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This article analyzes the impact of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)-type regulatory oversight and legal liability on audit quality and social surplus. We show the conditions under which regulatory oversight can improve audit quality and social surplus, as compared with the impact of legal systems. Moreover, we demonstrate that regulatory oversight is not likely to substitute effectively for a legal system. This is the first study that analyzes the possible effects of an audit regulator on auditors under different legal systems, and our results enhance understanding of the complex relationship between regulatory oversight, a legal system, and social surplus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature on the engagement quality (EQ) review argues that EQ reviewers should provide more efforts into the review process when fieldwork auditors' judgments and conclusions on the financial statements are potentially biased. Little empirical study has been done, however, partly due to the confidentiality of the detailed data on EQ reviewers' audit hours. The purpose of the article is to shed light on the existing literature by conducting an empirical investigation using a unique actual data set available in Korea. The results show that the EQ review hours are positively associated with CEO turnovers, a proxy for the audit risk, which supports the prediction of the theory on the EQ review. Additional analyses show that such results are stronger under (a) the upward earnings management and (b) the forced CEO turnover. The article extends the existing literature on the EQ review process and enhances the understanding of the engagement-level quality control in the volatile audit environment by providing empirical evidence to the analytic discussions on the EQ review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Big 4 auditors are inspected annually by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), with the summarized findings (labeled "audit deficiencies") being publicly available on its website. Although the PCAOB claims that its inspection findings and process are designed to increase audit quality, there is limited empirical evidence to support this claim. We examine whether changes in revenue-deficient audit engagements are associated with subsequent year changes in client revenue quality. A revenue-deficient audit engagement is an inspected engagement that has at least one revenue-related audit deficiency. To infer audit quality, we link year-over-year changes in revenue-deficient audit engagements to the subsequent year's change in engagement-level revenue quality—a common financial reporting quality proxy. We predict that audit firms will react asymmetrically to changes in revenue-deficient audit engagements: increases will prompt audit quality improving actions, but decreases will not. Our results support our prediction. JEL Classifications: M42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of COVID‐19 and the enhanced internal control requirements (Korea Sarbanes‐Oxley or K‐SOX) on audit effort in Korea. The results show that both COVID‐19 and K‐SOX led to increases in audit effort. Regarding the comparative magnitude of these two shocks, COVID‐19 is associated with greater total audit effort, whereas K‐SOX is linked to greater IT audit effort. This study also finds that Big 4 firms negatively moderate the increase in total audit effort and IT audit effort caused by COVID‐19. Additionally, Big 4 firms moderate the effect of K‐SOX on mid‐sized clients. Specifically, Big 4 firms positively moderate the increase in total audit effort, whereas they negatively moderate the increase in IT audit effort caused by K‐SOX. This study also investigates the effects of COVID‐19 and K‐SOX on various ranks of auditors and the effects of these exogenous events observed across different industry sectors. Our findings provide insights into the impact of an unpredicted global health crisis and predicted stringent regulations on audit effort when they occur simultaneously, an area that has never been addressed due to its unprecedented nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses unique South Korean data to demonstrate whether the public disclosure of audit hour (effort) information influences investor sentiment, proxied by stock price volatility. Over the 2005–2018 sample period, empirical results show that clients that secure increasing levels of audit hours enjoy lower stock price volatility. Furthermore, incrementally higher levels of audit hours reduce stock price volatility to a greater extent for Big4 clients, compared to Non-Big4 clients. Results are consistent after performing various additional tests including endogeneity, fixed/year effects, and after controlling for the audit fee premium effect. The aforementioned findings are interpreted from an audit demand theory perspective. More specifically, following South Korea's unique audit hour disclosure policy, market participants can make audit quality assertions using audit hour information, which influences investment/disinvestment speculation. Given that audit hour information reporting is rare internationally, the results have important audit policy and business planning implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a novel dataset that links audit-firm and client-firm financial statement information from the U.K.'s largest audit firms to examine drivers of audit-firm profitability and its implications for audit outcomes. We first explore the determinants of audit-firm profitability and conclude that Big-4 and non-Big-4 audit firms have fundamentally different profitability