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This study examines whether auditor industry expertise in private clients influences audit quality of public client engagements in the United States. Private companies are significant to the U.S. economy as well as audit firms. I hand-collect auditors' private client information and construct a national, city, and joint national/city specialist designation and document a 17.9 to 47.3 (12.9 to 25.8) percent decrease in a public client's likelihood to misstate their financial statements (net income earnings management) when an auditor is a private client industry specialist. I then construct and test a city specialist measure using both private and public client data and find that it is economically stronger and more robust than the public only measure commonly employed by audit researchers. This study provides evidence of the importance of private companies to an audit firm's industry expertise as well as to researchers' use of city specialist measure in audit studies. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study examines whether auditor industry expertise in private clients influences audit quality of public client engagements in the United States. Private companies are significant to the U.S. economy as well as audit firms. I hand-collect auditors' private client information and construct a national, city, and joint national/city specialist designation and find that audit quality is higher for the audit firm's public clients in the same industry. Next, I construct and test a city industry specialist measure using both private and public client data and find that it is economically stronger and more robust than the public only measure commonly employed by audit researchers. This study provides evidence of the importance of private companies to an audit firm's industry expertise as well as to researchers' use of city specialist measure in audit studies.

Yes / This paper reviews the literature on the independent oversight of auditing from 2003 to 2018 and provides several research opportunities for filling the identified gaps in that literature. Our review classifies the literature into three themes: (1) the development of independent audit oversight; (2) the effects of independent audit oversight; and (3) the interface between the independent audit oversight authorities and the global audit networks. The paper finds different effects of the independent audit oversight. Positively, it enhances the capital markets by adding more credibility to the published information. Auditors become more conservative about accepting or continuing to work with high-risk clients. At the same time, while audit fees have increased as a result of the additional requirements of independent audit regulation, non-audit fees from audit clients have decreased significantly. Negatively, independent oversight has increased audit concentration and resulted in insufficient choice of auditors in most audit markets.

ABSTRACT Title: The effect of regulatory reforms on audit quality in a lax enforcement and high trust environment: A quantitative study on Swedish companies                      Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Master Programme in Business Administration  Author: Julia Owczarek Blom  Supervisor: Asif M Huq  Date: 2023 - May Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of regulatory changes on the consumption of non-audit services and the audit quality among the Swedish publicly listed firms on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange. Specifically, the study focuses on whether there is a relationship between the 8th Directive on Statutory Audit and the EU Audit Package on non-audit services and the quality of audits. Furthermore, the study additionally investigates if the Swedish ownership structure has a negative impact on the audit quality among the companies.  Method: The method used in this study is based on a quantitative approach where the final sample that is empirically tested includes 626 Swedish large-, mid-, and small-cap firms listed on the Swedish stock market, Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. Moreover, the data consist of 5517 firm years and annual reports between the years 2001 and 2021.  Result and Conclusions: The result of this study suggests that the implementation of the 8th Directive on Statutory Audits has positively impacted audit quality, although it has not limited the consumption of non-audit services. Furthermore, the study further suggests that the EU Audit Package efficiently increased audit quality among the Swedish firms while, at the same time, decreasing the consumption of NAS. Although both regulations enhanced audit quality, the second regulatory change has been a lot more impactful than the previous one. In addition, the findings of the study suggest that the Swedish ownership structure, consisting of a single or few strong shareholders and companies being majority family owned, has a positive impact on audit quality. Contribution of the thesis: There have not been any studies investigating the impact of the 8th Directive and the EU Audit Package in a Swedish setting, and therefore this study provides insight on the topic. Furthermore, this is one of the first European studies investigating whether a concentrated ownership structure with the majority of firms being family owned has a positive or negative impact on audit quality. Suggestions for future research: For future research, it would be interesting to complement this study through a qualitative method with surveys or interviews to see what kind of NAS is currently most consumed by Swedish companies. Keywords: non-audit services, NAS, non-audit services in Sweden, audit fees, non-audit fees, auditor, audit quality, and auditor independence.

