Despite the importance of registration with the PCAOB, there is surprisingly little academic research on the registration process and its impact on audit outcomes (Abernathy, Barnes and Stefaniak 2013). The PCAOB allows registration of audit firms from non-US countries. However, China and a few...

We use data from China to examine whether regulations that limit management influence over auditors improve audit quality. China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) issued two rules in 2004 aimed at improving audit quality for state-owned...