Auditor selection and corporate social responsibility
研究发现，企业社会责任评级高的公司更倾向于聘请行业专家审计师，但争议行业中在产品质量和环境方面表现好的公司却选择非专业审计师，可能为掩盖其产品的“原罪”性质。
Abstract This study examines the association between the selection of an industry‐specialist auditor and corporate social responsibility (CSR). We find that firms with higher CSR ratings are more likely to hire industry‐specialist auditors (national‐level industry leaders, city‐level industry leaders or joint city‐national industry leaders). Moreover, firms with better CSR performance related to product quality and the environment in controversial industries are found to select non‐specialized auditors. The results suggest that such firms may overinvest in CSR activities associated with the environment and product issues to disguise the sin nature of their manufactured goods, and simultaneously engage low quality auditors perhaps to avoid full disclosure of potential environmental and legal liabilities. Overall, we conclude that CSR is associated with the non‐controversial firms ensuring high quality financial reporting in response to societal expectations, and thus CSR firms in such industries have strong incentives to engage industry‐specialist auditors.