Auditor Skill Demands and Audit Quality: Evidence from Job Postings

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ham, Charles; Hann, Rebecca N.; Rabier, Maryjane; Wang, Wenfeng
• 署名单位: Indiana University System; Indiana University Bloomington; IU Kelley School of Business; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; Washington University (WUSTL); Southern University of Science & Technology
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.01640
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 5805-5829
• 关键词: audit quality; auditor skills; job postings

摘要

This study empirically examines the relation between audit quality and auditors' cognitive and social skills. Using a novel data set of online job postings by accounting firms, we document substantial variation in the stated demand for auditors' cognitive and social skills, suggesting that audit offices are not homogeneous in their preferences for such skills. We find a positive relation between audit quality and the prevalence of cognitive and social skills within an audit office's job postings. This association is stronger for audit engagements that are more complex or require greater coordination, suggesting that cognitive and social skills are particularly important in engagements where effective communication and knowledge transfer, as well as sound professional judgment and skepticism, are needed. The association is also stronger for audit offices with greater investments in new technology, consistent with the complementary relation between cognitive and social skills and the use of technology. Overall, our study offers empirical evidence linking specific auditor skills to audit quality.