Governance Role of Auditors and Legal Environment: Evidence from Corporate Disclosure Transparency
Abstract
See full text at https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soa_research/1749/. This study examines whether auditor size associates with disclosure transparency. Given that prior studies generally focus on discretionary accruals to investigate the relation between auditor size and financial reporting quality, there is little evidence on how auditor size relates to other attributes of reporting quality. Further, studies that examine this association internationally produce mixed results as to how auditor size relates to reporting quality in different legal origins. Focusing on corporate disclosure transparency (i.e., disclosure levels), we find that auditor size and disclosure level are positively associated across countries and that the association is stronger in code law regimes than in common law regimes. The latter finding supports the view that audits play greater governing roles in weaker legal environments.