分类号：F239.0单位代码：10433
密级：学号：19418020259
山东理工大学
硕士学位论文
会计师事务所声誉对审计质量的影响研究
—基于事务所排名的经验证据
Research on the Impact of Accounting Firm Reputation on
Audit Quality--Based on Empirical Evidence of Accounting
Firm Ranking
研究 生：李美芳
指 导教师：乔贵涛副教授
申 请 学 位 门 类 级 别：管理学硕士
学 科 专 业 名 称： 工商管理
研 究方向： 现代财务与会计
论 文 完 成 日 期： 2022 年 6 月 7 日独 创 性 声 明
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写过的研究成果，也不包含为获得山东理工大学或其它教育机构的学位或证书而使用过
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导师签名： 时间：年月日山东理工大学硕士学位论文摘要
摘要
注册会计师审计在资本市场高质量发展中具有核心作用，而审计质量又是影响其功
能发挥效果的关键因素。学术界认为会计师事务所提供高质量审计服务的原因主要有两
种，即声誉假说和诉讼风险假说。审计声誉假说认为，声誉机制通过传递事务所声誉信
息不断规范事务所行为是事务所自发行为。会计师事务所拥有高声誉表明其市场认可度
更高，可以获得更多的潜在客户，这将进一步督促事务所自发地规范审计程序，提高审
计投入和审计人员分配的科学性，从而出具高质量审计报告。然而，高声誉事务所在享
受更高市场认可度的同时，也会面临更高的诉讼风险。有别于使事务所积极提升审计质
量的声誉机制，诉讼风险引起的审计质量提高则是由于行政监管的强制性作用。那么，
到底是声誉机制还是诉讼风险机制促使高声誉会计师事务所提高审计质量呢？目前学术
界暂未给出明确答案。
基于上述问题，本文选取中国注册会计师协会发布的百强会计师事务所排名作为会
计师事务所声誉的衡量指标，以对声誉机制进行有效检验。一方面我国会计师事务所目
前面临的诉讼风险相对西方国家普遍偏低，这为我们验证声誉机制提供了一个相对清洁
的制度环境；另一方面客户及上市公司对事务所排名声誉变化的感知力更强，但几乎不
会为事务所带来额外的诉讼风险和法律责任，可以有效排除诉讼风险的影响。本文以
2010～2020 年沪深A 股上市公司作为研究对象，发现：会计师事务所排名声誉的提升对
审计质量提升具有明显的促进作用；进行异质性检验，发现非国有企业基于融资压力和
市场化的竞争机制等原因，操纵盈余的动机相对更强，导致会计师事务所排名声誉对审
计质量的积极作用在非国有企业中更显著；事务所为重要性更高的客户提供审计服务时，
会得到更高的社会关注度和媒体曝光率，更可能持续提供高质量审计服务，会计师事务
所排名声誉对审计质量的促进作用会被削弱；法制环境越完善时，事务所违规对排名声
誉的破坏性越强，事务所将进行更加彻底的审计，事务所排名声誉对审计质量的正向作
用在完善法律制度的加持下得以充分发挥。机制检验表明，会计师事务所排名声誉提高
时，其为了补偿前期为建立高排名声誉和后期为维护声誉而投入的审计成本会向客户收
取更高的审计费用，而客户出于获得更高品质保证、向市场传递企业的良好经营讯息的
目的愿意支付更高的费用，从而使事务所得到更高的审计收费，并将其投入到更高质量
的审计服务中去，即审计收费在事务所声誉对审计质量的作用过程中起到中介作用。
关键词：声誉机制；事务所声誉；审计质量；诉讼风险
I山东理工大学硕士学位论文 Abstract
Abstract
CPA audit plays a core role in the high-quality development of capital market, and audit
quality is the key factor affecting the effect of its function. There are two main reasons for
accounting firms to provide high quality audit services, namely reputation hypothesis and
litigation risk hypothesis.The audit reputation hypothesis holds that the reputation mechanism
regulates the firm;s behavior through the transmission of the firm;s reputation information,
which is the firm;s spontaneous behavior. Accounting firms have high reputation suggests that
its credibility is higher, can get more potential customers, which will further push firms to
standardize audit procedures, make the allocation of auditors and audit resources more
scientific, to produce high quality audit reports. However, while firms with high reputation
enjoy higher market recognition, they will also face higher litigation risk. Different from the
reputation mechanism that makes firms actively improve audit quality, the improvement of
audit quality caused by litigation risk is due to the mandatory role of administrative supervision.
Then, is it reputation mechanism or litigation risk mechanism that promotes high reputation
accounting firms to improve audit quality? At present, academia has not given a clear answer.
Based on the above problems, this article selects accounting firm comprehensive
evaluation of the top 100 information issued by Chinese Institute of Certified Public
Accountants to measure accounting firm reputation, to test the reputation mechanism. On the
one hand, the litigation risk of Chinese accounting firms is relatively low compared with that of
western countries, which provides a relatively clean institutional environment for us to verify
reputation mechanism; On the other hand, clients and listed companies have a stronger sense of
the change of the firm;s ranking reputation, but almost no additional litigation risk and legal
liability will be brought to the firm, which can effectively eliminate the impact of litigation risk.
This paper takes Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2020 as the
research object, and finds that: The findings are as follows: the improvement of the ranking
reputation of accounting firms has an obvious promoting effect on the improvement of audit
quality. Through heterogeneity test, it is found that non-state-owned enterprises have stronger
motivation to manipulate earnings due to financing pressure and market-oriented competition
mechanism, which leads to more significant positive effect of accounting firm ranking
reputation on audit quality in non-state-owned enterprises. When accounting firms provide
audit services to more important clients, they will get more social attention and media exposure,
and are more likely to provide high-quality audit continuously, which will weaken the
II山东理工大学硕士学位论文 Abstract
promotion effect of accounting firm ranking reputation on audit quality. The more perfect the
legal environment is, the more destructive the firm;s violation will be to its reputation, and the
firm will conduct a more thorough audit, so, the positive effect of accounting firm ranking
reputation on audit quality can be fully played under the support of the perfect legal system.
The mechanism test shows that when the ranking reputation of accounting firm is improved, it
will charge higher audit fees to compensate the audit cost, which is used to establish high
ranking reputation in the early stage and to maintain reputation in the later stage. And
customers in order to are willing to pay higher fees to obtain higher quality assurance and
convey good business information to the market. So the accounting firm can get higher audit
fees, and turn it into a higher quality audit. That is, audit fees play an intermediary role in the
effect of firm reputation on audit quality.
Keywords: Reputation Mechanism; Reputation of Accounting Firm; Audit Quality; The
Risk of Litigation
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