Related party transactions (RPTs) are considered a potential tool for shareholders' wealth expropriation, as they offer opportunities to transfer wealth between the firm and related parties. While considerable evidence has been reported on the negative consequences of RPTs (declines in...

This study investigates the economic auditor-client dependency issue by examining the association between abnormal audit fee pricing and audit quality. Our study is the first to analyze this phenomenon empirically for the institutional setting of German IFRS firms by using a sample of 2,334...

The present paper aims to provide empirical evidence regarding the impact of shareholder activism on earnings management. Specifically, it is focused on investigating the moderating role of an external governance mechanism such as external audit quality. Based on a sample of French companies...

We examine the costs and benefits of proactive financial reporting enforcement by the UK Financial Reporting Review Panel. Enforcement scrutiny is selective and varies by sector and over time, yet can be anticipated by auditors and companies. We find evidence that increased enforcement intensity...

In a setting where mandatory audit firm rotation has been effective for more than 20 years (i.e., Italy), we analyse changes in audit quality during the auditor engagement period. In our research setting, auditors are appointed for a three-year period and their term can be renewed twice up to a...

Are high audit fees a signal that the auditor exerted more effort or a signal that the auditor may be losing her independence? Prior literature offers conflicting evidence. In this paper, we re-examine the issue on a sample of clients who have both the incentive and the ability to use...

This paper analyzes the relationship between a firm's demand for different quality auditors and opportunities for earnings management.In our model, the firm simultaneously chooses the bias it introduces into its pre-audited earnings and the quality of its auditor. We show that firms that choose...

We provide evidence that distinguishes between competing production cost-based explanations of how to interpret unusually high (or low) audit fees and their expected relation with accounting quality. Abnormally high or low fees are typically proxied by the residuals obtained from fee models....

Prior research has intensively debated whether abnormal audit fees purely indicate audit effort or client-auditor economic bonding (Francis 2011). However, this empirical debate is mostly based on the findings of the associations between audit fees and accrual-based earnings management. Unlike...

Background: Since external auditors possess the expertise necessary for detecting manipulations in financial statements, they should also take into account earnings management that could lead to it. In that context, auditor's independence, which can be affected by auditor's rotation, is of...