Board of Directors, Independent Directors and Audit Fees： Based on the Empirical Data of the GEM of China

As one of the alternative variables of audit quality, audit fees have been researched widely in the Mainboard of China stock market, but empirical research based on the GEM （Growth Enterprise Market） of China is very few. From the perspective of GEM of China, this article observes and studies the impact of corporate governance structure represented by board of directors and independent directors on audit fees. This article selects the data of 348 listed companies in the GEM of China in 2012, proves that there is a positive correlation between the number of meetings, independent directors＇ salaries and audit fees through the use of multiple linear regression model, and accordingly proposed suggestions that improve the corporate governance structure of the GEM of China.

Voluntary resignation of independent directors and auditor responses:Empirical evidence from Chinese A-share listed firms

We examine auditor responses to the voluntary resignation of independent directors.We show that auditors respond by increasing audit fees or rescinding engagement with their clients,but not by increasing their audit effort.Mechanism tests reveal that independent directors’voluntary resignation leads to increased regulatory sanctions and negative media coverage,these relationships are more pronounced after the New Securities Law.Auditor response strategies follow an order of priority:at an acceptable level of perceived risk,auditors increase audit fees;when perceived risk exceeds this level,auditors will discontinue the client relationship.Auditors associate greater risk with firms that have(vs.have not)experienced consecutive voluntary resignations by independent directors.Mandatory resignation has no such effect.

The Effects of Audit Committee Attributes on Fraudulent Financial Reporting

This study aims to examine the relationship between audit committee attributes （audit committee independence, financial expertise, meeting frequency, gender diversity, and ethnic composition） and the propensity for fraudulent financial reporting. The sample includes 116 fraudulent and non-frandulent firms listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2005 to 2010. The finding of this study indicates that audit committee independence is positively associated with fraudulent financial reporting. The higher the proportion of independent or outside directors on the committee, the higher the possibility of financial fraud, and vice versa. The results also show that the expertise of members of the audit committee is negatively associated with corporate fraud. This suggests that when audit committee members are financially literate, they are more competent to curb fraudulent financial reporting. However, the findings for frequency of audit committee meetings, gender, and ethnicity show that there is no relationship between these variables and corporate fraud. The result of this study is robust after controlling for other firm-specific effects.

The Effect of the Board of Directors and Audit Quality on Disclosure of Internal Control Practices: Evidence from European Companies

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the board of directors,namely board size,board independence,and CEO duality,as well as audit quality on the disclosure of internal control information.The sample consists of 164 European companies listed in the STOXX Europe 600.Based on positive agency theory,the authors posit that board of directors and audit quality influence corporate internal control disclosure practice.The content analysis and the design of the evaluation criterion were used to calculate the disclosure index of internal control.Thus,multiple regression analysis is utilized to analyze the results of this paper.The average internal control information disclosure index was 0.285,indicating that most of the companies in our sample do not disclose enough information about the internal control.This low level of forward-looking information disclosure makes it very difficult for corporate stakeholders to determine the future performance of the company.Multivariate results indicate that internal control disclosure is positively and significantly associated with board independence,CEO duality,and audit quality.This study contributes to the literature on the various governance characteristics and disclosure by showing that the disclosure of internal control information in European countries is positively and significantly associated with board independence,separation of duties,and audit quality.Our study was based on a sample of European companies including countries regulating IC disclosure as well as unregulated settings.As noted by Bedard and Graham(2014),regulatory differences in countries can contribute insights on the costs and benefits of disclosure.Findings also have policy implications for investors,managers,and regulators.

Concurrent independent directors in the same industry and accounting information comparability

Using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies during the 2008–2019 period,we explore the impact of concurrent independent directors in the same industry(hereafter CIDSI)on accounting information comparability.We find that CIDSI can effectively promote accounting information comparability and that this effect is realized mainly through inhibiting earnings management.We also find that CIDSI can provide broader industry perception of the company’s board reports.Variations in concurrent companies and internal and external environments have significant moderating effects on the relationship between CIDSI and accounting information comparability.This relationship contributes to reducing audit fees and the possibility of receiving nonstandard unqualified audit opinions.Our findings have implications for companies by demonstrating the importance of recruiting independent directors.

Good Corporate Governance （GCG） Mechanism and Audit Delay： An Empirical Study on Companies Listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） in the Period of 2009-2011

Audit delay is a delay in reporting audit to the Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX） after the allotted time of 90 days after closing the book. Delay to publish audit report will affect the value of infromation, causing a bad sign for the company. As good corporate governance （GCG） is one way to solve the different interests, practices, and culture, companies implement GCG in an attempt to get more value. This study aims to measure the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on audit delay in companies listed on the IDX in the period of 2009-2011. Variables of GCG mechanism consist of institutional ownership, number of audit committee members, and the percentage of independent commissioners. Purposive sampling method is used in sample selection procedure. Samples comprise 42 companies listed on the IDX. The simultaneous test results show that all the variables have a significant influence on audit delay. By the partial test, number of audit committee members has significantly affected audit delay, while institutional ownership and independent commissioners have no significant effect on audit delay. This study is limited to use only three variables to study their influence on audit delay in the reseach period of only three years.

