(5) Most of the empirical papers test a prediction about either a determinant of quality or a consequence of quality, but not both. However, the source of earnings quality is likely to affect its consequences. For example, external auditors and internal controls may both affect abnormal accruals, and abnormal accruals may affect the cost of capital, but an open question is whether the impact of accruals on the cost of capital is the same when external auditors rather than internal controls mitigate the errors. Bowen et al. (2008), Xie (2001), and Liu and Thomas (2000) provide good examples of this type of research. Their ‘‘complete path’’ approach offers insights that are not available from studies that examine only one side (i.e., determinant or consequence) of earnings quality.