審計公費係影響審計品質之一大因素，且中國事務所家數眾多，更易產生低價攬客的惡性競爭行為，再者，中國上市公司重編狀況近來層出不窮，因此本文以2004-2008年中國大陸A股上市公司為研究對象，欲研究重編事件對中國企業審計公費之影響。財務報表重編事件可以分為三個時間點：財務報表錯誤年度、財務報表執行重編年度以及重編後的次一年度。就財務報表發生錯誤年度而言，本研究發現該事件會伴隨較高的審計公費，但是無論是執行重編年度或次一年度，均未發現顯著提高公費的證據。除此之外，本研究也未能獲得審計委員會之設立與審計公費有統計關聯性的證據。具體而言，除了傳統審計公費的解釋變數之外，本文未能發現財務報表重編及審計委員會與審計公費有關之證據。 / Audit fees is one of the major factors affecting quality, and there are many audit firms in China, so it is easier to produce vicious competition . Furthermore, the number of Chinese listed company which has restated financial report is increasing in recent years. So, with a sample of A-share listed corporations in China from 2004 to 2008 , this dissertation develops a conceptual model for studying the relationship between financial restatement and audit fees. Financial restatement can be divided into three time points: the year when an error occurred in the financial report , the year when the financial report is restated ,and the year after the financial report is restated .In terms of the year when an error occurred in the financial report , this dissertation find the event associated with higher audit fees ,but in other two time point , this dissertation doesn’ t find the evidence of significantly increased audit fees. Moreover ,there is no statistical significant relationship between setting up an audit committee and audit fees. Specifically, in addition to the traditional explanatory variables, this dissertation can’t find the evidence that financial restatement and setting up an audit committee are related to audit fees.

本研究利用問卷調查內部稽核人員與外部審計人員兩者對於內部稽核功能之認知、雙方互動之情形、以及內部稽核功能與審計公費之關係。研究結果發現外部審計人員對於國內內部稽核功能能否有效發揮，仍有所保留，特別是在獨立性的部分，但對於內部稽核人員的專業能力則表示肯定。另外，大多數的填答者皆有與對方互動之經驗，但互動的程度並不高，以「偶而會」及「偶而詢問」為主。縱使互動程度不高，但是雙方皆認為互動對於外部查核工作或內部稽核工作是有助益的。此外，大多數的外部審計人員認為，內部稽核功能的好壞與審計公費有一定的關係存在，但其影響的比例以5%以下居多，這可能也是間接造成雙方互動不密切的重要因素之一。 / This thesis uses questionnaires to examine the external auditors’ perceptions of the internal auditing function, the level of co-operation between the internal and external auditors, and the relationship between internal audit function and external audit fees. The empirical findings indicate that external auditors expressed concern about the internal auditing function, independence especially. And the questionnaire responses show the lack of a close relationship between the internal and external auditors. They just occasionally co-operate with each other, but they consider that it is helpful to them. In addition, most external auditors are convinced of the existence of a direct link between internal audit function and external audit fees. But the percentage of external audit fee affected by internal audit function is below 5 percent, this may be one of the reasons why they lack a close relationship between each other.

