IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v56y2010i6p924-937.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Auditor's Slippery Slope: An Analysis of Reputational Incentives

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos Corona

    (McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712)

  • Ramandeep S. Randhawa

    (Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089)

Abstract

Reputational concerns have commonly been perceived to have a positive effect on auditing firms' execution of their monitoring and attesting functions. This paper demonstrates that this need not always be the case by studying a two-period game of repeated interaction between a manager and an auditor under the assessment of the market for audit services. Regarding reputation as the sole motivator for the auditor, we illustrate how reputational concerns induce an auditing firm to misreport. We investigate the reasons and circumstances under which such misreporting takes place. In particular, a strategic manager can induce the audit firm down a slippery slope, wherein the managerial fraud increases as the tenure of the audit firm progresses, whereas the auditor's fraud reporting probability decreases.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Corona & Ramandeep S. Randhawa, 2010. "The Auditor's Slippery Slope: An Analysis of Reputational Incentives," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(6), pages 924-937, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:6:p:924-937
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1100.1166
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1100.1166
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.1100.1166?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simunic, Da, 1980. "The Pricing Of Audit Services - Theory And Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 161-190.
    2. Narayanan, Vg, 1994. "An Analysis Of Auditor Liability Rules," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32, pages 39-59.
    3. Anne Beyer & Sri S. Sridhar, 2006. "Effects of Multiple Clients on the Reliability of Audit Reports," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 29-51, March.
    4. Baiman, S & Evans, Jh & Nagarajan, Nj, 1991. "Collusion In Auditing," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 1-18.
    5. Kofman, Fred & Lawarree, Jacques, 1993. "Collusion in Hierarchical Agency," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(3), pages 629-656, May.
    6. Stanley Baiman & Paul E. Fischer & Madhav V. Rajan, 2000. "Information, Contracting, and Quality Costs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(6), pages 776-789, June.
    7. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    8. Dye, Ra & Balachandran, Bv & Magee, Rp, 1990. "Contingent Fees For Audit Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 239-266.
    9. Schwartz, Rachel, 1998. "Auditors' Liability, Vague Due Care, and Auditing Standards," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 183-207, September.
    10. Bharat Sarath, 1991. "Uncertain Litigation and Liability Insurance," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(2), pages 218-231, Summer.
    11. Baiman, S & Evans, Jh & Noel, J, 1987. "Optimal-Contracts With A Utility-Maximizing Auditor," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 217-244.
    12. Kanodia, C & Bushman, R & Dickhaut, J, 1989. "Escalation Errors And The Sunk Cost Effect - An Explanation Based On Reputation And Information Asymmetries," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 59-77.
    13. Stanley, Jonathan D. & Todd DeZoort, F., 2007. "Audit firm tenure and financial restatements: An analysis of industry specialization and fee effects," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 131-159.
    14. Coffee, John C., 2004. "Gatekeeper Failure and Reform: The Challenge of Fashioning Relevant Reforms," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt13d8s2qs, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    15. Dye, Ronald A, 1993. "Auditing Standards, Legal Liability, and Auditor Wealth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 887-914, October.
    16. Titman, Sheridan & Trueman, Brett, 1986. "Information quality and the valuation of new issues," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 159-172, June.
    17. Kashi R. Balachandran & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2005. "Quality Implications of Warranties in a Supply Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(8), pages 1266-1277, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Somdutta Basu & Suraj Shekhar, 2021. "What's In A Name? Reputation and Monitoring in the Audit Market," Working Papers 60, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    2. Lamar Pierce & Michael W. Toffel, 2013. "The Role of Organizational Scope and Governance in Strengthening Private Monitoring," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1558-1584, October.
    3. Gipper, Brandon & Hail, Luzi & Leuz, Christian, 2021. "Determinants and career consequences of early audit partner rotations," CFS Working Paper Series 676, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    4. Galeotti, Marcello & Rabitti, Giovanni & Vannucci, Emanuele, 2020. "An evolutionary approach to fraud management," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(3), pages 1167-1177.
