ESG评级分歧影响审计师风险应对行为吗?——基于关键审计事项披露的视角

Does ESG Rating Disagreement Affect Auditor Risk Response Behavior?——Based on the Perspective of Disclosure of Key Audit Matters

不同评级机构对同一家公司给出的ESG评级存在分歧,这会给企业带来怎样的冲击?本文以2015—2021年沪深A股上市公司作为研究样本,从关键审计事项披露的视角切入,实证检验ESG评级分歧对审计师风险应对行为的影响。研究发现:ESG评级分歧促使审计师披露更多的关键审计事项来应对风险;机制检验表明,ESG评级分歧通过提高经营风险、代理成本和声誉风险促进关键审计事项披露数量的提升;进一步研究发现,对非国有企业和市场化水平较高地区的企业而言,ESG评级分歧与关键审计事项披露的正向关系更加显著。本文弥补了国内ESG评级分歧相关研究的不足,也为审计师规避风险、保障审计监督质量提供了重要借鉴。

How does it impact companies when different rating agencies disagree on the ESG ratings given to the same company?This paper takes A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2015 to 2021 as the research sample,and empirically tests the impact of ESG rating divergence on auditors'risk response behaviors by cutting from the perspective of disclosure of key audit matters.It is found that:ESG rating discrepancies prompt auditors to disclose more key audit matters to address risks;mechanism tests show that ESG rating divergence promotes the number of key audit matter disclosures by increasing business risk,agency costs,and reputational risk;it is further found that the positive relationship between ESG rating divergence and disclosure of key audit matters is more significant for non-stateowned firms and firms in regions with higher levels of marketization.This paper makes up for the lack of research related to the divergence of domestic ESG ratings,and also provides an important reference for auditors to avoid risks and safeguard the quality of audit supervision.