structures. Big-4 firms have higher profit margins than non-Big-4 firms. Furthermore, Big-4 profitability increases with client size and complexity, while non-Big-4 profitability is higher for smaller, private-firm clients. Next, we examine the relation between audit-firm profitability and audit outcomes. Using a battery of alternative outcome measures, we find that more profitable audit firms deliver higher audit quality. In supplemental analyses we show that the positive relation between audit-firm profitability and audit outcomes is generally stronger for more influential and illiquid clients (i.e. when auditors are exposed to more litigation risk). Our inferences are robust to several endogeneity controls, such as using an instrumental variables approach, controlling for client-firm and audit-firm fixed effects, employing lead-lag and changes specifications, and assessing bias from correlated omitted variables. Our study contributes to the literature by being the first to provide insights into audit-firm profitability and examine in detail its implications for audit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyze audit planning decisions of small and medium-sized Spanish audit firms and the resulting impact on audit risk and effort. Prior research examining audit risk overwhelmingly focuses on Big 4 audit firms, and little is known about how audit planning decisions influence audit risk in smaller firms, a significant part of the audit profession. Thus, it is important to examine the planning judgments in small and medium sized audit firms and the link between planning risk assessments and the extent of audit effort put forth to achieve an acceptable level of audit risk. Using audit engagement specific data derived from publicly available databases and survey data, this study investigates the factors assessment of their client’s risk of material misstatement and whether the effort applied in performance of the audit engagement effectively responds to that risk. We find a significant statistical relationship between audit risk and audit effort, which provides empirical evidence that auditors modify the extent of audit effort based on perceived audit risk and brings into debate the work of the small firms. Additional analysis shows that audit effort (i.e., hours) is significantly influenced by the tenure and the timing of the audit engagement (i.e., peak audit season). However, audit engagements with longer tenure do not adjust their audit effort in response related to low management integrity or weak internal controls, which suggests familiarity, that is, auditors may not be as skeptical of management incentives. This paper contributes to debate about audit quality and whether the size of audit firms serves as an observable characteristic associated with higher audit quality.

This study aims to extend research on the effect of PCAOB inspections on audit firm behavior by examining generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) type PCAOB inspection deficiencies, separately, to reveal the differential effects on audit fees in subsequent years. We empirically examine the audit fees of 98,393 client firm‐year observations for auditors who received a PCAOB inspection report during 2004–2021 via multivariate regression analyses. We find that GAAS (GAAP) deficiencies are associated with higher (lower) audit fees in the years following the reported deficiency. Our results suggest that the PCAOB inspection process modifies audit firm behavior when GAAS deficiencies are reported leading to the firm charging higher audit fees to defray the costs of addressing the deficiencies, but due to the severity of GAAP deficiencies that are identified, audit firms are willing to negotiate lower fees to retain the client. Our results are primarily driven by annually inspected audit firms. These results suggest that auditors respond to GAAS and GAAP PCAOB inspection deficiencies differently. The results of our study are useful to regulators and policymakers, such as the SEC and the PCAOB, in understanding how auditors respond to PCAOB inspection deficiencies and their due diligence to correct those deficiencies. PCAOB inspections are intended to evaluate compliance with accounting and auditing standards to improve audit quality and our study helps to extend the research to date which has not yet clearly demonstrated whether or not this has been accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of firm financial misconduct on its director‐interlocked firms from the perspective of auditors. We argue that when a firm engages in financial misconduct, auditors tend to perceive its director‐interlocked firms as having higher audit risks. This is because accounting policies, procedures and corporate governance can propagate via common directors. Using a sample of listed US firms from 1999 to 2018, we find that auditors charge higher fees for firms whose director‐interlocked firms engage in financial misconduct. Further analyses show that this spillover effect is stronger when focal firms are riskier (when they are financially distressed or have worse earnings quality) or they have weaker alternative monitoring mechanisms (as evidenced by lower institutional shareholding). The effect is also more prominent when the tainted directors hold important positions or the financial misconduct is more severe. We also find that the higher auditor fees arise from not only risk premium but also greater audit effort. Our results are still valid after conducting a series of robustness tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between data analytics techniques and financial statement audits. We analyze how specific data analytics techniques can