Management may pressure the auditor against issuing a going-concern report. Prior
research associates modified reports with stock price declines (Jones 1996), difficulty in raising debt capital (Firth 1980), and a perception by management that a modified report may precipitate the company's failure (i.e., the self-fulfilling-prophecy effect) (Mutchler 1984). We therefore expect management to resist a modified report (Mutchler 1984).