• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.321-326
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• 2024

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Big 4 accounting firms contribute to the reduction of earnings management when auditing shipping companies. Generally, it is understood that companies audited by the Big 4 accounting firms engage in minimal earnings management and maintain high audit quality. However, these factors may vary depending on industry and firm size. As a result, this study empirically analyzes the impact of audits conducted by large accounting firms on earnings management within the shipping industry. The Big 4 accounting firms, namely PwC, KPMG, Deloitte, and EY, are the focus of this research. Discretionary accruals are employed as a proxy for earnings management, with the modified J ones model and the performance matched model used to measure discretionary accruals. The analysis, which covers shipping companies listed on KOSP I from 2001 to 2023, reveals that audits conducted by the Big 4 accounting firms do not significantly influence earnings management in the shipping industry. Unlike the general case, it is evident that audits by the Big 4 accounting firms do not play a role in reducing earnings management in shipping companies. This paper is significant as it examines the role of auditors within the shipping industry and presents findings that deviate from commonly known information. Shipping companies should take into consideration that the audit quality of the Big 4 accounting firms may not always be guaranteed when selecting an auditor. Furthermore, supervisory authorities such as the Financial Supervisory Service should engage in oversight based on an accurate understanding of the audit quality offered by the Big 4 accounting firms.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.41-50
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• 2020

The paper aims to investigate auditors, auditing firms and other external factors that affect quality of information technology audit in Vietnam. We conducted 2 types of data collections including direct and on survey. For direct survey, we sent directly to auditors at the training classes organized by State Securities Exchanges Commission. An online survey was established and Google doc link was provided to the Big4 and non-Big4 auditors. We received 138 survey responses in that 90 auditors came from Big4 and 48 auditors from non-Big4 firms. The data are analyzed using a factor analysis and compare means approaches to illustrate the potential IT audit quality factors and identify differences between two groups of auditors. The results show that independence and accounting knowledge and audit skills are the most important factors. And since external auditors perform many assurance services, the independence is critical. The result also shows that the auditors need to have enough competent and professional skills when conducting an audit, especially within an IT environment that requires high quality. The findings suggest a similar pattern of two groups in the context of Vietnam and some factors of auditors and auditing firms appear to have a statistically significant impact on quality of IT audit.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.193-212
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• 2021

Purpose - This study investigates the effect of auditor change on client firm's accounting (financial statement) comparability. Design/methodology/approach - The comparability of accounting information is measured by the difference in accruals between the two firms. Additionally, the study uses earnings-stock return relationship as another proxy of accounting comparability. In particular, the paper examines whether there is a systematic difference between initial audit years and the other years with respect to the client firm's accounting comparability. Moreover, current study tests how changes in auditor size or industry expertise before and after the switch of auditors affect the accounting comparability. Findings - The results show that the level of accounting comparability is lower in the year of auditor change than in the other years. Furthermore, this lower level of comparability is derived by the observations that switch their auditors from non-Big4 to non-Big4 or from non-specialist to non-specialist. These results are consistent when accounting comparability is measured by different proxies. Research implications or Originality - The findings of this study provide important policy implications for the regulations related with auditor selection.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2020

This study was conducted to examine how independent audit firms in Vietnam understand and use risk based audit approach (RBAA) in audit practice. To answer the research questions, the researchers used primary and secondary data collected from 2018 to 2019. The results from the interview survey showed that audit firms were aware of the advantages of adopting RBAA. However, RBAA is practiced to a moderate extent by audit firms in Vietnam. Big 4 audit firms use RBAA more popularly than Non-Big 4 audit firms. The causes of the difference are the disadvantages of adopting RBAA and client's characteristics such as relevant guideline, audit fees, auditors' knowledge and experience. Besides, the study investigated factors impacting on the RBAA adoption by distributing a questionnaire to 246 auditors of 126 audit firms in Vietnam. A set of statistical appropriate methods where used through SPSS software version 22.0. The results indicated that there were six factors influencing RBAA adoption including: Auditor's ability, Technological development, Audit fees, auditors' motivation, Audit time and client's risk. Of which, auditor's ability and technological development are factors that have the most significant and positive impacts on the adoption of RBAA. Additional implications were argued in the final section of this study.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2019

The auditor, an important instrument of corporate governance, ensures the transparency and accountability of the firm to the stakeholders. The objective of this paper is to explore the impact of audit characteristics on firm performance. In this study, external audit quality (BIG4), frequencies of audit committee meetings, and audit committee size are used as the proxies of audit characteristics and firm performance is measured through ROA, profit margin and EPS. A total of 503 firm years are considered as sample size from the listed manufacturing firms of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) during the period of 2013 to 2017 to find out the impact of audit characteristics on firm performance. In this study, multivariate regression analysis is conducted using the pooled OLS method. Moreover, time dummy and lag model of multivariate analysis are also analyzed as robust check. The multivariate regression results find that external audit quality (BIG4) and audit committee size are significantly positively associated with firm performance. This study also finds that there is a significant negative relationship between audit committee meeting and firm performance. This study recommends that the regulatory authority and audit committee should review the frequencies of audit committee meeting to make it more effective to ensure better firm performance.

