本研究的主要目的是探討會計師事務所審計人員對衍生性金融商品(DFI)的財務報導與查核能力，並分析可能影響此項能力的因素。另一目的則是希望探討審計人員對財務會計準則公報第二十七號的意見及看法，以及對這號公報的瞭解程度。本研究以問卷為蒐集資料的工具，在139份回收的問卷中，只有24位審計人員不知道什麼是DFI，約有九成的審計人員認為查核含有從事DFI交易公司之財務報表之審體審計風險較沒有從事此類交易的公司高。造成審計人員對DFI財務報導的認知程度差異的原因，經統計檢定後，有下列幾項： （1） 審計人員在事務所擔任的職位， （2） 審計人員認定衍生性金融商品的能力，以及 （3） 審計人員是否曾經查過衍生性金融商品。 造成審計人員對DFI財務報導查核能力差異的原因經統計檢定後，有下 列幾項： （1） 事務所的規模， （2） 審計人員之最高學歷， （3） 審計人員是否已取得會計師資格， （4） 審計人員在事務所擔任的職位， （5） 審計人員認定衍生性金融商品的能力， （6） 審計人員對衍生性金融商品的熟悉程度，以及 （7） 審計人員是否曾經查過衍生性金融商品。 審計人員是否曾查核過DFI並不會影響其對第二十七號公報的熟悉程度。此外，約三成的審計人員認為「各類商品之財務風險」與「商品之公平市價」是其依照此號公報查核DFI時最難決定之項目。至於審計人員如何驗證客戶在財務報表上所揭露關於DFI的公平價值，約各有三成的審計人員取得之方式為「採用公開市場之成交價」、「向銀行詢價」。 值得注意的是，在瞭解第二十七號公報的審計人員當中，只有約半數認為依照第二十七號公報揭露DFI，能幫助閱表者評估風險；同樣地，也只有半數的審計人員認為第二十七號公報能對他們在查核DFI時提供更明確的指引。審計人員是否曾經查核過DFI不會影響他們對這兩個問題的看法。 / In this study, the author investigated the degree of auditors' cognition and audit ability on derivative financial instruments (DFI) in Taiwan and he studied some factors that might affect these abilities. Besides, the author also investigated auditors' opinions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 27 in ROC. The author used questionnaire as a tool in gathering data. Factors that might affect auditors' cognition of DFI are as follows: (1) The current job position of auditors. (2) The auditors' abilities to recognize DFI. (3) The auditors' experiences of auditing DFI. Factors that might affect auditors' audit ability of DFI are as follows: (1) Firm size. (2) The highest education auditors received. (3) Whether they have got CPA license. (4) The current job position of auditors. (5) The auditors' abilities to recognize DFI. (6) The auditors' experiences of auditing DFI. (7) The extent of auditors' familiarity toward DFI. Auditors' opinions of Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 27 in ROC can be concluded as follows: (1) Only half of the auditors who understand this statement think it can help them to audit DFI related disclosures. (2) Whether auditors have audited DFI doesn't affect the extent of auditors' familiarity toward DFI. (3) "Financial risk" and " fair value of DFI" are two of the most difficult items to decide when auditors audit DFI.

