The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) have proposed or approved standards that significantly change the independent auditor's report. These initiatives require the...

Assuring the quality of international auditing is important in the current, globalized business/economic environment. High quality international auditing efforts promote greater confidence in financial statements, and therefore promote greater movement of capital. Ensuring high quality auditing...

In 2014 the European Union reformed the regulatory framework of statutory audits in Directive 2014/56/EC and Regulation (EU) Nr. 537/2014. Part of the new legislation addresses the composition and responsibilities of the audit committee of public-interest entities. This contribution studies the...

This study addresses the international debate over whether the rotation of audit firms should be mandatory. Mandatory rotation rules have been adopted by the European Union, but have not been established in the United States. Proponents of the policy believe that a long tenure auditor-client...

Trust in the independence of auditors is essential for the functioning of markets. If auditors are not independent or not believed to be independent, transaction costs will rise. In November 2011, the European Commission proposed radical reforms for statutory audits in Europe, fueling heated...

Regulatory economics suggests that one benefit of public enforcement is the deterrence of improper conduct. Using a difference-in-differences design, we investigate whether a deterrence effect follows the revelation of PCAOB enforcement. We find that large audit firm offices improve audit...

Audits by private, third-party auditors are frequently mandated to ensure compliance with regulations (e.g., accounting or environmental standards). We examine how such mandates shape the market for audits. In our empirical examination, we focus on one of the oldest and most prominent audit...

The paper describes the accounting profession role in the framework of corporate and securities regulation as a tool to "control" directors & managers in the interest of investors. It delves in the relevance of auditor's independence, analyzing the crucial issues and moments that may put that...

Corporate accounting failures and regulatory proceedings that led to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) increased the scrutiny of auditors. We investigate whether these events resulted in a change in auditor behavior with respect to going concern reporting. Generally speaking,...

The European Commission (EC) discusses in her regulation draft of 2011 the external mandatory auditor rotation (audit firm rotation) principally after six years as a reform measure to increase auditor independence, which could complement the internal mandatory rotation (auditor rotation) by the...