be applied to financial statement audits and integrate related studies on data analytics in auditing. We provide a comprehensive analysis of how specific data analytics is associated with audit quality and/or auditor’s judgment performance. Research implications and new insights into future research opportunities are accordingly derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of industry information disclosure (IID) on audit quality in Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2021, by constructing a staggered difference-in-differences model based on the implementation of the IID guidelines in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in 2013 as an exogenous shock. Audit quality is significantly improved after the implementation of the IID guidelines. We also use a parallel trend test, different measurements of key variables, propensity score matching, a placebo test and different samples, to ensure the validity of our findings. IID enhances audit quality by improving auditor independence, professionalism and audit engagement, particularly in firms with high-quality and numerous IIDs, high auditor rankings, strong auditor industry expertise, IIDs with a negative tone and low R&D investment. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the IID guidelines from the perspective of auditing.

I investigate the impact of the disruption of free information access via search engines on audit fees using a quasi‐natural experiment provided by Google's withdrawal from China. Employing a difference‐in‐differences design, I document an increase in audit fees for firms with overseas business relative to firms without overseas business after Google's withdrawal. The results are robust to matched samples, placebo tests, alternative specifications, excluding alternative explanations and different event windows. This trend in audit fees suggests that Google's withdrawal hampers firms' foreign information streams and increases audit risk and audit effort. Consistent with this argument, after Google's withdrawal, firms with overseas business conduct more earnings management, pay more abnormal audit fees and experience longer audit report lags. Furthermore, the increase in audit fees is greater for firms with poor information environments, more retail investors or non‐Big 4 auditors. My findings suggest a potential auditing cost of restricting the free flow of public foreign information about firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the influence of female directors on the demand for audit effort and on financial reporting quality for a sample of Australian non-financial listed firms over the period 2004–2018. Our results suggest that gender diversity at the Board and the audit committee have a beneficial impact both on the demand of audit effort and on the outcomes of the audit process. This beneficial effect of female directors is attributable to non-executive directors. Long tenured and busy female directors and women chairing the board or the audit committee are revealed as especially influential at improving audit efforts and outcomes. We obtain further indication that audit effort and reporting quality improve from the first women added to the board not being necessary to attain a certain critical mass to generate these effects. Also, gender diversity improves the external auditor independence though the presence of lower of non-audit fees. The results are robust to endogeneity corrections. Evidence from the Australian market provides a positive argument for small and mid-cap Australian listed firms to follow the path of large Australian listed firms towards gender diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine how stock price crash risk is affected by audit effort, as measured by audit hours. Using a unique dataset of audit hours in China, we find that audit effort is negatively related to crash risk. The negative impact of audit effort on crash risk is more pronounced for listed firms that have higher inherent risks and weaker external monitoring of their information environment. Our findings are robust to various tests, including a two‐stage regression analysis, controlling for listed firm‐fixed effects and audit firm‐fixed effects, and using alternative measures of crash risk. In addition to audit output measures, audit effort has an incremental influence on crash risk. The effects of audit effort on crash risk continue to hold after controlling for auditor industry expertise and auditor tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine auditor responses to the voluntary resignation of independent directors. We show that auditors respond by increasing audit fees or rescinding engagement with their clients, but not by increasing their audit effort. Mechanism tests reveal that independent directors' voluntary resignation leads to increased regulatory sanctions and negative media coverage, these relationships are more pronounced after the New Securities Law. Auditor response strategies follow an order of priority: at an acceptable level of perceived risk, auditors increase audit fees; when perceived risk exceeds this level, auditors will discontinue the client relationship. Auditors associate greater risk with firms that have (vs. have not) experienced consecutive voluntary resignations by independent directors. Mandatory resignation has no such effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study essentially examines the audit effort as a possible determinant of the abnormal audit fees evinced in International Financial Reporting Standards-based financial statements. Therefore, the secondary data were sourced from the audited annual reports and the relevant financial statements