Both U.S. and international standard setters have recently proposed changes to the standard audit report, including a requirement to include a critical audit matter (CAM) paragraph. We examine how nonprofessional investors react to an audit report's CAM paragraph that is centered on the audit of...

This study examines how nonprofessional equity investors value variations in audit quality at different levels of audit clients’ pre-audit financial reporting quality. Using source credibility theory, we predict that nonprofessional investors will value the greater reduction in information...