The Impact of Management Alumni Affiliation and Persuasion Tactics on Auditors' Internal Control Judgments

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bhattacharjee, Sudip; Brown, J. Owen
• 署名单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University; Baylor University
• 刊物名称: ACCOUNTING REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4826
• DOI: 10.2308/accr-51816
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 97-115
• 关键词: SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY; source credibility; IN-GROUP; client; identification; earnings; Negotiation; validation; SALIENCE; context

摘要

Concerns over ''revolving door'' practices of companies hiring directly from their external auditor led to a Sarbanes-Oxley Act provision mandating a one-year cooling-off period before such hires can occur. Yet little is known as to whether these alumni affiliations, still prevalent today, actually impair audit quality. Drawing on Social Identity Theory, we conduct an experiment to examine whether auditors experience heightened identification with an alumni-affiliated client manager and, if so, how this perceived relationship affects their professional skepticism in response to a management persuasion attempt. As predicted, absent the use of a management persuasion tactic, auditors identify more with an alumni-affiliated manager than a non-alumnus with equal professional experience, and this perceived social bond enhances the manager's influence. However, the use of a common persuasion tactic, while effective at influencing auditor judgment when used by an unaffiliated manager, ''backfires'' when used by an alumni-affiliated manager, leading to diminished persuasion and increased professional skepticism. Evidence suggests that auditors are better able to identify the inappropriateness of the persuasion attempt when the tactic is used by an alumni-affiliated manager.