We examine whether auditors effectively incorporate cues indicating increased risk into their evaluation of fair value estimates. Consistent with concerns from PCAOB inspections, more than one-third of fair value estimates in our security-level dataset differ from the true fair value by an...

Small accounting firms represent important participants in the audit market, yet details of how they operate and develop competencies remain unexplored. Small firms often join forces through accounting associations and networks (“AANs”), which may help them overcome significant challenges...

This study examines whether auditor competencies developed through industry specialization play a role in monitoring client firms' accounting estimates. Specifically, I focus on asset impairment decisions as a key accounting estimate given managers incentives to hide these losses and the PCAOB's...

Relying on their history of legal infractions to measure individuals' risk tolerance, we examine the association between engagement partners' risk appetites and audit quality in the U.S. Criminology and economics research links criminal activity with enduring personality traits that capture an...

A firm's decision on whether to choose the same auditor as a close competitor reflects a trade-off between exercising caution to protect its proprietary information and pursuing the benefits of auditor knowledge derived from providing services to comparable clients. We conduct a survey of audit...

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...

The “coopetition” paradox exists when two or more organizations are simultaneously involved in cooperative and competitive interactions. In the accounting industry, small firms encounter coopetition when they align themselves with other independent firms to form accounting associations and...