of the Nigerian listed banks for the period of observation (2010-2019). An analysis was performed using the relevant techniques that include descriptive statistics, the correlation matrix and panel regression. The findings showed that the IFRS, the client complexity (CPX) and the client size (SIZ) were negatively correlated with abnormal audit fees (ABFEE), whereas joint audit (JAD) recorded a positive correlation with such abnormal audit fees. Lucidly, joint audit showed a stronger relationship with abnormal audit fees, whereas the client size showed a significant, but negative relationship with abnormal audit fees. Similarly, the fact that, with a probability value 0.9494, the relationship between ABFEE and the client complexity was not significant was noticed. Given these research outcomes, it can be concluded that abnormal audit fees are primarily motivated by extra or unexplained audit efforts and the costs associated with them. It is, therefore, recommended that, proportionately with the service(s) rendered, accounting professional bodies should review, harmonize and tactically institute a limit for professional charges through the enforcement of regulated benchmarks for audit fees payable by clients.

Topics concerning government contracts have recently attracted much attention from researchers and the public because of the US government's significant spending on goods and services. In this study, we investigate whether audit fees are associated with audit clients' government contracts. We find that firms with a higher proportion of government sales to total sales pay higher audit fees than other firms. Our further analysis shows the audit premium is driven mainly by the federal government and local government contracts. We also show that local government contracts have a larger effect than federal government contracts on the determination of audit fees. Taken together, our findings enhance our understanding of a potential determinant of audit fees and imply that auditors may view firms with and without government contracts differently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of financial statement comparability on audit pricing. Using the comparability measures of De Franco, Kothari and Verdi, we find that auditors charge lower audit fees for clients with greater financial statement comparability. This negative relation is more pronounced when auditors are industry specialists or clients in industries with higher operational heterogeneity. We also find that clients with greater financial statement comparability have lower audit risk, and their auditors exert less audit effort to provide assurance. Our study contributes to the current literature by documenting that homogeneity in financial statement reporting decreases audit risk and increases audit efficiency, reducing audit pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the disposition of auditor‐proposed adjustments to financial statements. Our analyses address concerns, expressed by regulators and others, that auditors and their clients fixate on quantitative thresholds and overlook qualitative factors in assessing the materiality of discovered misstatements. Using a large sample of Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)‐inspected audits, we examine the frequency with which management records versus waives auditor‐proposed adjustments and whether waiving‐proposed adjustments ha consequences for reporting reliability and the audit process. We find waived adjustments are linked to lower financial reporting quality measured by material misstatements, to incentives to meet/beat earnings targets, and to the audit process, as measured by higher next‐period audit effort and fees and higher next‐period proposed adjustments. These effects on the audit process are consistent with auditors responding to the increased risk associated with waived adjustments. In an exploratory analysis, we find that controlling for the amount of proposed adjustments, auditor resignations are negatively associated with waived adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study the researcher aims to investigate the effect of virtual audit proficiency on both audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the researcher investigates the effect of audit effort on the quality of auditors’ performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he examines the moderating effect of virtual audit proficiency on the association between audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance. Furthermore, the author examines the moderating effect of the audit firm between virtual audit proficiency and quality of auditors’ performance. To examine the hypotheses, the author utilises quantitative research. The researcher collects the data using a questionnaire survey to which 193 Saudi external auditors responded. He employs the partial least squares in structural equations modelling approach. The results demonstrate that virtual audit proficiency positively affects both audit effort and quality of auditors’ performance. Moreover, the results show that audit effort positively affects the quality of auditors’ performance. Significantly, the results also show the significant role of virtual audit proficiency as a moderating variable between audit effort and the quality of auditors’ performance. However, the results indicate that audit firm type has no moderating effect on the relationship between virtual audit proficiency and quality of auditors’ performance. The originality of this paper, based on the researcher’s knowledge, is that it is the first evidence on audit practices during the COVID-19 crisis that has several theoretical and practical implications.

