题　目：Competence vs. Independence: Auditors’ Connections with Members of their Clients’ Business Community

嘉　宾：Mark Leroy DeFond, A. N. Mosich Chair in Accounting and Professor, University of Southern California

主持人：黄立 助理教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2024年04月24日（周三）14:00-15:30

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区安泰楼A503室

内容简介:

Prior research finds that auditors with social connections to their clients deliver lower quality audits. The effects of auditors’ broader social connections within their clients’ business community, however, are unexplored. While social ties within a client’s business community should improve auditor competency, they may also impair auditor independence. Connections within a client’s business community should be particularly beneficial for auditors in relational economies, where clients heavily rely on social networks for contracting. We test the effects of auditors’ network connections on audit quality using data from China, a relational economy where data on social connections and individual auditors are available. We find that auditors with strong local business and government connections deliver higher quality audits as evidenced by fewer financial irregularities among their clients. We also perform several analyses that help mitigate concerns that our results are due to alternative explanations. Taken together, our findings are consistent with the improved competency that arises from auditors’ business connections outweighing the potential costs of impaired auditor independence.

演讲人简介：

Professor DeFond is the A. N. Mosich Chair of Accounting, Leventhal School, University of Southern California. His research investigates issues in auditing, international accounting, and earnings management. He has served as Senior Editor of The Accounting Review and on the editorial boards of several leading academic journals. He is a recipient of the AAA’s Notable Contribution to the Auditing Literature Award, and a four-time MBA Golden Apple teaching award winner. He is currently the Associate Dean of Faculty at the Leventhal School. He received his PhD at the University of Washington and prior to that worked as an auditor with Deloitte (formerly Touche Ross).

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