Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
审计事务所流动性对各州鉴证服务的影响
The consequences of audit firm mobility for attestation services across states
摘要
This study investigates how audit firm-level spatial licensing requirements affect audit market competition and audit quality, focusing on small (triennially inspected) audit firms, for which licensing frictions are most relevant. Exploiting the staggered state-level adoption of CPA firm mobility provisions that remove spatial licensing barriers, we find that adoption increases competition among small audit firms, as reflected by lower market concentration and greater first-time entry by small out-of-state auditors. Firm mobility adoption also improves audit quality, as indicated by a lower likelihood of client misstatements. These effects are concentrated in less competitive audit markets and among auditors with higher PCAOB deficiency rates. Audit quality improvements extend to both incumbent auditors and new out-of-state entrants, and we find no evidence of audit fee discounting. Overall, our results suggest that removing spatial licensing barriers fosters a more competitive small audit firm market while improving audit outcomes, without increasing audit costs.
中文摘要
本研究探讨了审计事务所层面的空间执业许可要求如何影响审计市场竞争与审计质量，重点关注小型（每三年接受检查的）审计事务所，因为许可摩擦对其影响最为显著。利用各州分阶段采纳注册会计师事务所流动性条款（该条款消除了空间执业壁垒）这一自然实验，我们发现，此类条款的采纳增强了小型审计事务所之间的竞争，表现为市场集中度降低以及小型外州审计师首次进入市场的频率增加。事务所流动性条款的采纳还提升了审计质量，表现为客户错报可能性降低。这些效应在竞争程度较低的审计市场以及PCAOB缺陷率较高的审计师中更为突出。审计质量的提升同时惠及现有审计师和新进入的外州审计师，且未发现审计费用折价现象。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，消除空间执业壁垒促进了小型审计事务所市场的竞争性增强，同时改善了审计结果，且未增加审计成本。