The influence of jurors' perceptions of auditor tenure on blame

This study investigates whether jurors' judgments of auditor blameworthiness are influenced by the length of an auditor's tenure with a client. We use an experiment to determine whether tenure affects juror perceptions of an auditor's competence and independence. We then examine whether these perceptions influence the attribution of blame. Results, consistent with both sides of the mandatory auditor rotation debate, indicate that tenure has a positive impact on perceptions of competence and a negative impact on perceptions of independence. Further, as juror perceptions of the auditor's competence and independence decrease, attributions of blame increase. These results have implications for auditor tenure research as well as for auditors involved in litigation. By utilizing structural equation analysis, we find that the effects of auditor tenure on perceptions of audit quality are complex. Perceptions of both competence and independence are significantly related to extended tenure; however, these perceptions independently affect the assignment of blame. While longer tenure improves perceptions of competence and lessens blame, it decreases perceptions of independence resulting in greater blame. From a litigation perspective, the auditor's tenure with a client is a double-edged sword that must be addressed strategically in court.     

股权结构、治理结构与审计师选聘——基于委托代理理论的实证考察

本文以委托代理理论为基础,选择2002年深圳股市的484家上市公司为样本,考察了大股东控制的公司审计师选择行为。结果发现第一大股东持股比例越高,就越不聘请国际“四大”会计师事务所的境内合作所,以便实施其掏空行为;而设立审计委员会可以在一定程度上遏制大股东的审计师选择偏好;如果第一大股东是外资股,则更可能聘请国际“四大”会计师事务所的境内合作所,以求降低其代理成本。     

审计师轮换制度下的审计成本分析

审计师轮换制度是目前的热门话题,理论上实施该制度有利于提高审计质量和有助于实现审计实质上的独立,但审计成本也会随之大幅增加,而成本的增加将可能抵销制度所带来的收益。本文通过例证分析了审计师轮换制度下各项审计成本的变化情况,结论是现阶段我国不宜实行审计师轮换制度。     

证券市场自愿性会计师事务所变更行为特征分析——基于2003～2005年沪深A股上市公司审计数据

本文以自愿性会计师事务所变更为研究对象,通过对2003——2005年沪、深两市A股上市公司变更组样本与非变更组样本的数据分析,结果发现:变更组样本审计意见的缓和率高于非变更组样本;后任会计师事务所规模明显变小的比例大于明显变大的比例。这说明追求高质量审计并不是上市公司变更会计师事务所的主要动机,加强对会计师事务变更行为的监管仍将是我国证券监管部门的重要工作内容。     

审计师与管理者博弈下的审计独立性与审计质量——纵横国际的例证分析

审计独立性与审计质量始终是审计研究领域的核心问题。本文以纵横国际为例,采用博弈论的方法,从审计师与公司管理者的较量角度审视审计独立性与审计质量的关系。我们认为:制度对审计独立性和审计质量的影响并不是直接的,而是通过影响审计师在与客户管理当局的博弈中的决策行为而对审计独立性发挥作用,然后带来审计质量的变化。     

审计师行为选择与其独立性偏好关系分析

现行关于审计师行为实证研究中,大都基于审计意见类型推断审计师独立性,没有对审计意见类型为什么能代表审计师独立性进行分析和讨论,本文采用偏好、选择与效用经济学基础理论来进行分析和证明。通过逻辑分析、模型构建和推导发现,对审计意见类型的选择结构能够推断审计师对独立性的偏好关系,这种关系是基于审计师效用最大化做出的。     

The effect of non-audit services on client risk, acceptance and staffing decisions

The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 prohibited auditing firms from providing certain non-audit services to audit clients and left open the possibility that other currently non-prohibited services could also be banned. This prohibition hinges, in part, on regulatory concerns that auditors were willing to accept prospective higher risk clients in order to obtain more profitable non-audit service engagements. Accounting firms rejected this claim. Given the prospect that more non-audit services could be prohibited, we revisit this debate by examining these competing claims in an experiment in which we manipulate risk and the potential to sell non-audit services and then observe the impact of these variables on auditors’ client acceptance and subsequent staffing decisions. Specifically, audit partners received client information and were asked to make an acceptance decision and propose a staffing plan for a potential engagement. We find that a higher (lower) level of risk decreased (increased) the likelihood of acceptance and this relation did not vary with the potential to provide non-audit services. These results do not support the regulators’ claims but are consistent with the firms’ claims. Further, we found that more experienced auditors were assigned to the prospective client whose management had lower integrity. This staffing plan is consistent with a risk adaptation strategy for the client with lower integrity. The prohibition of certain non-audit services has been justified on the grounds that auditors might engage in systematic opportunistic behavior. However, our results do not find such behavior which should inform the current PCAOB deliberation over whether additional services should be banned. Alternatively, different justification must be found for the prohibitions.     

Auditor Reputation,Auditor Independence,and the Stock‐Market Impact of Andersen's Indictment on Its Client Firms*

In this paper, we study a broad sample of Arthur Andersen clients and investigate whether the decline in Andersen's reputation, due to its criminal indictment on March 14, 2002, adversely affected the stock market's perception of its audit quality. Because these reputa‐tional concerns are more of an issue if an auditor's independence is impaired, we investigate the relationship between the abnormal market returns for Andersen clients around the time of the indictment announcement and several fee‐based measures of auditor independence. Our results suggest that when news about Andersen's indictment was released, the market reacted negatively to Andersen clients. More importantly, we find that the indictment period abnormal return is significantly more negative when the market perceived the auditor's independence to be threatened. We also examine the abnormal returns when firms announced the dismissal of Andersen as an auditor. Consistent with the audit quality explanation, we document that when firms quickly dismissed Andersen, the announcement returns are significantly higher when firms switched to a Big 4 auditor than when they either switched to non‐Big 4 auditors or did not announce the identity of the replacement auditor. Our empirical results support the notion that auditor reputation and independence have a material impact on perceived audit quality and the credibility of audited financial statements, and that the market prices this.     

How individual auditor characteristics impact the likelihood of audit failure: Evidence from China

Audit failure imposes a severe loss on investors and damages market participants' confidence in financial reporting quality. This study investigates the impacts of individual auditor characteristics on the likelihood of audit failure. Chinese regulators mandate listed firms to disclose the engagement auditors' identity. Furthermore, the information regarding individual auditor characteristics in China is also publicly available. Utilizing this unique setting, we examine the relationship between individual auditor characteristics and the likelihood of audit failure in China during the period from 2000 to 2009. We document that individual auditors with more auditing experience are less likely associated with audit failure. We also find a weaker negative relationship between auditor education level and audit failure. Our study has important implications for both auditors and regulators by shedding lights on the determinants of audit failure and by providing guidance to the human resource management in audit firms.     

Explaining auditors’ propensity to issue going‐concern opinions in Australia after the global financial crisis

We document an increase in auditors issuing going‐concern opinions in Australia over a prolonged period since the Global Financial Crisis that is not fully explained by changes in client risk. Overall, our evidence is consistent with auditors reporting more conservatively with the increased level of scrutiny from Australian Securities and Investments Commission inspections and other increased regulation, and in particular, the negative attention following the 2011–2012 inspections. As a result, auditor reports with reference to going‐concern issues have become less informative regarding future corporate failure.