Jong , seo Choi and Hyoung , joo Lim and Mal, Dafydd
(2017)
Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation And Big4 Effect
On Audit Quality: Evidence From South Korea.
Asian Academy of Management Journal of Accounting and Finance, 13 (1).
pp. 1-40.
ISSN 1823-4992
Abstract
In South Korea, due to concurrent fnancial scandals, Korean legislators implemented
two major audit policies in the 2000s; the mandatory audit “partner” rotation policy
in 2000 and the mandatory audit “frm” rotation policy in 2006. The mandatory audit
“frm” rotation policy was introduced as a mean to improve audit quality based on
the auditor entrenchment hypothesis. In this paper, we compare the audit quality of
frms subjected to mandatory audit “frm” rotation with two benchmark groups, a
sample that adopted the policy voluntarily; the second group consists of the mandatory
“frm” rotation sample in years prior, a period frms were subject to mandatory audit
“partner” rotation. Using accrual-based measures as proxies for audit quality, we fnd
evidence that audit quality of the mandatory rotation frm sample is lower compared to
frms that voluntarily adopted the policy. Furthermore, we fnd evidence that audit quality
of the mandatory rotation frm sample is lower compared to the mandatory audit partner
frm sample. Additionally, we also fnd evidence that the mandatory audit frms rotation
sample whose auditors were rotated from Non-Big4 to Big4 are generally associated with
lower levels of abnormal accruals consistent with the argument that the audit quality of
Big4 accounting frms is superior to Non-Big4 frms. Finally, longer audit tenure and
switches to Big4 audit frms generally have a positive effect upon audit quality. These
fndings suggest that extended audit tenure improves audit quality due to accounting frm’s
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