非国有董事治理积极性与国有企业审计意见决策

如何发挥非国有董事治理积极性以提高国有企业审计意见质量,实现国有资产保值增值,是深化国有企业改革亟需研究的问题。以2013—2022年A股国有企业上市公司为样本,构建离散选择模型,以投非赞成票代理非国有董事治理积极性。研究发现,非国有董事治理积极性越高,越能够提示应计盈余管理风险,审计师越倾向出具非标准审计意见;第一大非国有股东持股比例越高,混改国有企业股权集中度越低,非国有董事治理积极性与审计意见谨慎性的关系越显著。经过稳健性检验,研究结论不变。进一步研究发现,非国有董事积极履行治理职能导致审计意见质量提高有利于混改国有企业资产保值增值,实现国有企业混改主要目标。研究结论对于国有企业审计师正确决策审计意见、非国有董事有效维权、政府监管部门和混改国有企业充分尊重非国有董事治理的积极性、实现国有企业改革目标,均具有启示意义。

董事会审计委员会的组建和运行规则

董事会设置审计委员会有利于降低现代公司所有权和经营权分离引致的代理成本。新《公司法》已经引入审计委员会,但需填补审计委员会组建的规则,以保障审计委员会发挥预设的监督效果。审计委员会成员资质是审计委员会组建及履职的基本前提,包含独立性和专业性两项要素。独立董事是审计委员会客观公正监督的逻辑起点,应从任职全过程视角评判其是否具有独立性,同时涤除其获取信息的障碍。专业性要素应根据新《公司法》中审计委员会兼具财务和业务监督职责作扩张解释,即不再局限于财会知识,而是一种保障公司良好运行的能力。此外,还需要同步调整选任职工董事和独立董事的前置程序,削减控股股东对选任职工董事和独立董事的绝对控制力。

独立董事尽职程度与审计意见的关系研究

独立董事制度与外部审计制度都是为了提高上市公司信息披露质量,缓解治理问题,但近年来财务造假问题仍屡禁不止,两者是否真正发挥其效用,并且有何影响关系呢?本文选取2018-2022年A股上市公司为研究对象,从审计意见角度出发,运用logistic回归分析独立董事履职情况与审计意见的关系,研究发现独立董事参会情况与受教育程度与审计意见呈负相关,但独立董事意见与审计意见呈正相关。研究丰富了独立董事履职情况的研究,为完善上市公司监督体系提供实践启示。

CFO兼任审计委员会委员影响财务重述吗?

审计委员会和CFO处于监督和被监督的地位,然而鲜有文献对CFO兼任审计委员会委员的影响进行深入研究。以2010—2020年全部A股上市公司为研究样本,探究CFO兼任审计委员会委员对财务重述的影响。研究发现,CFO兼任审计委员会委员导致了财务重述的增加,但是会计师事务所规模、审计委员会勤勉度以及内部控制可以削弱CFO兼任对财务重述的影响。进一步研究发现,CFO兼任审计委员会委员年限与财务重述正相关,CFO过度自信在这一正相关关系中发挥部分中介效应。

独立董事主动辞职、市场认知与审计师应对策略

独立董事作为上市公司的外部监督者,主动辞职行为会引起资本市场的高度关注。本文2016-2021年发布独立董事辞职公告的A股上市公司为样本,研究康美药业案判决前后独立董事主动辞职引起的市场反应及审计师应对策略。研究发现:康美案判决后,独立董事主动辞职日前后三天引起的市场反应显著下降了3.9%;在判决公布后,具有信息优势、年轻的独立董事主动辞职引起的市场反应更为显著,高、低薪酬独立董事主动辞职引起的市场反应差异不显著。进一步地,审计师会关注独立董事辞职行为及引起的市场反应,进而增加关键审计事项披露数量。研究表明康美案判决对独立董事及资本市场产生溢出效应,为加强独立董事履职、完善独立董事制度提供直接经验证据。

异地独立董事与审计师风险应对

随着中国当代经济的不断发展,公司聘用的独立董事越来越多,其中异地独立董事的比例不断增加。文章以2015—2018年的上市公司为样本,共计9 188个样本观测值,实证研究异地独立董事占比与审计师风险应对行为之间的关系。实证研究得出:当异地独立董事占比越多时,审计师收取的审计费用越高,也更有可能发布非标准无保留意见,且非四大会计师事务所的审计师会有更为明显的风险应对行为。

