中国审计市场制度安排与研究思考——兼评审计意见购买的内在机理

审计市场在发展中,逐渐形成一些主要制度安排,如会计师事务所体制形式变迁、上市公司可以同时发行A股、B股和H股等、责权利失衡的上市审批和监管以及设定配股和退市底线。这些安排导致国际所在审计市场的主导地位,并产生股权融资偏好、IPO包装上市、上市公司"保壳"和控股股东"圈钱"等奇怪的现象,同时也决定着审计服务的基本特征。结合这些特有的制度背景,才能深刻把握审计意见购买的内在机理,从而揭示审计意见购买的基本规律和主要特征,并推动审计理论的发展。本文对此进行了探讨。     

A Reexamination of Behavior in Experimental Audit Markets: The Effects of Moral Reasoning and Economic Incentives on Auditor Reporting and Fees*

This study uses experimental markets to investigate how moral reasoning influences auditor reporting under different levels of economic incentives. In each multiperiod market, auditor subjects could either (1) misreport low observed outcomes as high and thereby reap economic advantages at the expense of third‐party investors, or (2) truthfully report low observed outcomes as low but thereby forgo the economic advantages of misreporting. We extend the Calegari, Schatzberg, and Sevcik 1998 experimental‐markets setting to incorporate moral reasoning, and test hypotheses based on the economic model of Magee and Tseng 1990 and the neo‐Kohlbergian moral reasoning framework of Rest, Narvaez, Bebeau, and Thoma 1999. We document a significant effect of moral reasoning on auditor behavior. Specifically, we find that misreporting and premium fees are more likely with higher than with lower moral reasoning subjects, and the moral reasoning effect diminishes as economic penalties increase in the market. These findings provide valuable insights for specifying the determinants of auditor misreporting, the observable behaviors that signal its existence, and the institutions that can prevent its occurrence in the market. We conclude that the relation between moral reasoning and behavior is more complex than commonly assumed in the accounting literature, and identify directions for future research.     

Independence Threats,Litigation Risk,and the Auditor's Decision Process*

This study examines the effect of independence threats and litigation risk on auditors' evaluation of information and subsequent reporting choices. Using a Web‐based experiment, I tracked auditors' information gathering and evaluation leading to a going‐concern reporting decision. Specifically, 48 audit managers assessed client survival likelihood, gathered additional information, and suggested audit report choices. I found that auditors facing high independence threats (fear of losing the client) evaluated information as more indicative of a surviving client and were more likely to suggest an unmodified audit report, consistent with client preferences. In contrast, auditors facing high litigation risk evaluated information as more indicative of a failing client and were more likely to suggest a modified audit report. In addition, the association between risk and report choice was fully mediated by final information evaluation. This suggests that it is unlikely that different reporting choices resulted from a conscious choice bias, but rather that motivated reasoning during evidence evaluation plays a key role in the effect of risk in auditor decision making.     

Do Investors Care about the Auditor's Economic Dependence on the Client?*

In this study, we investigate whether investor perceptions of the financial reporting credibility of Big 5 audits are related to the auditor's economic dependence on the client as measured by nonaudit as well as total (audit and nonaudit) fees paid to the incumbent auditor. We use the client‐specific ex ante cost of equity capital as a proxy for investor perceptions of financial reporting credibility and examine auditor fees both as a proportion of the revenues of the audit firm and as a proportion of the revenues of the audit firm's practice office through which the audit was conducted. Our findings suggest that both nonaudit and total fees are perceived negatively by investors' that is, the higher the fees paid to the auditor, the greater the implied threat to auditor independence, and the lower the financial reporting credibility of a Big 5 audit. Furthermore, our findings appear to be largely unrelated to corporate governance: investors do not perceive the auditor as compensating for weak governance. Separately, recent anecdotal evidence suggests that declining revenues from nonaudit services' as a result of recent regulatory restrictions” are being offset by substantial increases in audit fees. Other things being equal, rising audit fees imply higher profit margins for audit services, indicating that the audit function may no longer be a loss leader. Thus, to the extent that investors perceive total fees negatively, recent regulatory initiatives to limit nonaudit fees may not have adequately addressed the perceived, if not the actual, threat to auditor independence posed by fees.     

中国私营企业劳动生产率变化及影响因素剖析——基于1998年～2009年时间序列数据的实证研究

笔者利用1998年～2009年国有及国有控股工业企业和私营工业企业的时间序列数据,对国有企业和私营企业的劳动生产率进行了实证分析,发现1998年～2001年间,私营企业的劳动生产率一直高于国有企业,但从2002年开始,国有企业的劳动生产率反超私营企业。国有企业的垄断地位、私营企业技术研发的相对滞后、不健全的用人机制和不合理的行业分布等因素是导致这种变化的重要原因。     

论工业设计在数字化技术推动下的变革

人类已步入数字化时代,工业设计相关设计方法和理念等也受到很大影响和冲击。通过对数字化与工业设计关系的论述,指出工业设计的数字化和智能化趋势。介绍了数字化设计的概念,根据当前的数字化技术现状和发展方向,分别从设计理念、设计展示方式、信息获取途径、设计效率、设计教育变化以及设计推广六个方面总结并预测了工业设计在数字化技术推动下发生的一系列变革和趋势,为未来工业设计研究提供了一定方向和借鉴。     

强制性与自愿性审计师变更下的经济后果比较--来自1997-2001年中国上市公司的经验证据

本文在国内较早对审计师变更后上市公司对审计师的选择行为及其经济后果进行了较为全面地实证研究,并首次比较了自愿性和强制性两种不同审计师变更的差异,运用1997-2001年的数据,我们发现,强制性变更公司和自愿性变更公司在变更前后的财务状况、审计师选择、审计意见均存在着较大的差别,并且,这些审计师选择行为与审计意见的回归结果也存在重大差异,相比之下,自愿性变更公司表现出更明显的"意见购买"迹象,它们通过选择一贯对客户出具非标比例较低的"温和"审计师这种较为隐蔽的行为在一定程度上实现了其目的.     

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.     

Client Importance and Audit Quality at the Individual Audit Partner,Office, and Firm Levels

We investigate whether audit partner level data provides a more powerful measure than office or firm level measures of client importance. We find that the likelihood of issuing a going-concern opinion (any and first-time) increases, and the absolute value of discretionary accruals decreases, in relation to the proportion of audit fees to the total audit fees received by audit partners from all their clients. We also find that the likelihood of issuing a going-concern opinion (any and first-time) increases, and the absolute value of discretionary accruals decreases, in relation to the proportion of non-audit services fees from a client to total non-audit service fees, and the proportion of total audit and non-audit service fees from a client to total fees from all their clients at the office and firm levels. Our findings provide evidence to regulators, audit clients, and stakeholders that audit partners do not succumb to pressure from economically more important clients as audit quality has a positive association with client importance.     

Impacts of the timing of the discovery of a subsequent event on the auditors’ approach to subsequent events

This study investigates the underlying causes affecting auditors’ approaches to subsequent events. As auditors are required to perform the majority of subsequent events procedures near the due date of the audit report, I examine whether auditors are less likely to make adjustments or disclosures regarding subsequent events that occur after the audit completion, but before issuing the audit report. Results indicate that auditors were less likely to adjust Type I events that occurred after audit completion when the risk was low, but not when the risk was high. This was not the case for Type II events, which only require disclosure.