Does Gender and Ethnic Diversity among Audit Partners Impact Office-Level Outcomes?

Abstract

SUMMARY Accounting firms have invested significant resources in diversity initiatives related to recruiting, retention, and promotion. Audit regulators suggest these efforts can have positive repercussions on audit quality. This article summarizes the key findings by Condie, Lisic, Seidel, Truelson, and Zimmerman (2023) (CLSTZ) regarding the influence of a more diverse group of audit partners within an audit office on office-level outcomes. Specifically, CLSTZ examines whether gender and ethnic diversity among audit partners within an office influences audit personnel retention and audit quality. CLSTZ finds that greater diversity (greater changes in diversity) among an office's audit partners is associated with less (reduced) turnover among the audit professionals in that office and higher (increased) audit quality. These findings provide empirical evidence regarding the influence of a more diverse group of office audit partners on office-level outcomes and have important implications for accounting firms. JEL Classifications: M41; M42.