Our study is motivated by the theory of credence goods in the auditing setting. We propose that audit committee accounting expertise should reduce information asymmetries between the auditor and the client, thereby limiting auditors' ability to over-audit and under-audit. Consistent with this...

Assurance services include independent professional services that improve the quality of information. Once such service is the collection of confidential information from participating firms on behalf of an industry association and the release of summarized information to investors. An example...

In this paper, we investigate how auditors respond to shareholder activism against their clients. Our study is important because activism may be viewed by auditors as a source of increased engagement risk, thereby impacting audit outcomes. The potential relationship between shareholder activism...

The valuation allowance for deferred tax assets is an audited disclosure that reflects management's expectations regarding the future profitability of a company. Building on prior literature that establishes this disclosure as an indicator of future distress, we examine whether the valuation...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether initial technical debt covenant violations are associated with significant increases in the equity risk of violating firms. Our results indicate that first-time violations are associated with significant increases in both systematic and...