Dans la perspective d’une évaluation critique des réformes adoptées récemment par la commission européenne et la législation des pays membres, cette recherche analyse les rôles respectifs de l’auditeur et de la réglementation qui régit son activité sur la qualité et le coût de l’audit. S’appuyant sur un échantillon 4218 firmes européennes pour une période allant de 2007 à 2010, notre première étude traite de l’impact de l’auditeur et de la réglementation de l’audit sur la qualité des chiffres comptables. Les résultats montrent que les Big n’offrent aucune garantie particulière sur la qualité de l’information comptable s’ils ne sont pas simultanément spécialistes de l’activité de la firme auditée. Elle montre aussi que la nature et l'ampleur de la gestion des résultats sont influencées par les réglementations nationales de l’audit. Il apparait en effet que l’audit conduit à une information de meilleure qualité lorsque la responsabilité de l’auditeur est délictuelle plutôt que contractuelle, mais aussi lorsque son mandat peut être remis en cause chaque année. Cette étude offre également un éclairage nouveau aux différends qui opposent auditeurs et régulateurs en matière de services annexes en montrant qu’il n’est pas forcément souhaitable d’interdire ou de contraindre trop fortement ces services. Ils conduisent les auditeurs à mieux percevoir l’entreprise, ce qui leur permet d’agir utilement sur l’ampleur des manipulations réelles. Il apparait enfin que les mesures visant à imposer la rotation de l’associé signataire responsable de la mission d’audit ou à imposer un audit joint sont sans effets réels.Retenant un échantillon de 4293 firmes européennes sur la période allant de 2003 à 2011, la deuxième étude traite de l’impact de l’auditeur et de la réglementation de l’audit sur les honoraires d’audit. Les résultats montrent que recourir à des auditeurs réputés (Big ou spécialistes du secteur d’activité de la firme auditée) génère, toutes choses égales par ailleurs, des honoraires d’audit plus élevés. Il apparait aussi que trois des attributs réglementaires étudiés (la responsabilité délictuelle de l’auditeur, la remise en cause annuelle du mandat de l’audit, l’obligation d’un audit conjoint) affectent positivement les honoraires d’audit versés par les firmes européennes. Le rapprochement des résultats des deux études que nous avons menées montre donc que, moyennant le paiement d’honoraires plus élevés, des auditeurs spécialistes sont un gage de qualité des chiffres comptables audités. Ce rapprochement montre aussi que la responsabilité délictuelle de l’auditeur et la possibilité d’une remise en cause annuelle de son mandat garantissent la qualité des chiffres comptables, ces deux contraintes réglementaires étant par ailleurs associées à des honoraires d’audit plus conséquents. / This dissertation includes two studies. The first study analyzes the impact of auditor quality and audit regulation on the quality of accounting information, particularly on tradeoff between accrual-based and activity-based earnings management. In the second study in order to better understand the audit fees incurred by listed European companies we analysis the impact of audit regulation on the level of audit fees.Our representative sample is 4219 firms listed on European capital markets from 15 European countries over the period 2007 to 2010. Based on our sample, in the first study we analyze the respective impacts of both auditor quality and audit regulation on earnings quality. We capture auditor quality through using both audit firm size and audit firm industry specialization. We analyze five attributes of audit regulation including namely duration of audit tenure, restrictions on provision of non-audit services, nature of the auditors’ liability, constraints on audit partners’ rotation and obligation of a joint audit.Our main results are as follows: A) Only income-increasing earnings management, which is resulted in overstated earnings, is affected by auditor quality or audit regulations. B) Audit firm expertise influences negatively on the level of the both accrual-based earnings management and activity-based earnings management. Audits provided by large audit firms (i.e. Big4 auditors), have no impact on both accrual-based and activity-based earnings management. C) Audit firm expertise is not the only factor that affects audit quality and earnings quality. Regulation that governs audit services plays a major role in earnings quality as well. Two regulatory attributes have significant beneficial impact on accrual-based earnings management: the nature of the auditor’s liability and the minimal duration of the audit mandate. D) There is a substitution effect between accrual-based and activity-based earnings management, regarding the two attributes of audit regulation that are effective in curbing discretionary accruals. Because of regulatory constraints, the firms that cannot manage accruals upward apply more real activity management, and consequently their earnings are left affected by management actions.In 14 European countries, the diversity of regulations that govern statutory audits provides us with the opportunity to analyze how audit regulation affects audit fees. Using a sample of 4293 European firms over the period 2003 to 2011, in the second study we analyze the attributes of audit regulation, namely duration of audit tenure, restrictions on provision of non-audit services and nature of the auditors’ liability joint audit. Based on Our main results, in addition to usual determinants of audit fees (auditor reputation, firm size, leverage, audit risk…), the three attributes under study impact audit fees significantly. Fees are lower when regulation allows long audit tenure, or non-audit services, as well as when the auditor’s liability is based on tort law.

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.

本研究以1980年至2015年美國及加拿大上市公司為研究對象，探討具有會計專長之執行長（CEO）與外界反應的關係。在探討外界反應之前，本文先檢視具有會計專長之CEO對於盈餘品質的影響，透過此結果，推論專業人士（包含會計師與分析師）與市場投資人之反應。本研究預期，當CEO具有會計專長時，會使盈餘品質降低，故審計風險隨之提高，導致審計公費增加，且分析師的追隨意願降低，同時也將影響市場投資人的反應。 研究結果發現，具會計專長CEO與盈餘管理、審計公費、公司累積異常報酬呈現顯著正相關，與分析師追隨數則為顯著負相關，顯示當CEO具有會計專長時，因有盈餘操控的情況，所以審計公費提高、分析師追隨數減少；但市場投資人或許無法體認盈餘操控的事實，故仍相信具有會計專長之CEO，有可能為公司帶來正面的影響。 / This study investigates the relationship between CEOs with accounting expertise and external reactions of investors, auditors and analysts. The sample firms used in this study are all the stock-listed companies in America and Canada during 1980-2015. Before examining such external reactions, this paper explores the association between CEOs with accounting expertise and earnings quality, which help us to obtain an explanation why auditors, analysts and investors have such reactions. The empirical results show that CEOs with accounting expertise manage earnings more aggressively than CEOs without such expertise. As a consequence, the firms with such CEOs will be charged higher audit fees and have less analyst following. However, investors might not recognize this fact; they still believe that CEOs with accounting expertise will have a positive influence on firms. Our findings could offer a reference for a company looking for a CEO that could bring accounting quality.