In two incentivized auditing experiments, participants who choose to acquire evidence adjust for the risk revealed by that evidence to a lesser extent than those who obtain the same evidence without investigative action, controlling for the diagnostic value of evidence. This finding follows from mental accounting and information choice theories that, in combination, predict that choosing to undertake effortful investigation can magnify aversion to costly adjustments. In our first experiment, effort choice reduces adjustments only when the same participants make both decisions, not when different participants make these decisions in noninteractive pairs. We observe consistent findings in a second experiment that pairs all participants and allows interaction, with effort choice reducing adjustments only when participants responsible for evidence perceive high involvement in the adjustment decisions made by their paired counterparts. A potential implication of our study is that emerging audit technologies that facilitate evidence collection could also enhance auditor independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate whether auditors take into account accruals quality, a proxy for the cash flow risk associated with earnings, by adjusting audit hours and audit fees. Accruals quality tells investors about the mapping of accounting earnings into cash flows. Poor accruals quality weakens this mapping and thus increases this cash flow risk. We find a negative relationship between accruals quality and audit hours/fees, indicating that auditors increase their audit efforts by modifying audit procedures and substantive tests and charge higher fees for the increased cash flow risk. In addition, we find that both innate accruals quality and discretionary accruals quality are negatively related to audit hours and fees but that innate accruals quality is more likely to influence audit hours and fees than discretionary accruals quality. The results indicate that auditors incorporate the cash flow risk associated with accruals quality but that their response varies according to the source of accruals quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Financial Reporting Council is the first auditing standard-setting body to require audit materiality threshold disclosure. Audit materiality thresholds are a function of auditor benchmark choices and percentage rates chosen for the benchmarks. This study investigates the association between audit effort and audit materiality thresholds, auditor benchmark choices and auditors’ use of benchmarks computed based on non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (non-GAAP) measures. The study uses expanded audit reports of 328 FTSE-350 companies with 2015 year-ends. The research finds a negative association between audit effort (proxied by audit fees) and audit materiality thresholds. The analysis provides new evidence on the association between audit effort and auditor benchmark choices. First, it reveals that audit effort is negatively associated with asset rather than other (profit/adjusted profit/revenue) benchmark choices. Second, it finds that audit effort is positively associated with non-GAAP benchmarks, indicating that auditors spend more time on their audits when there are unusual events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019 has dramatically changed the life of both individuals and corporate businesses. Besides the health fears of the pandemic, there are sizable challenges for some jobs that habitually deliver their services face-to-face, disrupting the quality of service. In particular, external auditors, the most critical and reliable accreditors of financial reports, are in an unprecedented situation to conduct audit works and collect sufficient and appropriate audit evidence. To capture how COVID-19 affects auditors in Saudi Arabia, an online questionnaire was developed and distributed from April to August 2021 via email to all 417 auditors/audit firms registered with the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants (SOCPA). This dataset contains responses from 193 auditors, in four major sections: demographic information (7 items); audit effort during COVID-19 (3 items); auditor performance during COVID-19 (7 items); and remote audit proficiency (6 items). It may serve for theoretical and practical assessment for auditors in the time of COVID-19, for example, evaluating how auditors conduct their work during the lockdown and how remote audit proficiency impacts the effort and performance of auditors. In addition, it can be used to assess the differences between auditors by considering the moderating effect of their personal characteristics on the impact of remote audit proficiency on both effort and performance.