本研究係針對會計師及會計系學生之不當學習行為是否會影響其日後對一般工作不道德行為與審計專業不道德行為之認知與意圖進行探討，並試圖瞭解兩者形成從事審計專業不道德行為意圖之考慮因素。 本研究係以問卷方式蒐集資料，其中，會計師樣本係從台北市會計師公會登錄之會計師進行隨機選取，學生樣本則係從北部四所大學會計系四年級學生為對象進行問卷調查。研究結果顯示： 一、 會計師相對於會計系學生而言，較能確定不會從事審計不道德行為，且對於不當學習行為之認知亦較學生嚴重。 二、 會計師與會計系學生若認為他人亦有從事審計不道德行為之意圖時，就愈有可能從事該審計不道德行為；且不論是會計師或是會計系學生，曾經做過愈多不當學習行為者，就愈可能存有從事審計不道德行為之意圖。 三、 對於不當學習行為認知愈不嚴重之會計師，對於一般工作不道德行為之認知亦愈不嚴重；而對不當學習行為的認知愈不嚴重之會計系學生，對於一般工作不道德行為或是對審計專業不道德行為之認知亦愈不嚴重。 / This research was aimed to examine relationship among academic misconduct, improper business practice and morally questionable behavior in auditing of CPAs and auditing students. In addition, this research also examined the factors affecting the intention of CPAs and auditing students to behave unethically in auditing. The data were collected by questionnaires. The CPA samples were chosen randomly from CPAs registered in the CPA Association of Taipei City and the student samples were auditing students from four universities in northern Taiwan. Empirical results were summarized as follows: 1. CPAs appeared more certain about refraining from morally questionable behavior in auditing and perceived academic misconduct more seriously than auditing students. 2. When CPAs or auditing students deemed that others would breach ethics in auditing, they appeared to be more prone to do the same. Besides, if they had committed academic misconduct previously, it was more likely for them to choose morally questionable behavior in auditing. 3. CPAs who took academic misconduct less seriously perceived improper business practice less seriously. Auditing students who took academic misconduct less seriously perceived improper business practice and morally questionable behavior in auditing less seriously.

本研究主要探討審計品質與盈餘反應係數之關係，擬回達下列之研究問題：接受高品質會計師事務所查核之公司，其盈餘反應係數是否較接受低品質會計師事務所查核之公司為高。 　　本論文以台灣股票市場民國70年至82年之更換會計師公司為樣本，首先採用未預期盈餘(UE)與股票市場累積異常報酬(CAR)的簡單迴歸分析，嘗試驗證盈餘資訊與股票報酬間之關係；採用盈餘反應係數決定因素的複迴歸分析探討審計品質是否會影響盈餘反應係數。實證結果顯示： 　　一、如以曾經由六大會計師事務所查核財務報表更換為非六大會計師事務所之上市公司，或曾經由非六大會計師事務所更換為六大會計師事務所查核簽證財務報表之上市公司為樣本公司，台灣股票市場之未預期盈餘與異常報酬間方向是一致的，但並不具統計顯著性。 　　二、審計品質是否會影響盈餘反應係數之實證結果：六大會計師事務所客戶之盈餘反應係數是大於非六大的客戶，但亦並不具顯著性。 　　換言之，以國內會計師事務所與美國六大結盟作為衡量高品質的審計品質，其與盈餘反應係數之關係並未如預期呈顯著的正相關。

過去研究說明具產業專長之會計師仍能在客戶財務資訊不完整情況下，利用其行業特定知識與較高技術能力執行完善的審計工作(Thibodeau 2003; Moroney 2007; Hammersley 2006)。本論文定義資訊不確定性為客戶之財務資訊無法幫助預測公司的價值(Zhang 2006; Autore et al. 2009)。本論文推論若公司的財務報表具有不確定性會需要聘請產業專長會計師以減緩資訊不確定性的程度，並進一步研究具資訊不確定性公司若由非產業專長更換為產業專長會計師是否能提升其審計品質。由於審計工作目的在於提供資訊品質的確認(Dye 1993; Knechel et al. 2008)，審計人員會依據審計客戶的環境，設計和執行適當的審計計劃以減輕資訊不確定性情況。本論文以會計師角度建立一資訊不確定性架構，進一步將資訊不確定性分為基本價值波動不確定性與資訊品質不確定性，並推論產業專長會計師比較能在資訊品質不確定性中發揮其價值。本論文分為兩部分：第一部分檢驗資訊不確定性是否會影響產業專長會計師之選任，第二部分則檢測具資訊不確定性之審計客戶若選擇產業專長會計師之後，其審計品質是否會提升。 / Previous studies establish that a specialist auditor has more industry-specific knowledge and higher technological capability that can pertinently benefit situations in which client financial information is incomplete (Thibodeau 2003; Moroney 2007; Hammersley 2006). In this paper, we define information uncertainty as the ambiguity with respect to the implications of new information concerning a firm’s value (Zhang 2006; Autore et al. 2009). Because some financial statements present information in uncertain terms, we infer that companies whose financial statements provide uncertain information demand specialist auditors to alleviate the extent of information uncertainty. We further examine the improvements on audit quality made by those companies under information uncertainty which chose to switch from non-specialist auditors to specialist ones. As an assurance of information quality (Dye 1993; Knechel et al. 2008), an auditor, based on his knowledge of the auditee and its environment, will alleviate the uncertainty level of the auditee’s financial information through designing and executing an appropriate audit plan. We build a framework of information uncertainty and develop comprehensive measurements of information uncertainty from the auditor’s point of view. Moreover, this study disentangles the information uncertainty effects into fundamental volatility uncertainty and information quality uncertainty, and proposes that specialist auditors manifest their merits more under information quality uncertainty than under fundamental