    5. Iván Marinovic & Martin Szydlowski, 2022. "Monitoring with career concerns," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(2), pages 404-428, June.
    6. Guiral, Andres & Rodgers, Waymond & Ruiz, Emiliano & Gonzalo-Angulo, Jose A., 2015. "Can expertise mitigate auditors’ unintentional biases?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 105-117.
    7. Lamar Pierce & Michael W. Toffel, 2010. "The Role of Organizational Scope and Governance in Strengthening Private Monitoring," Harvard Business School Working Papers 11-004, Harvard Business School, revised Feb 2012.
    8. Sarah C. Rice & David P. Weber, 2012. "How Effective Is Internal Control Reporting under SOX 404? Determinants of the (Non‐)Disclosure of Existing Material Weaknesses," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 811-843, June.
    9. Aven, Brandy & Morse, Lily & Iorio, Alessandro, 2021. "The valley of trust: The effect of relational strength on monitoring quality," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 179-193.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John, Kose & John, Teresa A., 2006. "Managerial incentives, derivatives and stability," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 71-94, April.
    2. Xianjie He & Jeffrey Pittman & Oliver Rui, 2016. "Reputational Implications for Partners After a Major Audit Failure: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(4), pages 703-722, November.
    3. Ball, Fiona & Tyler, Jonathan & Wells, Peter, 2015. "Is audit quality impacted by auditor relationships?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 166-181.
    4. Erich Pummerer & Marcel Steller & Julia Baldauf, 2013. "Prüfungsqualität, Prüferhaftung und Risikoaversion — Eine analytische Betrachtung der Bedeutung der Risikoaversion für die Prüfungsqualität," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 32-59, February.
    5. Garcia-Blandon, Josep & Argiles, Josep Ma, 2015. "Audit firm tenure and independence: A comprehensive investigation of audit qualifications in Spain," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 82-93.
    6. Seyed Mahmoud Hosseinniakani & Helena Inacio & Rui Mota, 2014. "A Review on Audit Quality Factors," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 4(2), pages 243-254, April.
    7. Numata, Shingo & Takeda, Fumiko, 2010. "Stock market reactions to audit failure in Japan: The case of Kanebo and ChuoAoyama," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 175-199, June.
    8. Ku He & Xiaofei Pan & Gary Tian, 2017. "Legal Liability, Government Intervention, and Auditor Behavior: Evidence from Structural Reform of Audit Firms in China," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 61-95, January.
    9. Amahalu Nestor Ndubuisi & Beatrice O. Ezechukwu, 2017. "Determinants of Audit Quality: Evidence from Deposit Money Banks Listed on Nigeria Stock Exchange," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(2), pages 117-130, April.
    10. Mingcherng Deng & Tong Lu & Dan A. Simunic & Minlei Ye, 2014. "Do Joint Audits Improve or Impair Audit Quality?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1029-1060, December.
    11. Datta, Sudip & Gruskin, Mark & Iskandar-Datta, Mai, 2024. "Auditor certification and long-run performance of IPO stocks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Dennis H. Caplan & Michael Kirschenheiter, 2000. "Outsourcing and Audit Risk for Internal Audit Services," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 387-428, September.
    13. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    14. Franzoni, Luigi Alberto, 1998. "Independent auditors as fiscal gatekeepers1," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 365-384, December.
    15. Smith, Deborah Drummond & Gleason, Kimberly C. & Kannan, Yezen H., 2021. "Auditor liability and excess cash holdings: Evidence from audit fees of foreign incorporated firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Barnes, Paul, 2013. "The effects on financial statements of the litigation cost rule in a civil action for negligence against the auditor," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 170-182.
    17. Mahdi Salehi & Ali Mansoury, 2009. "Firm Size, Audit Regulation and Fraud Detection: Empirical Evidence from Iran," Management, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 4(1), pages 5-19.
    18. Ray Ball, 2009. "Market and Political/Regulatory Perspectives on the Recent Accounting Scandals," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 277-323, May.
    19. Arrunada, Benito & Paz-Ares, Candido, 1997. "Mandatory rotation of company auditors: A critical examination," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 31-61, March.
    20. Marleen Willekens & Dan Simunic, 2007. "Precision in auditing standards: effects on auditor and director liability and the supply and demand for audit services," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 217-232.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:56:y:2010:i:6:p:924-937. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.