Abstract
This study examines whether and how air pollution affects auditors’ proclivity for modified audit opinion issuance. We argue that air pollution affects auditors’ audit judgment through two separate channels, i.e., the productivity reduction channel and the cognitive bias channel. Our empirical tests confirm that high levels of air pollution make auditors less likely to issue modified audit opinions. Consistent with the adverse effect on audit quality, we further show that air pollution is positively associated with client companies’ discretionary accruals and subsequent restatements. Applying a discontinuity design that focuses on observations with air quality index falling in the narrow range around 100, we again confirm that local air pollution leads to lower audit quality.
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