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Public Audit Oversight and Reporting Credibility: Evidence from the PCAOB Inspection Regime

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  • Brandon Gipper
  • Christian Leuz
  • Mark Maffett

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of public audit oversight on financial reporting credibility. We analyze changes in market responses to earnings news after public audit oversight is introduced, exploiting that the regime onset depends on fiscal year-ends, auditors, and the rollout of auditor inspections. We find that investors respond more strongly to earnings news following public audit oversight. Corroborating these findings, we find an increase in volume responses to 10-K filings after the new regime. Our results show that public audit oversight can enhance reporting credibility and that this credibility is priced in capital markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Brandon Gipper & Christian Leuz & Mark Maffett, 2015. "Public Audit Oversight and Reporting Credibility: Evidence from the PCAOB Inspection Regime," NBER Working Papers 21530, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21530
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    Cited by:

    1. Ivan Marinovic & Martin Szydlowski, 2019. "Monitor Reputation and Transparency," 2019 Meeting Papers 125, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Ferri, Fabrizio & Zheng, Ronghuo & Zou, Yuan, 2018. "Uncertainty about managers’ reporting objectives and investors’ response to earnings reports: Evidence from the 2006 executive compensation disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 339-365.
    3. Justin Logie & Warren Maroun, 2021. "Evaluating Audit Quality Using the Results of Inspection Processes Performed by an Independent Regulator," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(2), pages 128-149, June.
    4. repec:mth:ijafr8:v:8:y:2018:i:4:p:384-398 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mark L. Defond & Clive S. Lennox, 2017. "Do PCAOB Inspections Improve the Quality of Internal Control Audits?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 591-627, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M42 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Auditing
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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