In third-party litigation funding agreements, funders agree to finance a litigant’s litigation on condition that the funder will deduct a specified percentage from the capital awarded to the litigant in the event of success. In contingency fee agreements, such funding is provided by lawyers. Initially both these agreements were illegal in South Africa and England, but as civil courts became able to counter corruption and abuse – and with the recognition of the need to give more litigants access to justice – both were recognised as legal. Third-party litigation funding agreements by non-lawyers are unregulated in most jurisdictions. As the voluntary self-regulation in England is unsatisfactory, mandatory statutory regulation should be introduced in South Africa. The Contingency Fees Act 66 of 1997 caps the fee to 25% on the capital amount in South Africa. Since no such cap exists in Ontario (Canada), the cap of 25% in South Africa should be revised. / Eka Mintwanano yo nyika nseketelo wa mali eka nandzu wa thedi phati, vanyiki va mali va pfumela ku hakela mali ya nandzu wa mumangali hi xipimelo xa leswaku munyiki wa mali u ta susa phesenteji leyi kombisiweke ku suka eka mali leyi nyikiweke mumangali loko a humelela. Eka mintwanano ya tihakelo ta vukorhokeri, nseketelo walowo wa mali wu nyikiwa hi maloyara. Ekusunguleni mintwanano leyi hinkwayo a yi nga ri enawini eAfrika Dzonga na le England, kambe tanihi leswi tikhoto ta mfumo ti koteke ku kokela etlhelo eka timhaka ta vukungundzwana na nxaniso- na ku anakanyiwa ka xilaveko xo nyika vamangali votala mfikelelo wa vululami- hinkwayo yi anakanyiwile tanihi leyi nga enawini. Mintwanano yo nyika nseketelo wa mali eka nandzu wa thedi phati hi vanhu lava nga riki maloyara a yi lawuriwi eka vuavanyisi byotala. Tanihileswi vutilawuri byo tinyiketa eEngland byi nga riki kahle, mafambiselo ya nawu lama lavekaka ya fanele ya tivisiwa eAfrika Dzonga. Nawu wa Tihakelo ta Vukorhokeri wa 66 wa 1997 wu veka mpimo wa hakelo eka 25% eka xiphemu xa tsengo wa mali eAfrika Dzonga. Ku sukela loko ku ri hava mpimo lowu nga kona eOntario (Canada), mpimo wa 25% eAfrika Dzonga wu fanele wu langutisiwa hi vuntshwa. / Kha thendelano dza ndambedzo dza mbilo ine ya itelwa muthu, vhabadeli vho tenda u badela mbilo ya muthu o no khou itelwa mbilo tenda mubadeli a tshi ḓo ṱusa phesenthe yo tiwaho kha tshelede yo avhelwaho muthu ane a khou itelwa mbilo arali a kunda. Kha thendelano dza mbadelo dzine dza badelwa musi ramilayo o no kunda kha mulandu, mbadelo idzo dzi ṋetshedzwa nga vhoramilayo. Mathomoni thendelano idzi vhuvhili hadzo dzo vha dzi siho mulayoni Afurika Tshipembe na England, fhedzi musi khothe dza mbilo dzi tshi vho thoma u hanedzana na tshanḓanguvhoni na u tambudzwa - na u dzhiela nṱha ṱhoḓea ya u ṋea vhathu vhane vha khou itelwa mbilo u swikelela vhulamukanyi –vhuvhili hadzo dzo dzhiwa sa dzi re mulayoni. Thendelano dza ndambedzo dza mbilo ine muthu a itelwa nga vhathu vhane vha sa vhe vhoramilayo a i langulwi kha vhulamukanyi vhunzhi. Samusi u langulwa ha ndaulo nga iwe muṋe hu ha u tou funa ngei England a zwi ṱanganedzwi, ndaulo ya khombekhombe ya mulayo i fanela u ḓivhadzwa Afurika Tshipembe. Mulayo wa Mbadelo dzine dza badelwa Ramilayo musi o kunda wa nomboro 66 wa 1997 mutengo wawo u guma kha 25% mutengo wa tshelede Afurika Tshipembe. Samusi tshikalo itsho tshi sa wanali ngei Ontario (Canada), tshikalo itsho tsha 25% Afurika Tshipembe tshi fanela u sedzuluswa hafhu. / Private Law / LL. M.

The focus of this report and the study for which it was written involves two specific types of user charges: Building permit fees are fees that cover the cost of administering the document (the building permit) and the cost of inspecting the construction for which the permit was issued. This report examines the issues, both legal and procedural, surrounding regulatory fees and their effects on building fees within the City of San Bernardino. As elements of the larger study, various smaller studies such as time and motion studies of the building inspector's activities and fully Burdened Hourly Rate Study were completed.

This correlation research study was used to investigate the impact of the Dodd-Frank legislation on the U.S. bank industry. The economic crisis of 2007-2009 had a global and significant financial impact, some of which still reverberates. In the United States, the reaction was The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect July 21, 2010. This act has recently been the subject of academic research and remains debated in congress, with discussion focused on its repeal. The publicly available, secondary data set from banks' quarterly filed regulatory reporting provided the data used in this study. Every FDIC insured bank in the United States was included in the study. The research question for the study examined the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank legislation as posited by the theories of Bexley (2014) and Barth, Prabha, and Swagel (2012) that Dodd-Frank was a regulatory overreaction and could have a long-term impact on a substantial number of financial institutions. From 2007 through 2013, the number of banks declined by over 1,753 institutions; a 19.82% decline. The structure of the research presumed that banks that relied heavily on consumer fees for depository services would be negatively impacted by rule changes and regulation regarding such fees. There were two research questions. The first focused on the role of the new rules in the decline of the number of banks. The second explored the role of the legislation in the financial performance of banks. Regression results resulted in not being able to reject the null hypotheses. The implication of the study for social change is that policy makers who understand these relationships may construct better regulation to mitigate unfair and deceptive consumer fees for banking services.

