Using publicly available data from annual reports, we find that SEC rule changes (33-8128 and 33-8644) that impose time pressure on the audits of registered firms have a negative impact on earnings quality, which we interpret as evidence of lower audit quality. Consistent with our predictions,...

This paper provides an economic analysis of multi-client, multi-service accounting firms. The objective is to aid in the development of a new framework for auditor independence. We adopt the modern theory of the economics of organization, which views organizational structures and relationships...

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether firms' auditor choice relates to national culture. We construct a novel measure of secretiveness based on Hofstede's (1980) cultural factors. Using a very large sample of firms from 37 countries and controlling for a number of firm- and...

This expansion in the usage of information technology (IT) in organizations affects the financial audit. This technology rich environment can significantly impact how auditors meet the audit objectives. In recognition of these developments, the United States Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued...

This paper reports descriptive evidence about how managers attempt to manage earnings, based on a sample of 515 earnings-management attempts obtained from a survey of 253 experienced auditors (and also analyzed by Nelson et al. 2002). We classify attempts first according to primary approach:...

This study examines the association between overseas and New Zealand governance regulatory reforms and New Zealand companies' audit and non-audit fees. Our models use temporal and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) indicator variables to relate the timing of the fee changes to...

To what degree are audit fees for U.S. firms with publicly traded equity higher than fees for otherwise similar firms with private equity? The answer is potentially important for evaluating regulatory regime design efficiency and for understanding audit demand and production economics. For U.S....

We use incremental and joint implementation of multiple SOX-based control effectiveness disclosure and audit mandates to assess relative performance of alternatives for small U.S. public companies. Using data from several low and high effort management disclosure and audit regimes implemented...

A large body of research has studied audit fees aiming to determine whether they reflect auditors' response to clients' risks, auditors' expertise, competitive pressures in the audit market, and independence issues between auditors and clients. Badertscher, Jorgensen, Katz, and Kinney [2014]...

Regulators increasingly express concerns over auditor-provided tax services (APTS) because those services could impair auditor independence. To date, research on the impact of APTS on auditor independence has yielded mixed results, potentially due to endogeneity issues, providing no clear...