Does the Increase in Audit Fees due to the Periodic Auditor Designation by the Regulatory Authority Improve Audit Quality?
Asian Tax Journal Vol. 23 No. 6 (2022), pp. 227-251
Abstract
I examine the effect of the increase in audit fees due to the introduction of the periodic auditor designation system on audit quality, using 2019 and 2020 financial statements data and audit fee data of listed companies with total assets of 182.6 billion won or more at the end of 2019. The first hypothesis is about the effect of the periodic auditor designation system on audit quality. Under the periodic auditor designation system, companies are not free to appoint auditors, so it is unlikely that audit fees will be discounted due to competition to attract new clients. If the auditor receives an appropriate compensation for the input time without a discount, he/she will spend more time understanding the new client, thereby preventing the deterioration of the audit quality during the initial audit. However, since the companies subject to the periodic designation system in 2020 are large listed companies, it can be difficult for auditors to fully understand the complex business structure of new clients, even if they input the most of their available time during the busy season. Therefore, it is necessary to empirically examine the effect of the introduction of the periodic auditor designation system on the audit quality. In this study, we measure audit quality by the absolute value of discretionary accruals. The second hypothesis directly investigates the effect of increased audit fees on audit quality after the periodic auditor designation system. When an auditor is assigned, it is common for audit fees to increase because there is no competition to attract new clients. Prior studies focused on whether the initial audit fee discount under the free audit engagement system affects audit quality. There has never been a study directly examining whether an increase in audit fee due to the designation of an auditor leads to the improvement of audit quality. If such an increase in audit fee simply compensates for the audit cost incurred by the auditor to understand new clients and does not contribute to the improvement of audit quality, the social cost of the periodic auditor designation system can be seen as greater than the benefit. I examine whether there is a difference between the periodic auditor designation company and the matched company in the effect of the audit fee increase on the audit quality. Main empirical results are as follows. I find that the periodic auditor designation system do not have a significant effect on the audit quality. In addition, after the introduction of the periodic auditor designation system, audit fees were significantly increased not only for companies that subject to the periodic auditor designation system but also for other companies, but the audit fee increase rate does not have a significant effect on the audit quality. These results show that although the periodic auditor designation system had the effect of realizing the audit fee, which was insufficient compared to the audit efforts, this did not lead to the improvement of the audit quality
Keywords
- audit quality
- audit fees
- periodic auditor designation
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