volatility uncertainty. In the first part of this study, we examine the auditors chosen by companies whose financial statements are characterized by information uncertainty. Previous studies on auditor choice address many reasons why companies switch their auditors (Lennox 2000; Carcello and Neal 2003; Blouin et al. 2007). Information uncertainty makes stakeholders lower their reliance upon company financials and even downgrade the filers, triggering negative stock price reactions (Merton 1987; Beneish et al. 2005; Beneish et al. 2008; Hammersley et al. 2008). Based on prior research, we can infer that a company under information uncertainty chooses to hire a specialist auditor to signal the credibility of the financial statements and improve market perception. We hypothesize that companies suffering uncertainty demand specialist auditors to alleviate their information uncertainty. The auditor’s information role is to ensure the reliability of financial information, and a specialist auditor is equipped with superior audit knowledge and technology. Therefore, we further infer that a company whose specific information uncertainty is attributable to information quality issues (rather than fundamental volatility issues) is more inclined to choose a specialist auditor. This is because a specialist auditor improves the credibility of financial information instead of being involved with the client’s business decisions. We use an auditor switching sample of U.S. companies from 2001-2009 to examine whether the information uncertainty is an issue of auditor choice or not. Consistent with our conjecture, companies under information uncertainty prefer to hire specialist auditors. Evidence partially supports that relative to companies under fundamental volatility uncertainty, companies suffering information quality uncertainty are more inclined to choose specialist auditors. In the second part of this study, we find evidence for the economic consequences of upgrading switches to a specialist auditor when the company is experiencing information uncertainty. After the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (hereafter, SOX), many companies began to take the cost-effect issue into consideration; they ultimately decided to go private (Zhang 2006; Engel et al. 2007) in order to avoid the high-cost of Section 404 or switch to a non-Big N audit firm (Calderon et al. 2007). There's no such thing as free lunch; the specialist auditor usually has greater ability and concomitant higher charges (Craswell et al. 1995; DeFond et al. 2000; Francis et al. 2005; Cahan et al. 2008). It is natural to question whether every company needs to engage specialist auditors if it has to pay high audit fees. In this paper, we attempt to determine in which circumstances specialist auditors can make a significant difference in improving audit quality. We investigate the relationship between auditor specialization and audit quality in an information uncertainty setting using an auditor switching sample taken from 2001 to 2009 in the United States. We examine ex post facto whether (1) specialist auditors improve audit quality more than their non-specialist counterparts; and (2) specialist auditors manifest their merits more under information quality uncertainty than the fundamental volatility uncertainty. Since the value of auditor industry specialization is reflected by the perceived and actual audit quality (Balsam et al. 2003; Nagy 2005), we examine both earnings response coefficient (ERC) and accruals quality to proxy audit quality (DAC). In both models, the audit quality of companies that suffer fundamental volatility uncertainty along with comprehensive uncertainty is not enhanced substantially following upgrade switching to a specialist auditor. We find strong empirical results that demonstrate companies under information quality uncertainty show significant improvements in audit quality after switching to specialist auditors. However, specialist auditors are significantly more capable of mitigating the information quality uncertainty than the fundamental volatility uncertainty. That is, auditor specialization is a critical solution when companies encounter information quality uncertainty.

