We examine post-restatement audit fees and executive turnover for a sample
of firms that restated their 2003 financial statements. We investigate and find evidence
that audit fees are higher for restatement firms compared with a matched-pair
control group of non-restatement firms. We propose that the higher audit fees reflect
a cost of both an increase in perceived audit risk and a loss of organizational legitimacy.
Prior literature suggests that changing top management is a response to a legitimacy
crisis; thus we expect to find that executive turnover moderates the positive relationship
between restatement and audit fees. Our results indicate that a change in CFO
for a restatement firm moderates the increased audit fee, but a change in CEO does
not.