This study essentially examines the audit effort as a possible determinant of the abnormal audit fees evinced in International Financial Reporting Standards-based financial statements. Therefore, the secondary data were sourced from the audited annual reports and the relevant financial statements of the Nigerian listed banks for the period of observation (2010-2019). An analysis was performed using the relevant techniques that include descriptive statistics, the correlation matrix and panel regression. The findings showed that the IFRS, the client complexity (CPX) and the client size (SIZ) were negatively correlated with abnormal audit fees (ABFEE), whereas joint audit (JAD) recorded a positive correlation with such abnormal audit fees. Lucidly, joint audit showed a stronger relationship with abnormal audit fees, whereas the client size showed a significant, but negative relationship with abnormal audit fees. Similarly, the fact that, with a probability value 0.9494, the relationship between ABFEE and the client complexity was not significant was noticed. Given these research outcomes, it can be concluded that abnormal audit fees are primarily motivated by extra or unexplained audit efforts and the costs associated with them. It is, therefore, recommended that, proportionately with the service(s) rendered, accounting professional bodies should review, harmonize and tactically institute a limit for professional charges through the enforcement of regulated benchmarks for audit fees payable by clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine auditors' consideration of audit risk information from the disclosure of alleged financial statement fraud (FSF) by investigating whether audit fees are higher for firms that allegedly committed fraud and for firms with ongoing FSF challenges and high short interest. We find a positive association between audit fees and FSF disclosures, and this association increases with the level of short interest. Auditors also consider ongoing FSF challenges reflected in the level of short interest when determining their audit fees. We find, however, that short sellers do not consider increased audit fees associated with the public disclosure of alleged FSF. Short sellers do not appear to contemplate audit fees and audit risk in analyzing the business risk of alleged FSF in determining their short positions. Our study has policy, practical, and educational implications for auditors, short sellers, and forensic accountants who investigate FSF. Data Availability: The data used in this study are available from the sources identified in the study. JEL Classifications: G32, M40, M42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SYNOPSIS: Using abnormal audit fees to capture added charges associated with incremental audit effort beyond the effort level needed under normal circumstances, we find that the incremental audit effort is positively associated with goodwill to total assets. Additionally, when goodwill is impaired, auditors exert incrementally more effort for testing the magnitude of a goodwill impairment loss than when goodwill is not impaired. Further, we document predictable temporal and cross-sectional variations in audit effort and goodwill relationship. As the accounting standards became more (less) stringent, there is a corresponding increase (decrease) in audit effort. The effort also varies cross sectionally with auditor quality. We also find that only a goodwill impairment loss is associated with longer audit delays. Finally, we provide corroborating evidence based on survey responses obtained from expert auditors. Our results contradict the perception that auditors do not exert incrementally more effort when testing goodwill for impairment. JEL Classifications: M40; M42; C42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: We examine the effect IFRS adoption has had on audit effort and the effectiveness of greater audit effort on constraining earnings management. We find that following Italy's adoption of IFRS, audit hours (but not the hourly rate) increased, suggesting that audit effort (in audit hours) increased following IFRS adoption. We then examine whether more audit hours are associated with improved audit quality in the IFRS regime. Consistent with prior literature (Caramanis and Lennox 2008), we find that more audit effort is associated with lower abnormal accruals in the period before IFRS adoption. Interestingly, after Italy adopted IFRS, abnormal accruals are lower, but audit hours were less associated with lower abnormal accruals, implying that more audit hours are needed to constrain earnings management. Collectively, our empirical analysis suggests that while audit effort increased with mandatory IFRS adoption, the effectiveness of audit effort to constrain earnings management decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: We investigate whether individual auditors increase their audit efforts for other clients after auditing a client with a major environmental accident, using mixed methods. Results from archival and survey data show that (1) auditors work harder, as proxied by abnormal audit fees and audit report lag, after the environmental accident experience, and (2) the effects of environmental accident experience on auditing efforts are (1) moderated by situational factors (industry pollution level and regional environmental regulation) and individual factors (auditor age and position), and (2) mediated by auditor risk