We examine auditor choice for listed companies in France where two (joint) auditors are required by law. The joint audit requirement creates a unique setting to study if a firm’s ownership structure affects its auditor-pair choice as well the consequences on earning quality. The results...

This paper studies earnings management in an international context. More specifically, the effects of three factors on earnings management are studied: national audit environment, audit firm quality and reliance on international capital markets. National audit environments vary strongly in terms...

This paper examines audit quality in private firms across different European countries. Prior research (e.g. Becker et al., 1998; Francis et al., 1999) has shown that audit quality provides a constraint on earnings management for public firms. We investigate whether audit quality differentiation...

This paper presents the results of empirical research on the use of management accounting systems in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and the relationship with company performance. The results show that the use of planning and control methods differ significantly according to the size...

This study investigates cash policies of multinational corporations (MNCs) for a large sample of European MNCs and their subsidiaries in the period 1998-2004. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that cash holdings depend on a trade-off between the superior knowledge of the subsidiary...

This paper addresses the question whether voluntary adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) is associated with lower earnings management. Ball et al. (Journal of Accounting and Economics, 36(1-3), pp. 235-270, 2003) argue that adopting high quality standards might be a...

This paper contributes to the recent literature on financial reporting quality in private (i.e. non-listed) companies (Ball and Shivakumar, 2005; Burgstahler et al., 2006) by examining whether in these types of companies Big 4 audit firms, as high quality auditors, provide a constraint on earnings...

Anglo-American countries like the US and the UK allow companies to switch auditors every year. In contrast, some continental European countries restrict auditor switching by allowing only renewable long-term audit mandates. This paper aims to analyse the impact of renewable long-term audit...

While the audit reporting debate has a long history, a number of recent regulatory initiatives and policy reviews increase the likelihood of change in this area. The purpose of this study is to use this momentum and examine whether there is consensus between audit report users and auditors with...