Auditing
What Role Should Auditors Play in Corporate Compliance?
The Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board has proposed an amendment to its auditing standards that requires auditors to assume a larger role in corporate compliance. Roy Shapira and Luigi Zingales suggest a simple modification that addresses auditors’ concerns while improving the effectiveness of corporate compliance.
Mandatory Audits Do Not Provide the Protection Governments Think They Do
In new research, Matthias Breuer, Anthony Le, and Felix Vetter find that when companies are required by the government to seek a third-party financial audit, they turn to lower quality auditors. As a result, the accounting industry grows, but touted benefits for markets and corporate stakeholders appear elusive.
How Regulators and PwC Fooled Reporters—Again
Is the PCAOB really investigating PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for its role in the Mattel auditing mess? I may be wrong, but I seriously doubt it....
The Solution to the Auditing Industry’s Oligopoly Problem? More Competition
The UK’s reviews of the Big Four auditing firms have largely adopted an approach of more regulation and government oversight. This approach is not...
Corporate Auditing Is Broken. Here’s How to Fix It
The ostensive watchdogs of market disclosure have become poster boys for corporate chicanery, argues Karthik Ramanna of Oxford’s Blavatnik School.
Auditors are in the business of...
Do We Need to Mandate Firms’ Reporting And Auditing?
Back in the 1960s, George Stigler called into question whether states should require firms to publicly report their financials. A recent Stigler Center working...
