This paper investigates the common, yet previously opaque, practice of using foreign audit firms (component auditors) to conduct portions of audit work for U.S. public companies. U.S. regulators have expressed concern for the transparency and quality of audits using component auditors. Employing...

Over the past several decades, the scope of public companies' operations has become increasingly global. This has led to concern over the ability of audit firms to conduct high-quality audits across geographically dispersed foreign operations. We contribute to the growing body of research in...

We study the determinants of involvement of component auditors (either network and/or unaffiliated) in multinational (MNE) group audits and associated audit outcomes. We identify the involvement of component auditors, using unique Australian disclosures of group audit fees paid to the principal...

This study investigates the use of social compliance audits in the supply chain of multinational corporations (MNCs). Particularly, we explore the use of such audits in assessing and managing the working conditions of factory workers in the garment industry in a developing nation. Through a...

This paper investigates whether foreign ownership affects audit fees by analyzing share-holdings of listed firms from Western European countries. The results show that foreign ownership is an important factor that drives the demand for audit services. However, the willingness to pay higher audit...

While audit opinions for multinational entities are signed by a single national firm, other firms (often in the same global network) participate in gathering and evaluating evidence from client components in other countries. Regulators have recently recognized coordination and monitoring...

This paper investigates the common, yet previously opaque, practice of using foreign audit firms (component auditors) to conduct portions of audit work for U.S. public companies. U.S. regulators have expressed concern for the transparency and quality of audits using component auditors. Employing...

Many U.S. corporations operate internationally. For instance, S&P 500 firms generate approximately 29 percent of their sales in foreign markets (Brzenk 2018). Multinational corporations (MNCs) rely on information about their operations to allocate resources. This information is dispersed within...

In a large sample of private Spanish subsidiaries, we observe a significantly greater incidence of modified audit reports in foreign than in local group subsidiaries. Results are consistent with foreign group subsidiaries having lower incentives to avoid receiving modified audit opinions (MAOs)...