We investigate the effect of fair value reporting and its attributes on audit fees,
using the real estate industry due to its unique operating and reporting characteristics. We
find that firms reporting property assets at fair value exhibit audit fees that are economically
and statistically lower than those of firms employing amortized cost – a difference that
appears driven (in part) by impairment tests that occur only under amortized cost. These
results are supported in both a primary sample of European real estate firms around
mandatory IFRS adoption (under which reporting of fair values becomes compulsory), as
well as a secondary sample contrasting UK and US real estate firms. Focusing on European
real estate firms after IFRS adoption, we further find that audit fees are decreasing in the
exposure to fair value, and increasing both in the complexity of the fair value estimation and
for recognition (versus only disclosure) of fair values. Further analyses employing UK
investment trusts corroborate the findings relating to fair value exposure and complexity.
The results complement prior research documenting that fair values can reduce information
asymmetries by suggesting they can also lead to lower contracting costs. However, any
reductions in audit fees will vary with salient characteristics of the fair value reporting,
including the difficulty to measure and the treatment within the financial statements.
We investigate the effect of fair value reporting and its attributes on audit fees,using the real estate industry due to its unique operating and reporting characteristics. We find that firms reporting property assets at fair value exhibit audit fees that are economically and statistically lower than those of firms employing amortized cost – a difference that appears driven (in part) by impairment tests that occur only under amortized cost. These results are supported in both a primary sample of European real estate firms around mandatory IFRS adoption (under which reporting of fair values becomes compulsory), as well as a secondary sample contrasting UK and US real estate firms. Focusing on European real estate firms after IFRS adoption, we further find that audit fees are decreasing in the exposure to fair value, and increasing both in the complexity of the fair value estimation and for recognition (versus only disclosure) of fair values. Further analyses employing UK investment trusts corroborate the findings relating to fair value exposure and complexity. The results complement prior research documenting that fair values can reduce information asymmetries by suggesting they can also lead to lower contracting costs. However, any reductions in audit fees will vary with salient characteristics of the fair value reporting, including the difficulty to measure and the treatment within the financial statements.
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