The SSE Corporate Governance Sector was introduced near the end of 2007. Although we find corporate
governance to have an economically significant influence on audit fees, the degree of statistical significance is
relatively low (10% level, one-sided in the full-sample regression for 2008). There are two main explanations for this finding in addition to the effect of corporate growth. First, audit fees are characterized by inertia.
When audit firms initially negotiate their fees with clients prior to provision of the first audit service, they perform
a comprehensive evaluation of the company, determine the audit risk level, estimate the audit costs and
finally determine the charging criteria. Although regulations require audit firms to perform such routine work
as evaluating the audit risk level and determining the audit procedure and test scope every year, in practice
they may keep audit fees fixed for many years, thus demonstrating inertia. Of the 536 sample companies in
2008 that exhibited comparability19 to those in 2007, 283 companies (or 48.29%) saw no change in audit fees.
Second, it takes time for stakeholders to comprehend the signal conveyed by corporate governance. As noted
in the introduction to this paper, there are two competing explanations concerning the relationship between
corporate governance and audit fees, one informed by substitution theory and the other by signaling theory. If
listed companies are rational economic beings, then they will prefer substitution theory to signaling theory, as
its logic suggests that audit fees will decrease and firm value increase. Acceptance of signaling theory is more
complicated. Signaling high-level corporate governance through a high-quality audit requires a large expenditure
on auditing. Hence, a company’s acceptance of signaling theory depends on the tradeoff between expenditure
and the expected return.
The SSE Corporate Governance Sector was introduced near the end of 2007. Although we find corporate
governance to have an economically significant influence on audit fees, the degree of statistical significance is
relatively low (10% level, one-sided in the full-sample regression for 2008). There are two main explanations for this finding in addition to the effect of corporate growth. First, audit fees are characterized by inertia.
When audit firms initially negotiate their fees with clients prior to provision of the first audit service, they perform
a comprehensive evaluation of the company, determine the audit risk level, estimate the audit costs and
finally determine the charging criteria. Although regulations require audit firms to perform such routine work
as evaluating the audit risk level and determining the audit procedure and test scope every year, in practice
they may keep audit fees fixed for many years, thus demonstrating inertia. Of the 536 sample companies in
2008 that exhibited comparability19 to those in 2007, 283 companies (or 48.29%) saw no change in audit fees.
Second, it takes time for stakeholders to comprehend the signal conveyed by corporate governance. As noted
in the introduction to this paper, there are two competing explanations concerning the relationship between
corporate governance and audit fees, one informed by substitution theory and the other by signaling theory. If
listed companies are rational economic beings, then they will prefer substitution theory to signaling theory, as
its logic suggests that audit fees will decrease and firm value increase. Acceptance of signaling theory is more
complicated. Signaling high-level corporate governance through a high-quality audit requires a large expenditure
on auditing. Hence, a company’s acceptance of signaling theory depends on the tradeoff between expenditure
and the expected return.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..