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Auditor Reputation, Auditor Independence, and the Stock†Market Impact of Andersen's Indictment on Its Client Firms

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  • Srinivasan Krishnamurthy
  • Jian Zhou
  • Nan Zhou

Abstract

In this paper, we study a broad sample of Arthur Andersen clients and investigate whether the decline in Andersen's reputation, due to its criminal indictment on March 14, 2002, adversely affected the stock market's perception of its audit quality. Because these reputa†tional concerns are more of an issue if an auditor's independence is impaired, we investigate the relationship between the abnormal market returns for Andersen clients around the time of the indictment announcement and several fee†based measures of auditor independence. Our results suggest that when news about Andersen's indictment was released, the market reacted negatively to Andersen clients. More importantly, we find that the indictment period abnormal return is significantly more negative when the market perceived the auditor's independence to be threatened. We also examine the abnormal returns when firms announced the dismissal of Andersen as an auditor. Consistent with the audit quality explanation, we document that when firms quickly dismissed Andersen, the announcement returns are significantly higher when firms switched to a Big 4 auditor than when they either switched to non†Big 4 auditors or did not announce the identity of the replacement auditor. Our empirical results support the notion that auditor reputation and independence have a material impact on perceived audit quality and the credibility of audited financial statements, and that the market prices this.

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  • Srinivasan Krishnamurthy & Jian Zhou & Nan Zhou, 2006. "Auditor Reputation, Auditor Independence, and the Stock†Market Impact of Andersen's Indictment on Its Client Firms," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 465-490, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:23:y:2006:i:2:p:465-490
    DOI: 10.1506/14P1-5QRR-1NAF-3CE1
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    2. Ross Taplin & Yafang Zhao & Alistair Brown, 2014. "Failure of auditors: The lack of compliance for business combinations in China," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(3), pages 310-331, September.
    3. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:9:y:2019:i:1:p:51-73 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Cohen, Jeffrey R. & Gaynor, Lisa Milici & Krishnamoorthy, Ganesh & Wright, Arnold M., 2022. "The effects of audit committee ties and industry expertise on investor judgments—Extending Source Credibility Theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Triki, Anis, 2019. "Examining the effect of deception detection decision aids on investors' perceptions of disclosure credibility and willingness to invest," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 1-15.
    6. Mohammad Nasih & Raden Roro Widya Ningtyas Soeprajitno & Iman Harymawan & John Nowland, 2023. "Top Company Officers and Auditor School-ties on Audit Fee: Evidence From Indonesia," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    7. Fang, Junxiong & Sami, Heibatollah & Zhou, Haiyan, 2023. "Do sanctioned audit firms strive to restore their damaged reputation under imperfect institutional settings?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    8. Kam-Wah Lai & Ferdinand A. Gul, 2021. "Do failed auditors receive lower audit fees from continuing engagements?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1159-1190, April.
    9. Ken Y. Chen & Jian Zhou, 2007. "Audit Committee, Board Characteristics, and Auditor Switch Decisions by Andersen's Clients," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 1085-1117, December.
    10. Christopher Bleibtreu & Ulrike Stefani, 2012. "The Interdependence Between Audit Market Structure and the Quality of Financial Reporting: The Case of Non-Audit Services," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2012-01, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    11. Abbott, Lawrence J. & Buslepp, William L., 2022. "An investigation of the market's pricing of auditor competence: Evidence from PwC's Oscars blunder," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    12. Bugeja, Martin, 2011. "Takeover premiums and the perception of auditor independence and reputation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 278-293.

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