Submitted by Manuela Lopes (manu.hlopes@hotmail.com) on 2012-03-23T05:02:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 discount.pdf: 259598 bytes, checksum: 22629d2c1b0a6a09240f05febeeddef1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Andrea Virginio Machado (andrea.machado@fgv.br) on 2012-03-23T12:49:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 discount.pdf: 259598 bytes, checksum: 22629d2c1b0a6a09240f05febeeddef1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-03-27T18:24:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 discount.pdf: 259598 bytes, checksum: 22629d2c1b0a6a09240f05febeeddef1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-12-19 / Prices of a homogenous package of services present considerable dispersion across banks. A simple model that uses consumer search costs and loyalty is devolped in order to reproduce this empirical observation. Using data for the brazilian banking sector, empirical exercises are performed to allow for: (i) the estimation of consumer search costs by xing the values of other parameters; and (ii) the estimation of the corresponding deadweightlosses imposed by costly search. When only 80% of the population is free to engage in search activity, at a 0.5% monthly interest rate, the upper limit of the support of the search cost distribution is found to be 1805.80 BRL. In this case, the corresponding estimate of the deadweightloss imposed on an average searcher is 233.71 BRL. / Pode-se observar uma considerável dispersão entre os preços que diferentes bancos comerciais no Brasil cobram por um mesmo pacote homogêneo de serviços— dispersão esta que é sustentada ao longo do tempo. Em uma tentativa de replicar esta observação empírica, foi desenvolvido um simples modelo que lança mão do arcabouço da literatura de custos de procura (search costs) e que baseia-se também na lealdade por parte dos consumidores. Em seguida, dados de preços referentes ao setor bancário brasileiro são aplicados ao modelo desenvolvido e alguns exercícios empíricos são então realizados. Esses exercícios permitem que: (i) os custos de procura incorridos pelos consumidores sejam estimados, ao fixar-se os valores dos demais parâmetros e (ii) as correspondentes perdas de peso-morto que surgem como consequência dos custos de procura incorridos pelos consumidores sejam também estimadas. Quando apenas 80% da população é livre para buscar por bancos que cobrem menores tarifas, à taxa de juros mensal de 0,5%, o valor estimado do custo de procura médio incorrido pelos consumidores chega a 1805,80 BRL, sendo a correspondente perda de peso-morto média na ordem de 233,71 BRL por consumidor.

This thesis examines the factors affecting audit and non-audit fees and the effects of the joint provision of audit and non-audit services on auditing. The first essay focuses on environmental factors. Using data for Swedish listed companies over a six year span, including pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods, the essay investigates whether changing economic conditions affect the level of fees paid for audit and non-audit services. The finding suggests that auditors increase their risk premium for auditing during a financial crisis andtend to charge higher audit fees as a response to lower risk levels in the post-crisis period. On the other hand, a significant reduction in non-audit fees suggests that companies are less willing to invest in consulting services during thecrisis and post-crisis periods. The second essay also studies the effects of environmental factors on audit pricing. Using data for financial institutions in 24 European countries, the study examines whether the level of effort spent on the evaluation of fair values is higher for more uncertain fair values.The result suggests that an increasing level of complexity and risk requires greater audit effort. Furthermore, the results showthat the strength of a country’s institutional setting is positively associated with the effort spent on the evaluation of high uncertainty fair value estimates. The finding implies that auditors spend more effort in stronger regulated countries, possibly due to higher potential litigation costs. The third essay focuses on the factors related to an individual audit partner. Based on the data of publicly listed Swedish companies, it investigates whether partner special competencies are reflected in the prices charged for auditing. The findings show that partner industry expertise and client-specific expertise are associated with higher audit fees. A further finding isthat female partners are considerably under-represented among specialists. However,the under-representation of females among higher qualified partners does not seem to negatively affect their possibilities to earn higher fees. The fourth essay investigates how the joint provision of audit and non-audit services affects perceived knowledge spillover and audit efficiency. The essay makesuse of survey data from a large sample of Swedish auditors and finds that the levels of communication and trust are positively associated with knowledge spillover. The result further suggests that the information gained from the provision of non-audit services can reduce auditors’ effort (time) spent on different audit procedures, thereby increasing audit efficiency.

The diploma thesis deals with the implementation of entrance fee to national parks in Slovakia. In the first part, it describes the entrance fee as an economic tool of environmental policy, considers its features and application. Thereafter, the organization and financing of nature protection in Slovakia is explained. From the presented analysis of revenues and expenditures it is obvious that the national park administrative units are exposed to the lack of financial resources. As a solution of this situation, the thesis suggests increasing of revenues by the implementation of the entrance fees. Subsequently, each Slovak national park is characterised. The aim of the thesis is a proposal of the entrance fees system in Slovak national parks, which is divided into particular steps. The activities concerning the collection of the fees are preceded by rearranging the ownership relations and adjustment of legislation. The next steps of the proposal deal with the way of fees collection, the extent of the fees and with potential revenues for the national park administration that would be generated by the fees. The final steps of the proposal consider control together with modification of the entrance fees collecting system and its potential expanding.