Regulators and the public are concerned about accounting firms lobbying politicians on behalf of their own audit clients because it could impair auditor independence. In this study, we examine whether these lobbying activities by accounting firms are associated with their clients' audit quality....

We question whether audit committee oversight, resource commitments, and the sourcing of internal audit functions have value implications for external audit reliance on internal audit assistance. When evaluating the quality of internal audit, professional standards guide external auditors to...