Auditors play an important role in the reliability of financial statements. Many investors and other financial information users rely on their opinion. During the financial crisis, auditors were critised since they did not warn the markets about financially distressed companies. In our thesis, we examine whether auditors change their behaviour during a financial crisis. Using our collected data for joint stock companies in the Czech Republic, we focus on frequency of modified and going concern opinions, amount of audit and non-audit fees charged by auditors, and audit reporting lag. Our audit fees model showed that there were significantly lower audit fees after the crisis than during the crisis years. The results also suggest that both Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors increased their frequency of issuing modified opinions (most of which were going concern opinions) during the crisis period. In our logit going concern models for the individual years we observed change of the auditors' behaviour during the crisis years 2008-2010. We have also found out that Big 4 auditors increased their audit reporting lag in 2008 but our overall results suggest that the audit reporting lag was shorter during the crisis.

La thèse explore la question de l’efficacité des comités d’audit en France : les comités d’audit jouent-ils effectivement leur rôle ? La problématique de l’efficacité de ces comités dans le processus d’évaluation du gouvernement d’entreprise demeure importante dans le contexte français, où les textes (notamment les recommandations de la 8ème directive) restent très imprécis. Une première partie expose les critères d’efficacité et le fonctionnement général des comités d’audit à partir d’un état de la littérature et d’une étude empirique sur des données secondaires. Nous examinons de façon approfondie les principaux déterminants de la diligence d’un comité d’audit. Ce problème est examiné dans le cadre d’une relation d’agence et d’asymétrie d’information. Ainsi, notre étude dépasse le cadre de la simple existence d’un comité d’audit (purement formel), pour s’intéresser de plus près à la capacité de ces comités à protéger effectivement les intérêts des parties prenantes et ceci en renfonçant la qualité du contrôle interne et celle du processus de l’audit externe. / Corporate governance in France has developed considerably in recent years. The strengthening of governance procedures is illustrated by the creation of audit committees, which today exist in virtually all listed companies. However, the issue of the audit committee’s effectiveness in the corporate governance evaluation process remains significant in the French context, where the texts (particularly the recommendations of the 8th European Directive) continue to lack clarity. This thesis aims to contribute to our understanding of the “black box” of governance procedures by studying the way that the audit committee’s characteristics affect the extent of reporting on internal control and risk management procedures and on audit fees. It emphasizes that the mere existence of an audit committee is not sufficient; it also needs to be effective. To be effective it must have the necessary means (composition, diligence, and resources). This study therefore looks beyond the simple existence of the audit committee (purely formal) and focuses on attributes related to its composition, its diligence, and the diversity of its members in order to more closely examine the audit committee’s ability to protect stakeholder interests. To do this, we analyze 176 non-financial French listed companies during a period when establishing an audit committee was voluntary. The results obtained support previous works advocating that audit committees comply with best practice rules for expertise,independence, and diligence and be comprised of experienced and diverse members. Our results raise several questions on the scope of the transposition into French law of the 8th European Directive.

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.

Titel: Revision i tider av social distansering Inledning: En kris är något som påverkar det normala och bidrar till en avvikelse i en organisation. Coronapandemin har bland annat satt krav på implementering av hemarbete och dess strategier. En revisors roll i företaget är att ge en rättvisande bild av företagets finansiella information. Som revisor behöver man säkerställa att man bibehåller den revisionskvalitet som krävs, även i tider av social distansering. Syfte och frågeställning: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om, och hur, den sociala distanseringen, till följd av Coronapandemin, har påverkat kvaliteten på revisorns arbete. Hur har revisionskvaliteten påverkats av de krav som ställts på den sociala distanseringen till följd av Coronapandemin?Hur har följande fem punkter påverkats av Coronapandemin? Revisorsarvode Revisorns lön Fortlevnadsprincipen Revisionsförfarande HumankapitalSkiljer sig resultatet åt ifall man arbetar på “Big Four” eller inte?Teori: Studien bygger på den teoretiska studien gjord av Albitar, Gerged, Kikhia och Hussainey (2020), för att nå ytterligare bredd har även annan forskning bidragit till den teoretiska referensramen. Detta för att undersöka Coronapandemins påverkan på de fem ovan nämnda nyckelaspekter i ett senare stadie av Coronapandemin än den tidigare forskningen av Albitar med flera (2020).Metod: Studien antar ett deduktivt synsätt med inslag av induktion för att få en djupare förståelse kring ämnet. Genomförandet är av kvantitativ karaktär och genomförs genom enkäter med respondenter från revisionsbyråer Sverige över.Slutsats: Studiens resultat påvisar en viss påverkan på branschen till följd av Coronapandemin. Bland annat så har bedömningen om fortlevnad försvåras då framtiden är oviss för många av klienterna. Denna studie påvisar även att revisorsarvoden inte har sänkts till följd av Coronapandemin, inte heller revisorers löneutveckling. Vidare har de krav på digitalisering effektiviserat revisorers arbete som fått implementera andra arbetssätt för att samla in de ekonomiska underlag som krävs för revisionen. Det kan inte, i nuläget, påvisas att revisionskvaliteten påverkats av Coronapandemin. Det framforskade resultatet visar att de som arbetar inom "Big Four" är mer motiverade av lön när det handlar om utfört arbete jämfört med de som inte arbetar inom "Big Four". Resterande punkter skiljer sig inte parterna sig mellan.