我國關係人交易普遍且具重要性，而過去研究顯示關係人交易會對公司產生負面效果，且關係人交易之查核具有困難度，因此本研究以關係人交易較多且查核風險較高之高科技公司為研究對象，將關係人交易分為關係人銷貨交易、關係人進貨交易、關係人應收款與關係人應付款等四項類別，探討關係人交易與審計品質的關係。進一步探討當關係人交易分為發行公司與關係人皆受相同會計師查核與受不同會計師查核兩類型，對發行公司財務報表審計品質的影響。實證結果發現：關係人銷貨交易、關係人進貨交易與審計品質呈負向關係；關係人銷貨交易、關係人進貨交易與關係人應收款兩造受不同會計師查核者，對其發行公司財務報表審計品質之負面影響較兩造受相同會計師查核者強。 / Related party transactions are common and important in Taiwan, and empirical studies in Taiwan show that related party transactions have negative impact on earnings management and company performance. Based on auditing standards and literature, related party transactions are difficult to audit, and high technology firms have more related party transactions which may result in higher audit risk than other industry. Therefore, we investigate the association between related party transactions (including sales to related parties, purchases from related parties, accounts receivable from related parties and payable to related parties) and audit quality (proxied by accrual quality) in high technology firms, and find that sales to related parties and purchases from related parties have negative impact on audit quality. Next, we investigate the impact of related party transactions audited by the same auditor or different auditors. Empirical results show that sales to related parties, purchases from related parties and accounts receivable from related parties audited by different auditors show stronger negative impacts on audit quality than those audited by same auditors.

非審計服務究竟是否會影響會計師獨立性，長久以來即為各界關注焦點。本研究第一部分將驗證非審計服務對會計師獨立性的影響。此外，有別於美國要求全面揭露審計、非審計公費資訊，我國規定公開發行公司若符合一定門檻應揭露支付給會計師的各項公費資訊，本研究第二部份將探討我國採門檻制的公費揭露政策下，刻意隱藏公費資訊的公司，其會計師的獨立性是否會不同於無需揭露公司。最後一部份則為市場反應測試，探討市場是否能對公費資訊進行判斷，判斷公司刻意隱藏的情形並給予負面的評價。 實證果發現非審計服務的提供對會計師獨立性產生負面影響，而在我國採門檻制公費揭露政策下，刻意隱藏公費資訊公司進行盈餘管理的可能性越大，若我國之公費揭露政策若能改為全面性揭露將對會計師獨立產生正面影響。此外，市場反應部份結果顯示投資人並未考慮公費資訊的內涵。 關鍵詞：非審計服務、門檻制公費揭露、會計師獨立性、裁量性應計 / Whether or not the purchase of non audit services (NAS) impairs audit independence is the focus of a growing body of accounting research in the U.S. Using the data of Taiwanese list firms, this paper examines whether the association holds in environment other than that of the United States. In addition, compared to that in the U.S., Taiwanese Securities and Futures Bureau requires firm to disclose information on the audit and nonaudit fees under some circumstances. The second objective of this paper, therefore, is to explore whether some firms meeting the disclosure threshold have an incentive to avoid the disclosure requirement by concealing audit fee from external investors and regulators, and whether there is difference in the independence between firms which should have met the disclosure threshold otherwise and firms disclosing nonaudit fees. Finally, I investigate whether premium given by market participants varies among these two groups. We find that the purchase of NAS impairs audit independence, consistent with prior studies. We also document that firms which should have met the disclosure threshold otherwise are more likely to conduct earnings management relative to other firms, as predicted. Finally, our empirical results show that market participants are not able to distinguish these two groups. Key words: non-audit services, disclosure threshold, audit independence, discretionary accruals

