Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether external auditor traits influenced the reporting of internal control deficiencies (ICDs) prior to SOX‐mandated audits, holding constant the existence of a control weakness. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected from...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether external auditor traits influenced the reporting of internal control deficiencies (ICDs) prior to SOX-mandated audits, holding constant the existence of a control weakness. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected from...