awareness. Our further analyses on the influence of Auditing Standard No. 1631, The Consideration of Environmental Matters in the Audit of Financial Statements, show that auditors' knowledge of this standard strengthens the effects of environmental accident experience on audit efforts, although the standard per se has little impact on audit behavior. Together, this study offers a psychological account for audit behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, audit firms are required to maintain 'professional risk funds'. These funds can be used only to pay civil compensation caused by deliberate or gross negligence in auditing activities. Using Chinese data from this peculiar regulatory characteristic, we investigate the impact of audit firms' professional risk funds on audit quality. We find that the higher the audit firms' professional risk funds, the lower the discretionary accruals. This finding is more pronounced for client firms with higher information asymmetry or weaker corporate governance. Further tests indicate that the higher the professional risk funds, the greater the audit effort invested in the auditing process, while audit fees do not change significantly. Our results suggest that higher professional risk funds ultimately improve audit quality by increasing audit effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: This study experimentally tests the joint effects of mandatory partner rotation and PCAOB inspections on audit effort. Using a sample comprised primarily of audit partners, I find that experienced auditors plan lower effort prior to mandatory partner rotation and higher effort when PCAOB inspection risk is high relative to low. Thus, the net effect of anticipating mandatory partner rotation and high PCAOB inspection risk is no change in effort. Partners also reallocate effort away from planning and testing activities prior to rotation, consistent with a disincentive to invest in outgoing clients, while both partner rotation and high PCAOB inspection risk cause partners to spend more effort on documentation. Supplemental evidence about the spillover effects of mandatory partner rotation and PCAOB inspection risk on non-targeted clients is inconsistent with shirking behavior. Results are of interest to legislators, regulators, and auditors during the ongoing debate about the effects of current regulations. Data Availability: Contact the author. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines not only the relationship between a firm's excess cash holdings and audit effort but also the moderating effects of CEO characteristics on the relationship. Using a sample of non-financial listed Korean companies for 2000–2014, we find that excess cash holdings have a significant positive effect on the external audit effort in terms of audit fees and audit hours. In addition, we find that the effect of excess cash holdings on audit effort is stronger when: (1) the CEO is a non-owner manager, (2) the company belongs to a conglomerate business group and (3) the CEO is in the earlier years of her or his tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspects auditors with fewer than 100 publicly held clients, once every three years (i.e., triennial inspection). In doing so, the PCAOB may inspect any audit engagement within the three-year window, including audits completed only months earlier ("inspection year" audits) and audits with at least a one-year, if not two-year lag ("non-inspection year" audits). We theorize the triennial inspection process affects audit quality levels, whereby auditors impose higher (lower) audit quality during inspection years (non-inspection years). We find clients of triennially inspected auditors have significantly lower levels of accruals during inspection years. Further, this change can be attributed to additional audit effort expended during inspection years. Finally, we find some evidence this is a learned behavior developed after the initial round of inspections. Our evidence suggests auditors opportunistically increase (decrease) audit quality during inspection (non-inspection) years in response to the triennial inspection process. Data Availability: All data are from publicly available sources. JEL Classifications: M42. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research into the effect of different types of experience on audit fees and audit effort has been primarily conducted at the individual, office or firm level but rarely at the team level. An important motivation for team level research is that within team variation could influence the conduct, quality and pricing of an audit. Audit team industry specialization and client‐specific experience have been associated with higher audit quality. We extend this research by investigating the effect of audit team industry experience and client‐specific experience on audit production hours (effort) and fees. Using proprietary team‐level data provided by two Australian mid‐tier firms, we find that audit team client‐specific experience is associated with higher effort and fees. Although team‐level industry experience is not associated with effort or fees, it is associated with the use of lower ranked auditors. Our results suggest that audit teams with industry experience enjoy cost savings, while audit teams with client‐specific experience incur additional effort, perhaps due to the provision of value‐added services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the association