本研究係探討關係人交易雙方是否委任相同會計師進行查核，對企業負債資金成本之效果。本文以企業利息費用除以平均帶息負債衡量企業之負債資金成本，企業之關係人交易部分則分成關係人銷貨交易、關係人進貨交易、關係人應收款、關係人應付款等四類型交易，來討論關係人交易與企業負債資金成本之關聯，接著將各類型關係人交易再細分成由相同會計師查核關係人交易雙方與由不同會計師查核關係人交易雙方兩類，以檢驗相同會計師查核對於企業負債資金成本之影響。 研究結果發現關係人交易與企業負債資金成本之關聯並無統計上之顯著性。然將關係人交易進一步拆分為是否由相同會計師查核關係人交易雙方後，關係人進貨交易與關係人銷貨交易等兩類型交易若由相同會計師查核交易雙方，其相較於不同會計師查核能夠有效減緩企業負債資金成本增加之情形。 / This study examines the effect of same auditor auditing both sides of related party transactions (RPTs) on cost of debt. In this study, cost of debt is measured using interest expenses divided by average interest bearing debt and we hand collect from annual reports the data of the four common types of RPTs: sales to related parties, purchases from related parties, accounts receivable from related parties and accounts payable to related parties. For the four types, we further split RPTs into RPTs whose involved sides are audited by the same auditor and RPTs whose involved sides are audited by different auditors. We do not find any evidence that RPTs are associated with cost of debt. However, we find that for sales to related parties and purchases from related parties, RPTs whose involved sides are audited by the same auditor are associated with cost of debt less strongly than RPTs whose involved sides are audited by different auditors. Our results suggest that same auditor auditing can mitigated the detrimental effect of RPTs on cost of debt.

在市場競爭不斷加劇之環境下，會計師事務所究竟要如何因應？削價競爭固然為一種經營策略，但並非長久之計。過去文獻指出，會計師事務所可藉由發展產業專業化以因應市場競爭，且會計師產業專精對審計公費有正向之影響。然而，過去文獻亦指出客戶產業特性對審計公費訂價有一定之影響力，故本研究目的乃在探討會計師產業專精對審計公費影響力之大小，及是否會計師產業專精對審計公費之影響力會大於客戶產業特性對審計公費之效果。實證結果顯示會計師產業專精與客戶產業特性兩者對審計公費皆有相當之影響力，但客戶產業特性對審計公費訂價之影響較大。另外，在將樣本區分為高科技產業與傳統產業後可發現，會計師在高科技產業之專長對客戶而言較具有價值，產業專精會計師在高科技產業對審計公費訂價之影響力較大、能夠收取較高之審計公費。 / How can accounting firms build up competitive advantages when they face increased competition? One way is to cut costs and decrease prices, but this may not be the best strategy in the long run. Casterella et al.(2004) suggest that product differentiation based on industry expertise may be a more sustainable solution because auditor specialization shows a significantly positive association with audit fees. Prior researches also indicate that client industry characteristics influence audit fees. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine whether auditor specialization and client industry characteristics influence audit fees and which one has greater effect. We find evidence that auditor specialization and client industry characteristics both have an influence on audit fees, while client industry characteristics exhibit even greater impacts. Furthermore relative to conventional industries, auditor specialization in high technology industries demonstrates greater value, and contributes to higher audit fees.

