本研究欲探討在中國大陸審計市場中，會計師事務所產業專精度對於審計品質之影響，並進一步研究不同城市層級之產業專精度對於審計品質有無差別。 研究結果顯示，在產業專家以特定產業客戶在會計師事務所客戶組合中所佔比率之定義下，無法發現由產業專家會計師事務所查核之公司，其審計品質較佳；但進一步考慮城市層級因素後，實證結果發現城市會對產業專精度造成影響，支持假說二，審計品質較佳。造成此結果之可能係因掛靠制度及政府之尋租行為所造成中國審計市場分割與分散特性，且使得上市公司對事務所的選擇並不重視其審計品質的高低，而是更看重會計師事務所的掛靠單位，使得中國會計師事務所無法發展整體之產業專家。 / The objective of this thesis is to examine whether auditor’s industry specialization at the city-level affects the audit quality in China. In addition, we classify industry auditor expertise at the city level into the following two groups, and further investigate whether the association between industry expertise and audit quality differs between these two groups: (1) Directly Controlled Municipalities or locations of Stock Exchange (therefore DCM); (2)non-Directly Controlled Municipalities or non locations of Stock Exchange (non-DCM). The empirical results find no statistically significant association between audit quality and industry specialization at the city level in China. However, the results document that the association between industry expertise and audit quality are more pronounced for the DCM group than for the non-DCM, consistent with our prediction.

本文以2005年至2014年間中華人民共和國上海及深圳上市公司為研究對象，參照Beck and Mauldin (2014)衡量審計委員會與財務長之間相對影響力之模式，從公司治理觀點分析選任個人層級及事務所層級之產業專家會計師，是否與審計委員會相較於財務主管較具有影響力有關聯性，並參考過去發展的文獻，以多種衡量產業專家之方法執行敏感性分析。本研究結果顯示，當企業之審計委員會相較於財務主管之相對影響力較大時，與個人層級之產業專家及同時為個人層級及事務所層級之產業專家會計師具有顯著正相關、與會計師事務所層級之產業專家呈現不顯著相關，故可推論，審計委員會相對較有影響力時會傾向選擇會計師個人產業專家。 / The primary objective of this thesis is to examine whether and how the relative power of the CFOs to audit committee affects the choice of auditor’s industry specialization, measured as firm level and partner level. We focus my analyses on a sample of listed firms in China during 2005-2014. We follow the measure of the relative power of CFO and audit committee by Beck and Mauldin (2014) to test my predictions. My main findings can be summarized as follows. First, the thesis finds evidence that firms are more likely to choice firm-level audit experts when its CFO is less powerful than audit committee. Second, it also finds that firms are more likely to hire partner-level audit experts when audit committee is relatively powerful than the CFO. The results are robust to other proxies for audit experts.

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.

本研究之目的為瞭解投資人對新式查核報告之因應。研究結果顯示關鍵查核事項項目數與股價呈現負相關，說明大部分投資人對關鍵查核事項之回應與關鍵查核事項之揭露呈現負相關。然而，當企業聘請四大會計師事務所或產業專精為期查核財務報告，結果將反轉。確切來說，相較非四大會計師事務所或非產業專精之查核客戶，財務報告經由四大會計師事務所或產業專精查核之企業，其累積異常報酬率較大。此外，本研究亦將產業專精分為三等級：會計師事務所層級、會計師個人層級及同時為事務所層級兼個人層級，以衡量關鍵查核事項與股價之關係。最後於敏感性分析之部分，以關鍵查核事項風險權重作為關鍵查核事項項目數之替代，並且以不同預期模式衡量累積異常報酬，結果都與預期相符。