Auditor Industry Specialization Research Articles

전문성이 필요한 산업에 속한 피감사기업을 감사하는 산업전문감사인의 감사행태

[Purpose] This study aims to examine the behavior of industry specialist auditors according to industry characteristics. Specifically, this study aims to provide evidence on the audit efficiency of industry specialist auditors by analyzing whether the audit hours and audit fees of industry specialist auditors are differentiated for industries requiring industry specialization designated by the Financial Supervisory Service.
 [Methodology] We used a sample of 19,115 firms and years for Korean listed companies from 2008 to 2020. For the industries requiring specialization, we used the industry groups selected by the Financial Supervisory Service in November 2023 based on the opinions of listed companies and accounting firms.
 [Findings] The results show that, first, industry specialist auditors are associated with higher audit fees and more audit hours on average, but these fees and audit hours are significantly lower for industries designated as requiring industry specialty, which can be interpreted as an audit efficiency. Second, the above association does not appear in the analysis using hourly audit fees, explaining the process by which efficiency gains are passed on to client firms. Third, the relations does not appear in analyses of audit quality measured by the absolute value of performance－matched discretionary accruals, providing further evidence of the efficiency with which audit quality is maintained at lower levels of audit time. These results can be interpreted as indicating that industry specialist auditors perform the audit process efficiently in industries where specialization is essential, and that the benefits of reduced audit efforts are fully passed on to the clients through this efficient audit process.
 [Implications] The contribution of this study is that it provides evidence on the audit efficiency of industry specialist auditors through data that directly manifests the need for specialization while reflecting the perspectives of both audited companies as consumers and accounting firms as suppliers of industry specialization.

Effect of industry-specialist auditors, auditor's tenure, and auditor's size on the quality of disclosure in the UAE Stock Exchange

Having access to real-world information and accurate data is a key factor in improving auditor performance, which in turn impacts business performance and decision-making. Consequently, this research aims to determine how financial institutions' levels of experience impact the accuracy of the information they disclose. The present statistical population consists of all 127 businesses listed on the United Arab Emirates Stock Exchange. This type of research is categorized as applied studies in relation to the research methods used in the UAE stock market. Using a systematic deletion procedure, 46 companies were chosen based on the study's inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that in the UAE, the quality of financial information disclosure for companies listed on the UAE stock exchange is significantly affected by the auditor's decision-making experience, the duration of their job, and the size of the auditor.

The Effect of The Audit Committee, Auditor Industry Specialization, Earnings Volatility on Audit Report Lag With Company Size as A Moderation Variable

This study aims to examine the effect of  Audit Committee, Auditor Industry Specialization, Earnings Volatility on Audit Report Lag with Company Size as a Moderating Variable. This study uses secondary data obtained from financial reports and annual reports. The research population is companies in the Properties and Real Estate sector listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) for the period 2018 - 2022. The data collection method in this study was  purposive sampling. The sample that met the criteria was 104 company data for 2018 - 2022. The data analysis method used was a quantitative data analysis method using SPSS version 27 to process the data using multiple linear analysis.The results obtained from this study are that the influence of the audit committee has no effect on Audit Report Lag. Auditor Industry Specialization has no effect on Audit Report Lag. Earnings Volatility has a positive effect on Audit Report Lag. Company size is unable to strengthen the effect of audit committee on Audit Report Lag. Company size is unable to strengthen the effect of Auditor Industry Specialization on Audit Report Lag. Company size is able to weaken the effect of  Earnings volatility towards Audit Report Lag

Does Internal Competition among Audit Partners Affect Audit Pricing Decisions?

SUMMARY This study examines whether competitive pressure from peers within a local office (i.e., internal competition) affects audit partners’ audit pricing decisions. Using U.S. audit partner data from 2016 to 2022, we find that audit partners respond to internal competition by charging their clients lower audit fees. The effect is more pronounced for initial audit engagements, in more competitive local audit markets, and when peers share similar personal attributes, such as sex and experience. However, the effect is weaker for industry specialist audit partners. We also find evidence that internal competition is negatively associated with audit quality for non-Big 4 clients. Overall, this study provides initial evidence of the effect of internal competition among audit partners on audit outcomes.

