THE JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, 28 October 2018

美国审计师对PCAOB检查程序的看法：行为检查

作者：LINDSAY M. JOHNSON（University of Tennessee College of Law）

MARSHA B.KEUNE（University of Dayton）

JENNIFER WINCHEL（University of Virginia）

摘要：本研究考察了美国审计师对PCAOB检查过程的观察和对其工作的影响，以了解当前美国的监管审计环境。通过对经验丰富审计师的20次访谈，我们考虑了行为因素（例如，PCAOB的感知能力和信任度），根据审计监管的滑坡边界框架理论，这些因素可以影响审计师合规的水平和形式（Kirchler 等，2008；Dowling等，2018）。我们的参与者描述了一个有强大监管机构的审计环境。这些审计师报告指出，他们希望收到对审计程序和质量控制产生重大影响的“干净”的检查报告。然而，我们的参与者似乎对PCAOB没有高度信任，因为他们质疑检查过程的各个方面及其期望。因此，我们得出结论，美国上市公司审计师在一个敌对的环境中运作，审计师认为PCAOB具有很高的强制力。换言之，他们由于畏惧执法而选择服从，并不是同意PCAOB对审计质量的看法。一些审计员还表示，他们同时考虑合规的成本和收益。理论直觉表示，相对于合规的收益，任何未来增加的成本最终都会降低PCAOB的强制力并降低美国审计师的合规性。我们的研究结果对于有兴趣了解可能影响监管合规的行为因素的监管机构和研究人员具有意义。

关键词：审计监管；PCAOB检查；审计缺陷；合规

U.S. Auditors’ Perceptions of the PCAOB Inspection Process: A Behavioral Examination

LINDSAY M. JOHNSON（University of Tennessee College of Law）, MARSHA B.KEUNE（University of Dayton）, JENNIFER WINCHEL（University of Virginia）

ABSTRACT

This study examines U.S. auditors’observations of the PCAOB inspection process, and its impact on their work, in order to understand the current U.S. regulatory audit climate. Using 20 interviews with experienced auditors, we consider behavioral factors (e.g., perceived power of and trust in the PCAOB) that can impact the level and form of auditor compliance according to theory from the slippery slope framework on audit regulation (Kirchler et al. 2008; Dowling et al. 2018). Our participants described an audit climate with a powerful regulator. They reported that their desire to receive “clean” inspection reports has had a substantial impact on audit procedures and quality control. However, our participants do not appear to have high trust in the PCAOB, as they questioned aspects of the inspection process and its expectations. Accordingly, we conclude that U.S. public company auditors operate in an antagonistic environment in which auditors perceive the PCAOB has high coercive power. In other words, they comply due to fear of enforcement rather than agreement with the PCAOB's views on audit quality. Some auditors also indicated that they consider both the costs and benefits of compliance. Theoretical intuition implies that any future increases to perceived costs relative to perceived benefits of compliance could ultimately decrease the PCAOB's coercive power and reduce U.S. auditor compliance. Our findings have implications for regulators and researchers interested in understanding behavioral factors that may influence regulatory compliance.

Keywords:Audit Regulation; PCAOB Inspections; Audit Deficiencies; Compliance

原文链接：

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1911-3846.12467

翻译：王霄霄