Date of Graduation

7-2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Business Administration (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Accounting

Advisor/Mentor

Cory Cassell

Committee Member

Stephen Rowe

Second Committee Member

Jonathan Shipman

Keywords

Audit failures, Audit partners, Auditor response

Abstract

I investigate whether audit firms reallocate partner resources following restatement announcements and, consequently, whether a supply-side response is beneficial in mitigating the previously documented implications of realized audit failures. I find a positive association between prior period restatement announcements and the year-over-year percentage change in the number of engagement partners allocated to a local audit office. Further analysis suggests that a supply-side response is beneficial in mitigating the persistence of low-quality audits and lost market share. However, I also find some evidence suggesting that the reallocation of partner resources can be detrimental to audit quality at offices from which partners are reallocated, suggesting that firms may be responding to problems at one office at the detriment of another. Taken together, my findings speak to the importance of partner resource allocation and suggest one observable and measurable supply-side response that can help firms mitigate the negative consequences associated with audit failures.

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