Auditors' Joint Engagements and Audit Quality: Evidence from Italian Private Companies

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bianchi, Pietro A.
• 署名单位: University of Miami
• 刊物名称: CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0823-9150
• DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12327
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 1533-1577
• 关键词: earnings management; social networks; industry expertise; firm performance; Financial crisis; Family firms; Small-world; determinants; KNOWLEDGE; INDEPENDENCE

摘要

This study examines the effect of auditors' collaboration in joint audit engagements on knowledge transfer, auditor expertise, and audit outcomes. I employ a unique sample of Italian private companies whose financial statements are jointly audited by three individual auditors and use measures from the network literature to capture the intensity of interactions between these auditors. I find a positive association between several audit quality proxies and auditors' collaboration in multiple joint engagements. My results suggest that auditors develop knowledge and contacts through collaboration which potentially leads to higher audit quality. Overall, my findings suggest that joint engagements facilitate knowledge transfer and increase auditor expertise.