The goals and promise of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
The goals and promise of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
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DOI：
10.1257/jep.21.1.91
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发表时间：
2007-12-01
影响因子：
8.4
通讯作者：
Coates, John C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coates, John C.
《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》的主要目标是修正美国上市公司的审计，与其正式全称一致：《2002年上市公司会计改革和投资者保护法案》。大家一致认为，审计工作一直很差，而且越来越差。《萨班斯-奥克斯利法案》中最重要、也是最有前途的部分是建立了一个独特的、准公共的机构来监督和规范审计，即上市公司会计监督委员会（PCAOB）。在有争议的第404条中，该法律还为公司在内部控制上花钱创造了新的基于保险的激励措施，高于21世纪初公司丑闻后的增加。为了换取这些已经大幅下降的更高成本，萨班斯-奥克斯利法案承诺了各种长期利益。投资者将面临更低的欺诈和盗窃损失风险，并受益于更可靠的财务报告，更高的透明度和问责制。上市公司将支付更低的资本成本，经济将受益于更好的资源配置和更快的增长。萨班斯-奥克斯利法案仍在进行中--特别是第404条的实施过于激进--但改革者应该推动PCAOB继续改进其实施，而不是废除立法本身。
The primary goal of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to fix auditing of U.S. public companies, consistent with its full, official name: the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002. By consensus, auditing had been working poorly, and increasingly so. The most important, and most promising, part of Sarbanes-Oxley was the creation of a unique, quasi-public institution to oversee and regulate auditing, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). In controversial section 404, the law also created new disclosure-based incentives for firms to spend money on internal controls, above increases that would have occurred after the corporate scandals of the early 2000s. In exchange for these higher costs, which have already fallen substantially, Sarbanes-Oxley promises a variety of long-term benefits. Investors will face a lower risk of losses from fraud and theft, and benefit from more reliable financial reporting, greater transparency, and accountability. Public companies will pay a lower cost of capital, and the economy will benefit because of a better allocation of resources and faster growth. Sarbanes-Oxley remains a work in progress - section 404 in particular was implemented too aggressively - but reformers should push for continued improvements in its implementation, by PCAOB, rather than for repeal of the legislation itself.