Anecdotal evidence suggests that the resignation of a top executive increases a firm's likelihood of failure. When auditors perceive an increased likelihood of failure, a going concern modified audit opinion is issued. This study tests the relationship between top management resignations and the...

We examine the influence of auditors on mitigating corporate fraud in China, which is known to have weak legal enforcement, weak investor protection along with tight control of the media and labour unions. We find that firms with executives that have lower integrity, indicated by a greater...

We examine the influence of auditors on corporate fraud in China. We find lower executive integrity firms are associated with higher propensity of regulatory enforcement actions against corporate fraud in the subsequent year. We then show that this effect is moderated by the issuance of modified...

We experimentally study the deception detection capabilities of experienced auditors, using CEO narratives from earnings conference calls as case materials. We randomly assign narratives of fraud and non-fraud companies to auditors as well as the presence versus absence of an instruction...

We investigate the audit fee response to CEO behavioral integrity (BI). BI refers to the perceived congruence between an individual's words and deeds (Simons 2002). Because low word-deed congruence should result in more explanations when communicating, we use variation in explanations beyond...

I study an important accounting consequence—financial misstatements—of CFO outside board membership. I find that firms with CFOs holding outside directorships have a lower likelihood of misstatements. These results likely reflect the benefits accruing to CFOs' home firms in terms of improved...

In this paper, we examine how CEO succession and succession planning affect perceptions of financial reporting risk among stakeholders who are responsible for and oversee firms' financial reporting (e.g., auditors, management, and audit committees). Management succession introduces uncertainty...

Accounting scholars theorize that audit price is a function of a client's audit and business risk. Existing research finds that the functional expertise of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in finance improves financial reporting quality (Matsunaga, Wang, and Yeung 2013), increases profitability,...

We examine whether audit fees reflect characteristics of individual executives incremental to known determinants of fees. Using a novel executive effects approach, we find that unexplained audit fees exhibit a statistically and economically significant association with executive effects after...