The effect of the new revenue recognition principle (IFRS 15) on financial statement comparability: Evidence from Korea

This study investigates the initial impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 15 by comparing the financial statement comparability of the effective years of its implementation with those of the pre-IFRS 15 periods. Given that private firms are exempt from the IFRS 15 amendment, we use them as the control group for public firms. Specifically, we use Korean firms from 2015 to 2020 and employ a difference-in-differences approach. This study finds an increase in financial statement comparability for public firms after the IFRS 15 application relative to the change of private firms that are not subject to the IFRS 15. We interpret that the enhancement in financial statement comparability is caused by the following two aspects of IFRS 15: discretion reduction effect and harmonization of multiple standards effect. Furthermore, an increase in comparability is greater for firms that are clients of industry-specialist auditors and those that operate in less-competitive industries, unlike their counterparts. We also find that discretionary revenues are lower in the post-IFRS 15 period than in the pre-IFRS 15 period. Overall, the results of this study suggest that IFRS 15 can deliver the outcomes aimed for by regulators, at least during its initial implementation.

Further evidence on non-audit fees: using the context of female directors on audit committees

Purpose This study aims to examine the association between non-audit fees and audit quality by using the context of gender-diverse audit committees. Further, the authors assess whether this link is moderated by industry-specialist auditors. Design/methodology/approach This study used non-financial FTSE-350 firms over the period of seven years. In addition, the authors use ordinary least squares regression to test the research hypotheses. Findings The authors find that female directors on audit committees are negatively related to non-audit fees, suggesting that non-audit fees reduce audit quality. Moreover, the results indicate that industry-specialist auditors positively moderate the link between gender-diverse audit committees and non-audit fees. This suggests that non-audit fees improve audit quality when the auditor is an industry-specialist. Practical implications The study does not support blanket restrictions on non-audit fees. It recommends regulators to consider industry expertise of auditors when devising non-audit fee restrictions. Moreover, the findings of this study have implications for firms aiming to understand whether non-audit fees could be used for enhancing audit quality. Originality/value By using the context of female directors on audit committees, the authors conclusively assess the link between non-audit fees and audit quality. Further, this study provides a more robust evidence on whether industry-specialist auditors affect the relationship between non-audit fees and audit quality.

Do alumni relationships between executive directors and auditors matter for financial reporting quality?

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of executive director-auditor Guanxi on Chinese listed firms’ financial reporting quality from 2009 to 2019. We identify Guanxi-connected auditors as those who attend the same university as the client firm directors. Using a fixed-effect model, we provide consistent evidence that alumni ties between auditors and executive directors are positively related to corporate earnings management, indicating that auditors are more willing to trust clients and less likely to challenge their financial reporting decisions. Subsequently, client firms have more incentives to manipulate earnings, and financial reporting quality is reduced. Our study also finds that the positive impact of director-auditor ties on earnings management is greater among non-state-owned enterprises, firms that do not recruit big-four auditors, and those with fewer industry specialist auditors. Our study sheds new light on the impact of Guanxi-connected auditors on financial reporting quality, enhancing our understanding on the role of social ties. Highlights Alumni ties between auditors and executive directors are positively related to earnings management. Such a positive relationship is greater among non-state-owned enterprises. Such a positive relationship is more pronounced for firms that do not recruit big-four auditors. Such a positive relationship is more pronounced for firms with fewer industry specialist auditors.

THE INFLUENCE OF AUDIT TENURE, AUDIT OPINION, KAP REPUTATION AND AUDITOR SWITCH ON AUDIT REPORT LAG WITH AUDITOR INDUSTRY SPECIALIZATION AS A MODERATION VARIABLE

