Business Commons^™

Cfo Compensation And Public Company Audit Fees: A Study Of Relationships And Influence On Audit Pricing, Charles T. Fagan

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

From the Introduction:

In corporate America, most executives have multiple forms of compensation ranging from a base salary, which is fixed, to annual and multi-year bonuses, which are normally tied to some performance based metrics; to longer-term incentives such as stock options, stock grants, restricted stock units (RSUs) and other forms of equity-based compensation. Aside from a base salary within normal ranges, all other forms of compensation are normally meant to incentify an executives’ behavior to work in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. At least, that is the theory on incentive-based compensation.

It is quite common …

Critical Audit Matters Requirements And Auditor Reporting Behavior: Early U.S. Evidence, Valbona Sulcaj

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

In this study, I examine two research questions related to the reporting requirements of critical audit matters (CAMs) introduced in the Audit Standard (AS) 3101. First, I examine whether auditor’s perceived litigation risk and client’s financial reporting quality are associated with the number and textual attributes of CAMs. Second, I examine whether the number and textual attributes of CAMs are associated with audit effort and costs.

Consistent with the litigation hypothesis (Skinner, 1994), I find a positive association between litigation risk and the number of CAMs in the audit report, suggesting that auditors try to preempt negative consequences from shareholder …

Group-Affiliated Firms And Audit Fees: Evidence From India, Mohinder Parkash, Rajeev Singhal, Yun Ellen Zhu

International Review of Business and Economics

This study analyzes the role of auditors and affiliation to a business group in corporate governance of firms by examining the audit fees charged to group-affiliated and independent firms. Agency problems in firms may be mitigated by the monitoring provided by controlling investors of firms affiliated to business groups. On the other hand, concentrated ownership may also result in higher agency costs because of inefficient profit distributions, tunneling, and complicated ownership structures. Audit fees are determined by the effort expended and the risks faced by auditors. We examine the relationship between audit fees and Group-affiliation for Indian firms. We find …

The Impact Of Audit Engagement Partner Disclosure On Audit Outcomes In The United States, J. Alan Bell

PhD in Business Administration Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE IMPACT OF AUDIT ENGAGEMENT PARTNER DISCLOSURE ON AUDIT OUTCOMES IN THE UNITED STATES

by

James Alan Bell

This study is motivated by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s (PCAOB) mandate requiring the public disclosure of the audit engagement partner’s identity. Prior to the ruling, the audit engagement partner (AEP) was known only to the company’s management, audit committee, audit firm, and regulators. The PCAOB maintains that disclosure of the AEP will increase the partner’s sense of accountability; and increase transparency in the audit process; leading to improved audit quality; and improved financial reporting quality; thereby improving the credibility …

Information Sharing Between Mutual Funds And Auditors, Ole-Kristian Hope, Pingui Rao, Yanping Xu, Heng Yue

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This paper examines whether there is information sharing between mutual funds and their auditors about the auditors’ other listed firm clients. Using detailed hand-collected data from the Chinese market and employing levels, changes, and PSM analyses, we find that mutual funds earn higher profits from trading in firms that share the same auditors. The effects are more pronounced when firms have a more opaque information environment and when the audit partners for the fund and the partners for the listed firm share school ties. The evidence is consistent with information flowing from auditors to mutual funds, providing mutual funds with …

Enterprise Risk Management: The Transformation Of Board-Level Engagement As Evidenced By Disclosure, Timothy L. Baker

Doctor of Business Administration Dissertations

Utilizing available information about ERM practices within organizations disclosed by boards of directors in annual proxy statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this study expands the understanding of the value of disclosure of board-level ERM oversight information in proxy statements. The study first creates a board-level ERM engagement index (BODERMX) to identify aspects of board engagement in the ERM efforts disclosed by companies. Development of this index will present opportunities to future researchers to conduct empirical ERM-related research as information about firms’ ERM is costly to obtain. The study next examines associations between the extent of …

Does The Pcaob Inspection Have An Effect On Audit Fees And Audit Quality?, Elizabeth Schwartzhoff Johnson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

I investigate the effects of the issuance of the PCAOB Part II report on audit fees and audit quality. The PCAOB replaced the peer review auditor program with an independent inspection of audit firms. Upon completion of each inspection, the PCAOB issues inspection reports that include a public portion (Part I) of identified audit deficiencies, and most include a nonpublic portion (Part II) of identified quality control weaknesses which is not disclosed publicly unless the audit firm does not sufficiently complete remediation during the next 12 months. Upon issuance of the Part II report, I find that audit firms experience …

A Comparison Of Audit Fee Trends For East Tennessee Based Companies And Similar Companies Based In Similar Regions, William J. Saulsbury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Research examines audit fee trends for a decade. The research focuses on audit fees of companies in the East Tennessee Area and compares the audit fees of these companies to similar companies based in similar regions of the United States. Possible causes for the fluctuations of audit fees during the decade are also discussed.

Client Responses To Non-Compliant Audits: An Analysis Of Clients Targeted By Pcaob Inspection, Quinn Thomas Swanquist

Doctoral Dissertations

PCAOB inspectors are afforded privileged insight into the quality of audits selected for inspection. Using inspection reports from 2005-2012, I create a unique sample of audits that were inspected by the PCAOB (i.e., all of an auditor’s clients were selected for inspection). By tracing inspection findings to specific engagements, I directly identify compliant and non-compliant audits. I examine the contributing factors of ‘audit quality’ and provide evidence that higher audit fees and greater human capital are positively related to compliant PCAOB inspections. When PCAOB findings can be linked to a specific engagement, I also find that, on average, the client …

Three Essays On Auditor Industry Specialization, Ankita Singhvi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation consists of three separate but related essays examining auditor changes, auditor industry specialization and audit fee premiums.

The first essay investigates whether audit committee characteristics affect the types of auditor changes from an industry specialist auditor to a non-industry specialist auditor or the reverse. I examine whether selection of an external auditor is affected by audit committee characteristics such as: 1) number of meetings, 2) number of members on the audit committee, 3) proportion of auditing experts and, 4) proportion of financial experts. The findings show that a greater proportion of auditing experts on the audit committee positively …