Abstract

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JEL classification

۱٫ Introduction

۲٫ Literature review and hypothesis development

۳٫ Research design

۴٫ Summary statistics and results

۵٫ Robustness checks

۶٫ Further research

۷٫ Conclusion

Credit author statement

Funding

References

Abstract

We examine whether the diversity of signing auditors affects audit quality of listed firms in China. Using the Blau’s index of diversity measure based on eight characteristics of signing auditors and a series of audit quality proxies, including modified audit opinions (MAO), restatement of annual financial reports (Restate), and discretionary accruals (DA), we document a negative relationship between the diversity of signing auditors and firms’ audit quality. Additional analyses show that corporate governance, signing auditor and audit firm characteristics moderate the relationship between the diversity of signing auditors and audit quality. Our findings suggest that reducing the diversity of signing auditors is an effective way to improve audit quality.

۱٫ Introduction

Audit quality is an important part of the information disclosure system, which directly affects the quality of accounting information that leads to stakeholders’ decisions and actions (Francis, 1984). A large body of literature investigates the factors contributing to audit quality from the perspective of audit firms and listed companies including audit firm size, audit firm or auditor rotation, and the corporate governance structure of listed companies (Behn et al., 2008; Choi et al., 2010; DeAngelo, 1981; DeFond & Zhang, 2014; Deng et al., 2012; Firth et al., 2012; Zhao et al., 2020). In addition, several recent studies suggest that personal characteristics of the signing auditors are associated with audit quality (Guan et al., 2016; He et al., 2017; Knechel et al., 2015). However, the literature focuses on various characteristics of one auditor (i.e., the engagement partner) on audit quality. In practice, a listed company’s audit is generally the responsibility of several auditors, including the engagement and the review partners. These partners are all signing auditors. It is not clear how audit quality relates to the characteristics of an audit team. We examine this research question.

Several recent accounting scandals in Chinese capital market have turned the spotlight on audit quality issues. A listed company named FUREN Pharmaceutical (Stock Code: 600781.SH) failed to pay a RMB 60 million (approximately US$ 8.57 million) dividend promised to investors on July 20th, 2019, while apparently holding a cash balance of more than RMB 1.8 billion (approximately US$ 257 million).1 Another case of accounting fraud occurred at KDX Company (002450.SZ) in 2018.2 Ironically, the auditing firm of the two companies, Ruihua Certified Public Accountants Firm, had been issuing unqualified audit opinions for more than six years, when in fact, modified audit opinions seemed more appropriate in both cases. The auditing opinions on FUREN Pharmaceutical and KDX Company turned out to be completely lacking in their assurance function. Such an abominable level of audit quality seriously misled the investors’ decisions and actions, damaged investor confidence, and thus adversely affected the order of the capital market. These events provided us with the impetus to explore the role of audit team characteristics in audit quality.