Network Analysis of Audit Partner Rotation
Network Analysis of Audit Partner Rotation
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DOI：
10.2139/ssrn.3087491
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发表时间：
2018-11
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Jeffrey A. Pittman;Lin Wang;Donghui Wu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Jeffrey A. Pittman;Lin Wang;Donghui Wu
虽然强制性审计合伙人轮换已成为普遍的世界各地，以前的实证研究很少考虑如何确定继任合伙人和不同的轮换战略的经济后果。我们研究了内部网络对继任者选择的重要性，以及在中国选择过程中的潜在激励，这为分析我们的研究问题提供了一个合适的测试平台。我们发现，候选人的合作伙伴谁是熟悉的现任者-明显在以前的团队合作经验-更有可能被选为继任者。与预期一致的是，当参与信息更复杂、无法向继任者传递客户信息的替代渠道以及参与更具吸引力时，这种现象更加明显。这些结果与审计师在过渡后促进信息传递和保持客户满意度的动机一致。加强这一解释，我们发现，轮换后的审计质量提高，客户不太可能切换审计公司轮换后，继任者的合作伙伴是熟悉现任。我们的分析丰富了我们对审计事务所审计服务生产的理解，有助于关于合伙人轮换的公共政策讨论。
Although mandatory audit partner rotation has become prevalent worldwide, prior empirical research seldom considers how the successor partners are identified and the economic consequences of different rotation strategies. We examine the importance of internal networks to the selection of successor partners and the underlying incentives in the selection process in China, which affords an opportune testing ground for analyzing our research questions. We find that candidate partners who are familiar with the incumbents—evident in prior teamwork experience—are more likely to be selected as successors. Consistent with expectations, this phenomenon is more pronounced when the engagement information is more complex, alternative channels to transfer client information to the successor are not available, and the engagement is more attractive. These results are consistent with auditors’ incentive to facilitate information transfer and maintain client satisfaction after the transition. Reinforcing this interpretation, we find that post-rotation audit quality improves and clients are less likely to switch audit firms after the rotation when the successor partner is familiar with the incumbent. Enriching our understanding of the production of audit services in audit firms, our analysis contributes to the public policy discourse on partner rotation.