The Market For Audit Services And S&P 500 Index Clients
Abstract
Literature on S&P 500 index firms shows that there is significant improvement in the performance due to increased scrutiny of media and investors. Recently Platikonova (2008) documents improvement in the disclosure quality for firms following their inclusion in the index. Since, auditors are responsible for certifying the quality of reporting and the audit fee reflects their perception of earnings quality, we examine whether the improvement in the reporting due to S&P scrutiny is reflected in audit fees. Our analysis shows that audit fees are significantly lower for S&P firms. This suggests that auditors believe that the quality of reporting improves for firms when they enter S&P index. Our further investigation shows that this reduction in fees is higher for firms that stay in the index for longer time. This shows that auditors consider the time length of a firm in the index while providing the discount. Lastly, we find that expert auditor to less likely lowball their fees for S&P clients. In fact we find expert auditors to charge higher fees for auditing S&P firms. Overall we conclude that S&P index scrutiny not only improves firm’s performance but also improves firms reporting.Download Info
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Paper provided by College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio in its series Working Papers with number 0022.
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Length: 37 pages
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Handle: RePEc:tsa:wpaper:0022
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Related research
Keywords: S&P index; Auditors; Audit Fee; Client Risk; Earnings Quality; Industry Experts; Influential Clients;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
- D53 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Financial Markets
- G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure
- M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Accounting - - - Auditing
References
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- Holthausen, Robert W. & Watts, Ross L., 2001. "The relevance of the value-relevance literature for financial accounting standard setting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 3-75, September.
- Wayne R. Landsman, 2002. "Has the Information Content of Quarterly Earnings Announcements Declined in the Past Three Decades?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 797-808, 06.
- Collins, Daniel W. & Maydew, Edward L. & Weiss, Ira S., 1997. "Changes in the value-relevance of earnings and book values over the past forty years," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 39-67, December.
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