独立董事背景特征与审计质量的实证研究

独立董事作为公司治理的核心要素,其背景特征和嵌入的网络关系影响独立董事职责履行及其监督效应,进而影响审计质量。选取2005—2015年深沪两市公司为研究样本,探讨了独立董事背景特征对审计质量的影响。验证结果发现:任期与审计质量呈倒"U"型关系,任职伊始,独立董事学习和独立性的边际效应呈递增趋势,较强的监督力度提高了审计质量;随着任期延长,独立董事与公司内部人的熟悉度增强并趋于饱和,监督边际效应呈递减趋势,审计质量反而下降。政治背景复杂的独立董事难以保持较高独立性,兼任公司信息披露透明度低,公司审计质量下降。独立董事受教育程度高,兼任董事身份多,拥有海外学习或工作生活经历及行业协会背景阅历时,有利于独立董事保持较高的独立性,拓宽信息获取渠道,增强了对公司的监督管理,促进信息公开透明,进而提高了审计质量。

审计委员会特征与会计师事务所变更的经验研究

本文以会计师事务所变更为视角,探讨具备怎样特征的审计委员会才能有效履行其职责。研究表明:审计委员会的独立性和专业性与会计师事务所变更显著负相关;审计委员会的开会次数与会计师事务所变更没有显著关系,说明审计委员会的存在有助于减少会计师事务所变更。但在对会计师事务所变更的进一步研究中,我们并没有发现会计师事务所变是为了追求更高审计质量的进一步证据,也说明审计委员会对会计师事务所变更的影响仍然有限。这些研究结论为完善我国审计委员会制度提供了经验证据。

中国审计实证研究：1999-2007

中国审计实证研究自1999以来,已经取得了长足的进展。本文拟对国内主要学术刊物发表的审计实证研究文献进行综述,主要考察审计实证研究所得到的结论以及审计实证研究中所存在的不足,以期能为推动中国审计实务工作与审计实证研究的发展提供依据。

独立审计为什么没能发挥公司治理功能——基于“盛润股份”连续十五年获得“非标”意见的分析

文章以"盛润股份"连续十五年获得非标准审计意见为例,分析了"非标"意见未能发挥公司治理功能的制度根源。研究发现,独立审计之所以没能发挥治理功能,是因为审计师出具的"非标"意见未给公司及其内部人带来显著成本,而这又与市场价格机制和公司股权结构上的问题以及有效的监管和法律诉讼机制的缺失有关。本研究有助于深入了解中国证券市场上独立审计在公司治理中的功能及其存在的问题。

审计师任期、事务所任期与审计质量

利用审计师对财务危机的公司是否出具持续经营的查核意见,以及企业的异常营运资本,作为研究衡量审计质量良莠的代理变量,分析了中国审计师任期与会计师事务所任期对审计质量的影响。如果以查核意见作为被解释变量,没有发现审计师任期或事务所任期与审计质量有关联性的证据。然而,一旦以异常营运资本作为分析对象时,则发现较长的审计师任期有助于提高审计质量的证据。此外,当企业有增加盈余的动机时,还发现会计师事务所内的审计师之间有审计经验传承的效果。进一步的分析则显示,前述的发现主要来自于非四大会计师事务所。换言之,审计师任期的经验效果对于非四大会计师事务所更为重要。

独立董事的海外背景、审计师选择与审计意见

运用我国A股上市公司的数据,研究海外背景独立董事对上市公司审计师选择及审计意见的影响,以及这些影响在不同法制环境下的差异。研究发现,拥有海外背景独立董事的公司更可能聘请大型会计师事务所进行年报审计,也更容易获得标准无保留的审计意见,上述影响在法律保护较差的环境中更加明显。研究结论表明,海外背景独立董事能够提高独立审计有效性,提升公司治理水平,它是法制等较弱的外部治理机制的一种替代。

内部控制审计收费的影响因素研究

选取2011—2014年沪深两市单独披露内部控制审计收费的主板上市公司作为研究对象,立足于被审计单位特征、会计师事务所特征以及内部控制审计业务特征三个方面,在理论分析的基础上,实证检验内部控制审计收费的影响因素。研究发现:公司规模、业务复杂程度、国有产权性质、会计师事务所声誉及其所提供的内部控制服务的保证程度与内部控制审计收费显著正相关;公司的内部控制质量、连续内部控制审计年限及事务所整合审计与内部控制审计收费显著负相关。

关于审计委员会特征与信息披露质量的实证研究

审计委员会制度是我国继引进监事会制度后又一项完善公司治理结构的重大举措。本文旨在检验这一制度是否提高了我国上市公司的信息披露质量,以及提高信息披露质量的审计委员会特征。我们研究了我国上市公司审计委员会的独立性、专业性、活跃性以及平均受教育年限与信息披露质量之间的关系。结果表明：审计委员会的独立性与信息披露质量之间存在显著的正相关关系；审计委员会的专业性与信息披露质量之间的关系没有通过显著性检验；审计委员会的开会次数与信息披露质量之间存在显著的负相关关系；审计委员会成员的学历水平与信息披露之间也呈现显著的正相关关系。我们的结论证实了独立的和高学历的审计委员会能够提高信息披露质量,而包含财务专家的审计委员会却不能提高信息披露质量,频繁的开会只是为了事后解决频繁发生的问题而非前慑性地去履行职责。