本研究探討台灣會計師公費揭露的市場反應，並以累計異常報酬（CAR）來衡量市場反應。第一階段針對是否揭露會計師公費研究其不同的反應；第二階段再將有揭露會計師公費的公司區分為主動揭露與被動揭露，並探討是否會造成不同的影響；第三階段更進一步將被動揭露的公司依其所符合的法規揭露原因再做細分，特別探討因為非審計公費過高而揭露公費者之市場反應。 研究結果發現，相較於不揭露會計師公費的公司，市場對於有揭露會計師公費資訊的公司會給予較正面的反應；其中，有揭露會計師公費的公司，若屬於主動揭露，市場更是會給予正面的肯定；相反的，有揭露會計師公費的公司，若是因非審計公費達審計公費之四分之一以上者而被動揭露者，市場會對此公司之會計師之獨立性有所懷疑，故給予負面的反應。可見會計師公費的資訊對投資大眾而言確實是一項有意義且重要的資訊。本研究並加入公司治理的相關變數，研究結果發現，若公司之治理程度較差，但「有揭露」會計師公費資訊者，投資大眾會給予正面的反應，此外，相對於被動揭露者，市場對於「主動揭露」之公司會給予更正面的肯定。另一方面，若公司之治理程度較佳，但其揭露原因是屬於非審計公費達審計公費四分之一以上而被動揭露者，市場會對會計師獨立性有所質疑，故對於此種公司仍給予負面的反應。 / This study attempts to examine audit fee disclosure and market reactions. We use Cumulative Abnormal Returns to measure market reactions. First, we analyze whether audit fee disclosure has any market reactions at all. Second, we divide the samples into voluntary disclosure and forced disclosure groups. Third, we make further segmentation from the forced disclosure group according to their disclosure reasons, and specially focus on the disclosure reason of high non-audit fees. We find that market reactions are significantly more positive for firms with audit fee disclosures than for firms without fee disclosure. Market reactions are also significantly better for firms with voluntary disclosure than the forced disclosure group. In contrast, market reactions are significantly lower for firms which disclose audit fees due to high levels of non-audit fees. Our evidence supports that audit fee is a piece of useful and important information to investors. Additionally, we include corporate governance variables in the analysis. We find that when firms’ corporate governance is not good, if they choose to disclose audit fee voluntarily, the market responds with positive reactions. In contrast, if a firm’s corporate governance is quite good but discloses audit fees due to high levels of non-audit fee, the market then reacts with negative returns.

本研究使用台灣的營利事業所得稅資料並且以托賓自我選擇模型來檢視租稅逃漏、稅務選查與會計師稅務簽證三者的關聯性。實證結果顯示台灣的稅務機關在查核預算的限制之下會進行有系統的稅務選查程序；進一步來說，使用會計師稅務簽證的企業組織較不易被稅務機關選查。此外，企業組織的重要特徵如規模、財務狀況、獲利能力以及會計師稅務簽證的使用與否將會影響企業組織的租稅逃漏額。最後，我們發現會計師稅務簽證的使用對於租稅逃漏的影響會隨著公司的規模大小而改變，營收大於一億的企業組織若使用會計師稅務簽證將會比未使用會計師稅務簽證的企業組織有更高的逃漏稅額。因此，我們認為與會計師稅務簽證相關的政策法規可能需要重新評估是否適切。 / This study uses the business income tax dada in Taiwan to empirically examine the relationships between audit selection, tax evasion, and the usage of CPA-attestation. Tobit model with self-selection is used in this study. Empirical results provide evidence that tax agencies in Taiwan employ a systematic audit selection process, subject to the constraints of audit budgets. Additionally, firms using CPA-attestation are less likely to be selected for audit. The results also provide evidence that some important characteristics of firms, such as size, financial position, profitability, and the usage of CPA-attestation, may influence the amount of tax evasion. Finally, we find that the effect of CPA-attestation on tax evasion may vary with different sizes of firms using CPA-attestation. Hence, the policy and tax regulations associated with the usage of CPA-attestation may need to be re-evaluated.