IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reacre/v25y2013i1p13-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of auditor changes for non-accelerated filers

Author

Listed:
  • Weiss, Renee
  • Kalbers, Lawrence

Abstract

Significant accounting scandals and the imminent collapse of Arthur Andersen in 2001 precipitated a period of heightened regulatory response, most notably the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. In the years that followed, the Securities and Exchange Commission created a separate class of non-accelerated filers (companies with public float of up to $75 million) and provided these companies with significant regulatory relief from certain financial reporting disclosure and auditing requirements, including the extension of scaled disclosure to these companies in 2007. Over the period of 2001 through 2007, as non-accelerated clients anticipated and responded to their different and evolving regulatory regime, audit firms were adjusting to the increased concentration in their market, a new monitoring structure, and significant changes to the scope of their work. We examine whether auditor–client misalignment is a significant determinant of auditor change during this period, particularly for non-accelerated filers, as large auditors sought to rebalance their client portfolios. We find evidence that auditor–client misalignment increases the likelihood of auditor change (resignation and dismissal) for non-accelerated, but not accelerated, filers. We also find that auditor–client misalignment increases the likelihood of downward changes to third-tier auditors for non-accelerated, but not accelerated, filers.

Suggested Citation

  • Weiss, Renee & Kalbers, Lawrence, 2013. "Determinants of auditor changes for non-accelerated filers," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 13-29.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reacre:v:25:y:2013:i:1:p:13-29
    DOI: 10.1016/j.racreg.2012.11.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1052045712000513
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.racreg.2012.11.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hollis Ashbaugh‐Skaife & Daniel W. Collins & William R. Kinney Jr & Ryan Lafond, 2009. "The Effect of SOX Internal Control Deficiencies on Firm Risk and Cost of Equity," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(1), pages 1-43, March.
    2. Murphy, Kevin J., 2003. "Stock-based pay in new economy firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-3), pages 129-147, January.
    3. Zhan Shu, Susan, 2000. "Auditor resignations: clientele effects and legal liability," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 173-205, April.
    4. William D. Nordhaus, 2002. "Productivity Growth and the New Economy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 33(2), pages 211-265.
    5. Bockus, K & Gigler, F, 1998. "A theory of auditor resignation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 191-208.
    6. DeFond, Mark L. & Subramanyam, K. R., 1998. "Auditor changes and discretionary accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 35-67, February.
    7. Boone, Jeff P. & Khurana, Inder K. & Raman, K.K., 2010. "Do the Big 4 and the Second-tier firms provide audits of similar quality?," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 330-352, July.
    8. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    9. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    10. Bedard, Jean C. & Hoitash, Udi & Hoitash, Rani, 2008. "Audit pricing and internal control disclosures among non-accelerated filers," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 103-126.
    11. Cullinan, Charles P. & Du, Hui & Zheng, Xiaochuan, 2012. "Barriers to entry to the big firm audit market: Evidence from market reaction to switches to second Tier audit firms in the post-sox period," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 6-14.
    12. Jong†Hag Choi & Rajib K. Doogar & Ananda R. Ganguly, 2004. "The Riskiness of Large Audit Firm Client Portfolios and Changes in Audit Liability Regimes: Evidence from the U.S. Audit Market," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 747-785, December.
    13. Karla M. Johnstone & Jean C. Bedard, 2004. "Audit Firm Portfolio Management Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 659-690, September.
    14. Jenkins, David S. & Velury, Uma, 2011. "The emergence of second-tier auditors in the post-SOX era: An analysis of accounting conservatism," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 172-176.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schneider, Arnold, 2015. "Does information about auditor switches affect investing decisions?," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 39-44.

    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. Dennis M. López & Marshall K. Pitman, 2013. "Auditor workload compression and busy season portfolio changes – U.S. evidence," Working Papers 0216acc, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    3. Tsipouridou, Maria & Spathis, Charalambos, 2014. "Audit opinion and earnings management: Evidence from Greece," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 38-54.
    4. Kaplan, Steven E. & Williams, David D., 2012. "The changing relationship between audit firm size and going concern reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 322-341.
    5. Vivek Mande & Myungsoo Son, 2011. "Do audit delays affect client retention?," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 26(1), pages 32-50, January.
    6. Andrew B. Jackson & Michael Moldrich & Peter Roebuck, 2008. "Mandatory audit firm rotation and audit quality," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 23(5), pages 420-437, May.
    7. Tsipouridou, Maria & Spathis, Charalambos, 2012. "Earnings management and the role of auditors in an unusual IFRS context: The case of Greece," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 62-78.
    8. 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.
    9. Jorge Farinha & Luis Filipe Viana, 2006. "Board structure and modified audit opinions: the case of the Portuguese Stock Exchange," CEF.UP Working Papers 0609, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    10. Stephan A. Fafatas, 2010. "Auditor conservatism following audit failures," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(7), pages 639-658, July.
    11. Mande, Vivek & Son, Myungsoo & Song, Hakjoon, 2017. "Auditor search periods as signals of engagement risk: Effects on auditor choice and audit pricing," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 15-29.
    12. Douglas R. Ayres & Terry L. Neal & Lauren C. Reid & Jonathan E. Shipman, 2019. "Auditing Goodwill in the Post‐Amortization Era: Challenges for Auditors," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 82-107, March.
    13. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    14. Cahan, Steven & Hay, David & Li, Lina Z., 2021. "Audit firm merger and the strategic response by large audit firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    15. Sellers, R. Drew & Fogarty, Timothy J. & Jadallah, Jadallah, 2020. "Has the new world order taught the big four to manage client portfolio risk? Examining extreme loss occurrences before and after Sarbanes Oxley," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    16. Pan, Yue & Shroff, Nemit & Zhang, Pengdong, 2023. "The dark side of audit market competition," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(1).
    17. Lai, Kam-Wah, 2019. "Audit report lag, audit fees, and audit quality following an audit firm merger: Evidence from Hong Kong," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-1.
    18. Dhole, Sandip & Lobo, Gerald J. & Mishra, Sagarika & Pal, Ananda M., 2015. "Effects of the SEC's XBRL mandate on financial reporting comparability," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 29-44.
    19. Meiying Hua & Pervaiz Alam, 2021. "Audit Quality and Environment, Social, and Governance Risks," International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), Computer Science Journals (CSC Journals), vol. 12(2), pages 50-75, April.
    20. Chu Chen & Giorgio Gotti & Tony Kang & Michael C. Wolfe, 2018. "Corporate Codes of Ethics, National Culture, and Earnings Discretion: International Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(1), pages 141-163, August.

    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:eee:reacre:v:25:y:2013:i:1:p:13-29. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/research-in-accounting-regulation .

    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.