Did Houston Clients of Arthur Andersen Recognize Publicly Available Bad News in a Timely Fashion?*
研究安达信休斯顿客户的盈余是否及时报告坏消息，发现相比其他六大审计客户，安达信客户的盈余及时性更差，且经营应计项目在加速确认坏消息方面效果更弱，表明其存在激进会计行为。
Abstract Despite the allegations of audit failure and the enormous publicity surrounding Arthur Andersen's indictment, there is no systematic empirical evidence on characteristics of accounting information of clients of Arthur Andersen vis‐à‐vis other Big 6 auditors. I examine whether earnings of Andersen's Houston‐based clients are timely in reporting bad news about future cash flows. I find that relative to a control group consisting of Houston‐based clients audited by other Big 6 auditors, earnings of Andersen clients are less timely in reporting bad news. Further, it appears that operating accruals of Andersen clients are less effective in accelerating the timely recognition of bad news than operating accruals of non‐Andersen clients. The findings suggest that the clients of Andersen's Houston office engaged in aggressive accounting practices, including delayed recognition of publicly available bad news.