内部控制的执行情况和实施效果进行分析研究，得出合理严格的内部控制措施能够有效提高公司的经营效益的判断，同时给出审计师对于内部控制制度的评价。     

Voluntary disclosure of reasons for auditor changes and the capital market reaction to information disclosure

This study examines the association between firm attributes and management’s voluntary disclosure of the reason(s) for auditor changes and evaluates the capital market reaction to information disclosure of the auditor change events accompanied by preexisting red flag and non-red flag issues. We find that managers are more likely to disclose the reason(s) for auditor changes when those changes occurred because of benign business reasons or if the reasons do not indicate the presence of any underlying operating or financial reporting problem. On the other hand, managers are less likely to disclose the reason(s) for auditor changes when those changes are preceded by red-flag situations. Furthermore, auditor changes accompanied by preexisting red-flag situations are viewed negatively by the capital market, implying that the full disclosure of reasons for auditor changes is informative to investors. This observation is supported further by our market-based analyses, which consistently show that auditor changes accompanied by prevailing red flag issues are valued incrementally in the market above and beyond the reportable events (under FRR No. 31) and auditor-initiated changes. The study contributes to the recent policy debate related to mandating the disclosure of the reason(s) for auditor switches. Specifically, the results support the recent debates that the current voluntary disclosure regime results in selective disclosure practices that are likely to contribute to the general lack of transparency with respect to auditor changes.     

Independence in Appearance and in Fact: An Experimental Investigation*

In this study, we use experimental markets to assess the effect of the Security and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) new independence rule on investors' perceptions of independence, investors' payoff distributions, and market prices. The new rule requires client firms to disclose in their annual proxy statements the amount of nonaudit fees paid to their auditors. The new disclosure is intended to inform investors of auditors' incentives to compromise their independence. Our experimental design is a 2 3 between‐subjects design, where we control the presence (unbiased reports) or absence of auditor independence in fact (biased reports). While independence in fact was not immediately observable to investors, we controlled for independence in appearance by varying the public disclosure of the extent of nonaudit services provided by the auditor to the client. In one market setting, investors were not given any information about whether the auditor provided such nonaudit services; in a second setting, investors were explicitly informed that the auditor did not provide any non‐audit services; and in a third setting, investors were told that the auditor provided nonaudit services that could be perceived to have an adverse effect on independence in fact. We found that disclosures of nonaudit services reduced the accuracy of investors' beliefs of auditors' independence in fact when independence in appearance was inconsistent with independence in fact. This then caused prices of assets to deviate more from their economic predictions (lower market efficiency) in the inconsistent settings relative to the no‐disclosure and consistent settings. Thus, disclosures of fees for nonaudit services could reduce the efficiency of capital markets if such disclosures result in investors forming inaccurate beliefs of auditor independence in fact ‐ that is, auditors appear independent but they are not independent in fact, or vice versa. The latter is the maintained position of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which argued against the new rule. Further research is needed to assess the degree of correspondence between independence in fact and independence in appearance.