between employee quality and audit fee. Using data for firm-level employee quality (as proxied by employee education) from Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2018, we find that firms operated by high-quality employees enjoy lower audit charges. The association between employee quality and audit fee is more pronounced in firms with a culture of high integrity. Our 2SLS estimation helps us establish a causal link between employee quality and audit fee. The final validity tests suggest that high-quality employees contribute to lower audit fee by reducing audit risk and audit effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do abnormally high or low audit fees reflect audit quality? In this paper, we re-examine this issue after controlling for the confounding effect of audit hours by using a sample of public firms in the Korean audit market, which publicly discloses both audit fees and audit hour information. While we do not find a significant association between abnormally high audit fees and audit quality, we find that abnormally low audit fees are associated with larger discretionary accruals and a higher likelihood of meeting or beating analyst earnings forecasts. Further, we find that the relationship between abnormally low audit fees and audit quality indicators persists regardless of the level of audit hours. To the extent that audit hours represent audit effort, these findings suggest that greater audit effort alone may not lead to higher audit quality as fee pressure from abnormally low fees may discourage the provision of high-quality audit services. JEL Classifications: M42; M48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SYNOPSIS: This study examines whether the presence of a general counsel (GC) in top management affects audit effort and audit outcomes. Hopkins, Maydew, and Venkatachalam (2015) find that firms with GCs in top management have lower financial reporting quality and tolerate more aggressive financial reporting practices, which likely influences audit risk. Given the GCs' influence on the financial reporting process, we posit that auditors of firms with GCs in top management increase the amount of effort they expend to provide reasonable assurance that financial statements are stated fairly. We find that the presence of GCs in firms' top management is positively associated with audit effort but does not directly affect the likelihood that these firms will receive unqualified audit opinions that contain explanatory language. Our findings suggest that GCs influence the external audit market by participating in the financial reporting process. JEL Classifications: M42. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether firms that appear to exhibit high sustainability reporting quality are less likely to engage in earnings management activities, thereby delivering financial information that is more transparent and reliable than that delivered by firms that do not produce high‐quality sustainability reports. I also investigate whether the association between sustainability reporting quality and post‐audit financial reporting quality is conditional on audit effort. Analysis of data drawn from FTSE 350 companies covering 2007 to 2018 indicates that firms that produce high‐quality sustainability reports are significantly and negatively associated with earnings management metrics. More importantly, this association is moderated by audit effort, measured by audit fees, suggesting that sustainability reporting quality reflects factors considered by auditors in their audit risk assessment practices. These results remain robust after several sensitivity analyses. I conclude that firms that devote more resources to producing high‐quality sustainability reports are likely to demonstrate an overall commitment to quality that alleviates auditors' concerns about the opportunistic use of sustainability reporting and reduces business risk, thereby reducing the effort auditors expend to verify financial reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, related party transactions (RPTs) can enhance the efficiency of firm's business operations. However, the increase in financial scandals involving RPTs proves that these transactions could potentially be used as a tool by stakeholders to extract firm's wealth. Due to the potential abuse, RPTs are a challenge to the audit work. Therefore, auditors are exposed to audit risk and need to devote time and effort to performing audit work. The risks and difficulties in audit works are often associated with increased audit fees. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the relationship between RPTs and audit fees in Malaysia. Specifically, this study classifies RPTs based on their complexity and type of related parties which includes complex RPTs or simple RPTs and effective RPTs or conflict RPTs. This study employs a total of 583 firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2013 to 2017. The findings suggest that complex RPT, simple RPT and effective RPT have positive and significant relationships with audit fees. These findings support agency theory that RPTs increase audit risks and audit efforts. This study provides insights for financial statement preparers to the potential risks of financial misstatement arising from RPTs. Auditors need to understand the importance for each type of RPTs in order to make an appropriate audit judgement and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]