The purpose of this paper is to test and evaluate how much influence Audit Tenure, Audit Opinion, Public Accounting Firm Reputation, Auditor Switching, and Auditor Industry Specialization as moderator variable has on Audit Report Lag. This research uses Indonesian Stock Exchange data as the population of this study and to examine the companies in the food and beverage sector. This research uses quantitative methodology and secondary sources. In 2021, the Indonesian Stock Exchange is expected to list 39 food and beverage companies. The sample size for this study was 22 food and beverage companies and 110 data were used as samplesand was selected using the purposive sampling method. This research utilizes SPSS version 26 (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for its statistical analytical needs.This reasearch data analysis uses moderated regression analysis.In this research variable such as Audit Tenure, Audit Opinion, Public Accounting Firm Reputation, Auditor Switching, Auditor Industry Specialization and Audit Report Lag’s Indicator was based on previous studies. Audit tenure is measured by the length of the KAP's engagement with the same auditee. Audit Opinion using the nominal ratio of type opinion given. Public Accounting Firm Reputation indicator’s wheter a company using Big4 as their auditor or not. Auditor Switching indicator’s if company changing its KAP is given code 1, if not 0. Auditor Industry Specialization using SPEC formulation as the indicator. And for the dependent variable, Audit Report Lag measured in days from the date of the closing of company the book until the date of financial report is published to the public.According to this study, longer audit tenure resulted in longer audit report lag. There is no statistically significant correlation between audit report lag and variables audit opinion, audit firm reputation, or auditor switching. There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between audit tenure and auditor industry specialization as a moderation variable with audit report lag. Auditor industry specialization can not moderate the impact of audit opinion, KAP reputation, and auditor turnover on audit report lag.

Audit committee-auditor interlocking and audit fees: evidence from China

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effect of audit committee-auditor interlocking on the audit fees in a sample of listed Chinese companies from 2005 to 2018. It is found that audit committee-auditor interlocking significantly increases the audit fees, and this positive relationship is more significant in better external governance environments, as measured by the marketization level, legal environment, regulatory intensity, and analyst attention. Further analyses show that the interlocking has a greater positive impact on audit fees when it is caused by the audit committee chair, audit partner, and industry specialist auditor, and when the interlocking companies are operating in the same industry. The interlocking relationship also increases audit quality and reduces the stock price crash risk in which the audit fees play the mediating role. The results suggest that it’s the reputation mechanism that motivates audit committee directors and auditors in interlocking relationships to increase audit fees and audit quality. We provide practical implications for auditors, listed companies, investors, and regulators in aspects of increasing audit fees and audit quality, protecting investors’ interests, and improving the external governance environments.

Tempering Financial Reporting Risk through Board Risk Management

Recent corporate governance failures have heightened stakeholder expectations that the board of directors engage in robust oversight of the firm’s risk management processes. This expectation is in line with widely embraced enterprise risk management frameworks, which assert that strong board risk management is a key component of an entity’s risk management process. We use a hand-coded measure of board engagement in risk management from the recent literature to measure the robustness of that oversight for a sample of large, publicly traded U.S. firms and examine the relationship between robust board risk management (board risk management) and firm-wide strategies for mitigating financial reporting risk. While controlling for board composition-related characteristics, we found a positive association between robust board risk management processes and two avenues for mitigating financial reporting risk (i.e., more effective internal control over financial reporting and the selection of industry specialist auditors). Our results indicate that firms with more robust board risk management are associated with fewer actual instances of materially misstated financial statements and less earnings management.

Pengaruh Spesialisasi Auditor, Audit Tenure, Leverage dan Profitabilitas terhadap Manajemen laba pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia

The purpose of testing this research is to find out whether Auditor Industry Specialization, Audit Tenure, Leverage and Profitability have an influence on the occurrence of Earnings Management in Food and Beverage sub-sector manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2019 to 2021. Food and beverage sub-sector manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange which will be the focus of the population for this study and the data needed is obtained from their financial statements. Sampling was carried out using several criteria with the purposive sampling method for sample selection. Sample data obtained from 16 companies with a period of 2019 to 2021. SPSS version 26 is used for data analysis then continued with classical assumption testing then hypothesis testing with partial tests. This study found that auditor industry specialization, audit tenure, and leverage do not affect earnings management and profitability has a positive impact on earnings management.

Key audit matters and insider trading profitability: Evidence from China

The debate as to whether or not an expanded audit report is informative to the market persists, either from experimental and empirical study perspectives. With the utilization of 4,336 firm-year Chinese observations from 2016 to 2017, this study investigates whether the mandatory disclosure of key audit matters (KAMs) restricts insider trading profitability in China. The main test and robustness tests confirm the significant and negative relationship between KAM disclosure and insider trading profitability in the Chinese capital market. The study further explores the impact of KAMs’ textual characteristics using the KAM data from 2017 to 2020. The results suggest that firm-specific KAMs, longer KAMs, more readable KAMs, and more accurate KAMs reduce the insider trading profitability. Supplementary analysis shows that this effect only exists for opportunistic insider trading. In addition, the effect of KAM disclosure on insider trading profitability is further amplified by high institutional ownership, auditor industry specialization, and KAM with goodwill impairment matter. Overall, the study presents some evidence of the communicative value of KAM disclosure and provides a practical means to restrict insiders’ opportunistic behavior, highlighting the decision-making usefulness of KAMs for external investors.

