Abstract

Outsourcing the internal aud it function (IAF) is a worldwide practice attractive to companies, practitioners and regulators because it is believed that providers of this function are objective and competent and can provide high-quality audit. This study explores the potential influence of company and auditor characteristics on selecting outsourced IAF providers with industry expertise. Using 334 observations for non-financial companies that outsourced this function to an external provider over the period 2010–2017, logistic regression suggests that company characteristics such as size, issue of new equity, age, and total accruals significantly determine the selection of industry-expertise outsourced IAF (IEOIAF) providers. We report similar findings when considering alternative approaches for measuring industry expertise, using a matching sample method, and controlling for the potential effect of endogeneity. In additional analysis, we explore these determinants, classifying the IEOIAF providers into big4 or second-tier audit firms; we find that size, leverage, quick ratio, concentrated ownership, loss, assets turnover, age, total accruals, external auditor type, and audit fees are the major determinants in the choice of an IEOIAF provider. Our study is of interest to a variety of users and provides the first empirical evidence for the determinants of outsourced IAF providers with industry expertise.

摘要

将内部审计 IT 职能 (IAF) 外包是一项对公司、从业人员和监管机构有吸引力的全球性做法，因为人们认为该职能的提供者是客观和有能力的，可以提供高质量的审计。本研究探讨了公司和审计师特征对选择具有行业专业知识的外包 IAF 供应商的潜在影响。对 2010 年至 2017 年期间将此功能外包给外部供应商的非金融公司使用 334 项观察结果，逻辑回归表明，公司特征（如规模、新股发行、年龄和应计费用总额）显着决定了行业的选择——专业知识外包 IAF (IEOIAF) 提供商。在考虑衡量行业专业知识的替代方法时，我们报告了类似的发现，使用匹配样本方法，并控制内生性的潜在影响。在额外的分析中，我们探索了这些决定因素，将 IEOIAF 提供商分为四大或二线审计公司；我们发现规模、杠杆、速动比率、集中所有权、损失、资产周转率、年龄、应计费用总额、外部审计师类型和审计费用是选择 IEOIAF 提供商的主要决定因素。我们的研究引起了各种用户的兴趣，并为具有行业专业知识的外包 IAF 供应商的决定因素提供了第一个经验证据。资产周转率、年龄、应计费用总额、外部审计师类型和审计费用是选择 IEOIAF 提供商的主要决定因素。我们的研究引起了各种用户的兴趣，并为具有行业专业知识的外包 IAF 供应商的决定因素提供了第一个经验证据。资产周转率、年龄、应计费用总额、外部审计师类型和审计费用是选择 IEOIAF 提供商的主要决定因素。我们的研究引起了各种用户的兴趣，并为具有行业专业知识的外包 IAF 供应商的决定因素提供了第一个经验证据。