• Korean small business review
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.123-146
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• 2020

This study, targeting KOSDAQ-listed companies, examined the relationship between variability of accruals and corporate characteristics. First, the analysis results show that executives of companies with high debt ratios are more likely to violate debt contracts, so there is a strong temptation to use discretionary accrual items. Second, for companies with large volatility in operating cash flows, Executives of these companies are strongly inclined to utilize accruals for the purpose of abuse of discretion. Third, the larger the company, the more sensitive it is to political costs, so it is less tempted to use the accruals item than a smaller company. Fourth, the corporate age is thought to be the maturity of the company, Executives of such companies have little room to use accruals to abuse their discretion. Fifth, in the case of profit dummy variables, the companies reporting losses have more temporary accrual items than those reporting profits, so this increases the uncertainty in their accounting information than the latter. Sixth, for those companies that are indicated as inappropriate as a result of audit, the more likely their executives are to use the accrual items, and the lower the quality of their accounting profits is. Lastly, Companies audited by 4 Big domestic accounting firms have less discretionary accrual fluctuations than companies audited by non-big 4 accounting firms. Thus, it was found that the accrual amount allows the discretion of corporate executives differently according to the characteristics of the company.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.9-17
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• 2020

This study examines the effect of financial reporting opacity and audit quality on stock price crash risk using listed firms in Japan. This study is the first research to examine the effect of financial reporting opacity on crash risk using a Japanese listed company. Furthermore, the effect of audit quality on crash risk is verified. High level auditors can mitigate crash risk by playing a role as a corporate governance device mechanism to reduce agency costs. We use a logistic regression and linear regression model to test whether financial reporting opacity and audit quality affect crash risk using listed firms in the Japanese stock exchange market during the fiscal years 2015 January through 2017 February. The results of this study suggest that the financial reporting opacity variable shows a positive relationship with CRASH, which states that a firm with more opaque financial reporting increases crash risk. The results suggest also that the firms audited by Big4 auditors experience less crash risk, implying that the audit quality in Japan can be one of the factors mitigating firm's crash risk. This study provides implications for financial reporting and audit quality to external stakeholders who wants to avoid losses.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.833-843
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• 2021

This research examines the impact of audit quality on the extent to which firm-specific information is integrated with a firm's share price - which is determined inversely using stock price synchronicity. The study sample consists of non-financial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange i.e., the Jordanian Stock Market, from 2014-2018. After examining 810 firm-year observations from Jordanian industrial companies listed on the ASE, during the study period, we find that the companies using one of the BIG4 audit firms for auditing have less synchronous and more informative stock prices, suggesting high-quality audit improved governance and reduce information asymmetry between firms' insiders and investors which enhances the capitalization of firm's specific information into the stock price, thus less synchronous and more informative stock return. The findings remain consistent over 2 separate measurements of stock price synchronicity (Market and Industry model and Market Model) and show robustness for fixed effect tests. Our multivariate regression results are also robust after controlling for a number of features at the firm level with potential associations with stock price synchronicity. These include the firm size, leverage, return on assets (ROA), and market to book value (MBV).

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.189-206
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• 2016

It was required to attach the documents on the details of external audit including the number of the participants in external audit, audited parts and audit times under the Article 7-2 on the audit report to the accounting audit report from 2014 in accordance with the amendment to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies. This study aim to calculate the audit fee based on the estimated cost of service calculation of the government contribution agencies by reflecting the implementation of the revised external audit. This study calculated the audit fee for the target company (a listed company assumed to have no internal control risks and relevant audit risks for unqualified opinion in the previous year, 100 billion won of total amount of asset, manufacturing company in the previous year and preliminary client request) by putting together four items of expenditure including employment costs, expenditure, general management expenses and profit in accordance with the calculation system of cost of service under the State Contract Act. Then, it used the data collected from the documents on the details of the revised external audit after requesting estimation on the target company with the estimated cost to Big-4 accounting firms to identify the participants and times of the accounting audit. The employment costs applied 150% of participation rate of the base price of employment costs for the academic research service cost in 2014, the expenditure used the average value of accounting firms of corporate business management analysis of the Bank of Korea (2013), the general management expenses applied 5% of the general management rate of service business under Article 7-1 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Contracts to which the State is a Party and the profit applied 10% of profit rate of service business under Article 7-2 of the Enforcement Rule of the Act on Contracts to which the State is a Party. Based on the calculation of the estimated costs by applying the above, the audit fee was estimated at 50,617,769won. Although the result is not the optimal audit fee, it may be used as a basic scale to compare the audit fees of companies without criteria. Also, such amendment to the Act on External Audit of Stock Companies may improve independence of auditors and transparency of the accounting system rather than previous announcing only the total audit times.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.143-154
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• 2016

In this research, The new CEO is expected to increase a reporting income through earning management for individual benefit such as a good reputation, high compensation and CEO' s contract extension in the early years of service, of which may influence value relevance of the accounting numbers. We investigate the change of value relevance from 2004 to 2014, compare firms with a change of CEO and firms with non-change of CEO and analysis the value relevance in the early years and in the late years of the new CEO. The results of research are as follows. First, value relevance of EPS of firms with change of CEO are decreased, whereas value relevance of BPS are increased in the regression of all sample. Second, value relevance of EPS are decreased, whereas value relevance of BPS are increased in the early years of the new CEO. This research makes a contribution to provide the first proof about influence of value relevance by the earning management in the early years of the new CEO in Korea.