THE EFFECT OF AUDITOR CHARACTERISTICS AND GENDER DIVERSITY ON FRAUD DETECTION

Accounting fraud can occur in any company and must be detected to reduce it. This research aims at empirically investigating the effects of auditor characteristics and gender diversity on fraud detection. The population used mining companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for 2016-2020 with 205 observation data. The data analysis technique used was the Panel Data Regression Model. The results showed that auditor independence and audit report lag had a positive effect, and audit tenure and gender diversity harmed fraud detection. Additionally, auditor rotation, auditor industry specialization, and audit firm size also had not. The auditor’s independence and adequate audit period would allow the auditor to be more effective in fraud detection.

The Moderating Effect of Institutional Shareholders on the Relationship between Board Attributes and Auditor Selection among Listed Financial Service Firms in Nigeria

The study examines the moderating effect of institutional ownership on the relationship between board attributes and auditor selection among listed financial service firms in Nigeria. It investigated whether institutional shareholding moderate the relationship between board size, board independence, board gender diversity, board meeting attendance and auditor selection among listed financial firms in Nigeria. The study used secondary data extracted from the published financial statements of the sampled firms for the period 2007 to 2020. The population of the study consists of 53 listed financial service firms in Nigeria. The study adopts correlational research design using logistic regression as a tool of analysis.  This study presents evidence that higher levels of institutional ownership strengthen the effect of board attributes (gender diversity and board meeting attendance) on auditor selection. Hence, the result implies that managers may face stringent monitoring when institutional investors, board gender diversity and board meeting attendance interacts. Such superior monitoring may compel managers to consider hiring an industry specialist auditor to audit the firm which leads to boosting the firm’ value. The finding of this investigation has an important policy implication on enhancing sound corporate governance practices, particularly for firms operating in developing countries where the market for corporate control is ineffective.

Effect of Management Ownership, Industry Auditor Specialization, Audit Complexity and Auditor Switching on Timeliness of Financial Reporting

This study aims to determine the effect of managerial ownership, auditor industry specialization, complexity audit, and auditor switching on the timeliness of submitting financial reports to Energy sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2017-2021. The method in this research is a quantitative research method. The population in this study are energy sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2017-2020. The sampling technique in this study used a purposive sampling technique with 41 research samples within five years so that a total of 205 research data were obtained. Data analysis used descriptive statistical analysis method and logistic regression analysis using SPSS 26 software. The results showed that managerial ownership, auditor industry specialization, audit complexity had a positive effect on the timeliness of financial reporting, while switching auditors did not affect on the timeliness of financial reporting. The accuracy of submitting financial statements to companies tends to be influenced by factors such as high levels of managerial ownership, auditor industry specialization, and audit complexity, but the presence of switching auditors in the company does not affect the time of submission of financial statements.

The Effect of Client Industry Agglomerations on Auditor Industry Specialization

ABSTRACTPrior research on auditor industry specialization documents fee premiums for local audit offices that are industry specialists. This research assumes that the effects of specialization are uniform across markets. We examine industry specialization based on the economic theory of industry agglomeration (geographic areas with high industry concentration). Agglomeration economies can facilitate access to knowledge for auditors serving a specific industry in those locations. We find that industry specialists in agglomerations earn a fee premium in excess of specialists in other markets. We find that nonspecialist offices in agglomerations also earn fee premiums in that industry when compared to nonspecialists in other markets even when controlling for these groups’ absolute share of the national market. We also address whether or not this expertise can be shared among offices in an agglomeration specialist's firm. We find that audit offices that have easy connections to a within‐firm office in an agglomerated market can earn a fee premium relative to more distant offices, suggesting a benefit from knowledge transfer. This fee premium accrues to offices that would not be considered a specialist using traditional market share measures in a given industry. These findings indicate that the benefit of industry specialization depends on more than local market share.