De uppgifter som revisorn presenterar i sin revisionsberättelse bör intressenter och företag ha förtroende för. Revisorn ska vara en oberoende länk mellan intressenter och företag. Läsaren förväntar sig finna eventuella ekonomiska problem i årsredovisningen. Detta är dock inte alltid fallet. Det är viktigt att revisorerna kan göra en pålitlig bedömning över företagets möjligheter till fortsatt drift. Beslut om going concern-varning måste grunda sig på oberoende och god kunskap om företagets situation. En felaktig going concern-varning kan orsaka problem och intäktsbortfall för både företaget och revisionsbyrån. Intressenterna kan förlora förtroendet för företaget och företaget kan i sin tur byta revisor. Studien fokuserar på huruvida revisorerna kan vara sparsamma med att utge going concern-varning för att inte riskera att förlora företaget som klient och därmed förlora revisionsintäkter. Därför undersöker studien om det finns ett samband mellan förlorade revisionsarvoden och utfärdandet av en första going concern-varning bland svenska företag. Studien vill också visa ifall en going concern- varning ökar sannolikheten för konkurs den s.k. självuppfyllande profetian. Ett bidrag till tidigare forskning är att studien beaktar revisionsuppdragets längd i förhållande till going concern-varning. Från databasen Affärsdata har 432 företag selekterats ut från bokslutsåret 2009. Av dessa hade 216 erhållit en going concern- varning. Denna testgrupp har sedan jämförts med en kontrollgrupp med samma antal som varit finansiellt stressade men inte erhållit någon varning. Studien har använt SPSS som statistiskt program för att kunna göra önskade beräkningar. Studiens resultat visar at det finns ett samband mellan en första going concern-varning och revisorbyte. Studien visar också att längden på revisionsuppdraget påverkar benägenheten att ge en going concern-varning. Däremot finner undersökningen inte något belägg för den s.k. självuppfyllande profetian. / The information that the auditor provides in their audit report should be valid in the eyes of the stakeholders of the company. The auditor should be the independent link between the company and its stakeholders. When reading the audit report, one expects to find all the possible economic problems identified in it, however this is not always the case. It is crucial that the audit of a company’s going concern is reliable. Decisions regarding going concern-modified opinions should be independent and be based on valid information regarding the company’s economic situation. One faulty going concern-modified opinion can set off a whole range of issues and revenue loss for both the company and the audit firm. Consequently stakeholders can lose their trust in the company resulting in a change of audit firm. This thesis is focused on whether or not auditors might be reluctant to hand out going concern-modified opinions in fear of losing a client and the revenue associated with it. Therefore, the thesis investigates whether or not there is a relationship between lost revenue and the first instance of issuing a going concern-modified opinion for Swedish companies. This thesis is also investigating whether the issuance of a going concern-modified opinion will increase the possibility of the company going bankrupt, the so-called self-fulfilling prophecy. A contribution to the previous research regarding the going concern issue is the consideration of audit tenure. We have used 432 companies with fiscal year 2009 extracted from the database Affärsdata. Out of this selection, 216 had been issued a going concern-modified opinion. This test group is then compared to the control group with the same number of companies that were identified as financially distressed but without receiving a going concern- modified opinion. The thesis has used the statistical program SPSS to complete the calculations needed to complete the analysis. The result shows a positive relationship between the first going concern-modified opinion and the change of audit firms. The period of time the auditing requires also effects the predisposition to issue a going concern-modified opinion. However the study was unable to find any statistical evidence for the so-called self-fulfilling prophecy.