IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibf/acttax/v12y2020i1p35-44.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cost Of Debt And Auditor Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Sherry Fang Li
  • Sherry Fang Li

Abstract

This paper examines whether auditor choice affects a firm’s cost of debt and whether debt sources matter. We find that the choice of a brand name or industry specialist auditor decreases a firm’s cost of debt. The additional impact of industry specialization, however, is not significant for the sub-sample of Big N audited firm-years. For the sub-sample of non-Big N audited firm-years, engaging an industry specialist auditor appears to increase cost of debt. A further breakdown of the full sample into a sample with only private debt and a sample with both public and private debt provides more insight. For the sample with both public and private debt, engaging a brand name and specialist auditor decreases cost of debt. But for the sample with only private debt, engaging a specialist auditor increases cost of debt. Our findings provide additional evidence for the role of external auditing in reducing cost of debt and show differences between the two dimensions of auditor differentiation: brand name reputation and industry specialization. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the choice of an industry specialist auditor has different impact on cost of debt for firms that have only private debt and firms that also have public debt.

Suggested Citation

  • Sherry Fang Li & Sherry Fang Li, 2020. "Cost Of Debt And Auditor Choice," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 12(1), pages 35-44.
  • Handle: RePEc:ibf:acttax:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:35-44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/acttax/at-v12n1-2020/AT-V12N1-2020-4.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip E. Strahan, 1999. "Borrower risk and the price and nonprice terms of bank loans," Staff Reports 90, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    2. Pittman, Jeffrey A. & Fortin, Steve, 2004. "Auditor choice and the cost of debt capital for newly public firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 113-136, February.
    3. Chee‐Yeow Lim & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2008. "Non‐audit Service Fees and Audit Quality: The Impact of Auditor Specialization," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 199-246, March.
    4. Sattar A. Mansi & William F. Maxwell & Darius P. Miller, 2004. "Does Auditor Quality and Tenure Matter to Investors? Evidence from the Bond Market," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 755-793, September.
    5. Steve Fortin & Jeffrey A. Pittman, 2007. "The Role of Auditor Choice in Debt Pricing in Private Firms," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(3), pages 859-896, September.
    6. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    7. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2006. "Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 45-79.
    8. Craswell, Allen T. & Francis, Jere R. & Taylor, Stephen L., 1995. "Auditor brand name reputations and industry specializations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 297-322, December.
    9. Connie L. Becker & Mark L. Defond & James Jiambalvo & K.R. Subramanyam, 1998. "The Effect of Audit Quality on Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 1-24, March.
    10. Ilia D. Dichev & Douglas J. Skinner, 2002. "Large–Sample Evidence on the Debt Covenant Hypothesis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 1091-1123, September.
    11. Jeong†Bon Kim & Richard Chung & Michael Firth, 2003. "Auditor Conservatism, Asymmetric Monitoring, and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 323-359, June.
    12. Ronald A. Davidson & Dean Neu, 1993. "A Note on the Association between Audit Firm Size and Audit Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(2), pages 479-488, March.
    13. Dye, Ronald A, 1993. "Auditing Standards, Legal Liability, and Auditor Wealth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 887-914, October.
    14. Cantor, Richard & Packer, Frank, 1997. "Differences of opinion and selection bias in the credit rating industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(10), pages 1395-1417, October.
    15. Gul, Ferdinand A. & Fung, Simon Yu Kit & Jaggi, Bikki, 2009. "Earnings quality: Some evidence on the role of auditor tenure and auditors' industry expertise," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 265-287, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    2. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Omrane Guedhami & Jeffrey A. Pittman & Walid Saffar, 2014. "Auditor Choice in Politically Connected Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 107-162, March.
    4. Fang Sun & Fengyun Wu, 2023. "The Impact Of Debt Structure On Auditorchoice," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 15(2), pages 105-115.
    5. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Pittman, Jeffrey, 2016. "Cross-country evidence on the importance of Big Four auditors to equity pricing: The mediating role of legal institutions," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 60-81.
    6. Guangming Gong & Liang Xiao & Si Xu & Xun Gong, 2019. "Do Bond Investors Care About Engagement Auditors’ Negative Experiences? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 779-806, September.
    7. Joshy,Jacob & Desai, Naman & Agarwalla, Sobhesh Kumar, 2015. "Are Big 4 Audit Fee Premiums Always Related to Superior Audit Quality? Evidence from India’s Unique Audit Market," IIMA Working Papers WP2015-03-10, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    8. Huq, Asif & Hartwig, Fredrik & Rudholm, Niklas, 2018. "Do audited firms have lower cost of debt?," HUI Working Papers 132, HUI Research.
    9. Li-Jen He, 2021. "Does Industry Specialist Auditor Provide More Insights in Their audit report? An Empirical Study of Key Audit Matters Section," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(5), pages 1-4.
    10. Cook, Jonathan & Kowaleski, Zachary T. & Minnis, Michael & Sutherland, Andrew & Zehms, Karla M., 2020. "Auditors are known by the companies they keep," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1).
    11. Li-Jen He & Jianxiong Chen, 2021. "Does Mandatory Audit Partner Rotation Influence Auditor Selection Strategies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Datta, Sudip & Gruskin, Mark & Iskandar-Datta, Mai, 2024. "Auditor certification and long-run performance of IPO stocks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Astrid Rudyanto, 2017. "Audit Firm Reputation versus Auditor Capability: Their Effect on Audit Quality in Indonesia," GATR Journals afr147, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    14. Bley, Jorg & Saad, Mohsen & Samet, Anis, 2019. "Auditor choice and bank risk taking," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 37-52.
    15. Xingqiang Du & Xu Li & Xuejiao Liu & Shaojuan Lai, 2018. "Underwriter–Auditor Relationship and Pre-IPO Earnings Management: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 365-392, October.
    16. Ling Chu & Robert Mathieu & Chima Mbagwu, 2009. "The Impact of Corporate Governance and Audit Quality on the Cost of Private Loans," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), pages 277-304, November.
    17. TINA M. Jose Vega & Dennis M. López, 2012. "Evaluating The Effect Of Industry Specialist Duration On Audit Quality And Audit Fees," Working Papers 0023, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    18. Stefano Azzali & Tatiana Mazza, 2017. "The Association between Big4 and Cost of Debt in Private Firms," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 63-82.
    19. Asif M. Huq & Fredrik Hartwig & Niklas Rudholm, 2022. "Do audited firms have a lower cost of debt?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 153-175, June.
    20. Chang, Xin & Dasgupta, Sudipto & Hilary, Gilles, 2005. "The Effect of Auditor Choice on Financing Decisions," CEI Working Paper Series 2005-10, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Auditor Choice; Cost of Debt; Debt Sources; Public Debt; Private Debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibf:acttax:v:12:y:2020:i:1:p:35-44. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mercedes Jalbert (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.