Global-Level Auditor Industry Specialization and the Cost of Equity Capital

SYNOPSIS We examine (1) the association between global-level and joint global-, national-, and city-level auditor industry specialization and audit clients’ cost of equity capital and (2) how the national investor protection environment impacts the preceding association. Our results indicate that cost of equity capital is negatively associated with global-level and joint global-, national-, and city-level auditor industry specialization. This relation is incrementally more negative when the auditor is a joint global-, national-, and city-level industry specialist than when the auditor is not a global-level industry specialist. We also find the negative relation between cost of equity capital and joint global-, national-, and city-level auditor industry specialization holds only in countries with strong investor protection. We further show investors perceive potential accentuation of accruals quality and ownership concentration on cost of equity is mitigated by joint global-, national-, and city-level specialist auditors. JEL Classifications: M42; G32; K49.

How do auditor attributes affect bank earnings management? Evidence from Africa

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of the auditor's characteristics on bank's earnings management (EM) through loan loss provisions (LLP) for African banks.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on 360 bank-year observations from 14 African countries for the period 2011–2016, discretionary LLP is used as proxy for EM. Panel regressions have been conducted.FindingsThe authors' findings reveal that auditor's industry specialization and tenure exert a negative and significant influence on the extent of LLP-based EM. The results also show that total fees paid to the banks' auditors are positively related to the extent of EM. In a further analysis, the authors find that industry specialist auditors are more effective in reducing the incoming-increasing. Similarly, the positive relationship previously found between EM and total fees still holds only for income-increasing. Moreover, auditor tenure negatively impacts both income-increasing and income-decreasing EM. As for auditor change, results reveal differential effect on EM.Originality/valueThe current research extends prior literature and provides an understanding of an important external monitoring mechanism, the external audit, within African banks. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is a paucity of cross-country studies that has addressed the influence of auditors' attributes on banks' EM in Africa.

Audit Fees, Audit Tenure, Auditor Industry Specialization, Audit Firm Size, and Audit Quality: Evidence from Indonesian Listed Companies

Audit Fees, Audit Tenure, Auditor Industry Specialization, Audit Firm Size, and Audit Quality: Evidence from Indonesian Listed Companies

Do Industry Specialist Audit Firms Influence Real Earnings Management? The Role of Auditor Independence

In this study, we provide empirical evidence on how the relationship between industry specialist auditors and real earnings management (REM) is moderated by the auditors’ independence. From a sample of Malaysian listed companies for the period 2009 to 2016, the results indicate that companies with specialist auditors are less likely to practise REM. However, this negative association is less pronounced when the independence of the specialist auditor is low, suggesting that the presence of economic bonding between the specialist auditor and the client may allow the auditor to become sufficiently lax to align with the interests of an economically important auditee. Our findings remain robust after controlling for endogeneity and self-selection bias and performing several further analyses. This study is the first to prove that auditor independence can moderate the effectiveness of industry specialist auditors in mitigating REM practices. The results have implications for policy makers to enhance the current regulation structure of auditing and accounting professions. The results also provide new insights into the association between audit quality, REM and auditor independence in an emerging economy. En este estudio proporcionamos evidencia empírica sobre cómo la relación entre los auditores especializados en la industria y la gestión de ganancias reales (REM) es moderada por la independencia de los auditores. A partir de una muestra de empresas malasias que cotizan en bolsa para el período comprendido entre 2009 y 2016, los resultados indican que las empresas con auditores especializados son menos propensas a practicar REM. Sin embargo, esta asociación negativa es menos pronunciada cuando la independencia del auditor especialista es baja, lo que sugiere que la presencia de vínculos económicos entre el auditor especialista y el cliente puede permitir que el auditor sea lo suficientemente laxo como para alinearse con los intereses de un auditado económicamente importante. Nuestros resultados siguen siendo sólidos tras controlar la endogeneidad y el sesgo de autoselección y realizar varios análisis adicionales. Este estudio es el primero que demuestra que la independencia de los auditores puede moderar la eficacia de los auditores especializados en el sector a la hora de mitigar las prácticas REM. Los resultados tienen implicaciones para que los responsables políticos mejoren la actual estructura de regulación de las profesiones de auditoría y contabilidad. Los resultados también aportan nuevos conocimientos sobre la asociación entre la calidad de la auditoría, el REM y la independencia del auditor en una economía emergente.