Auditor Litigation Risk and the Number of Institutional Investors
研究发现审计师对客户公司机构投资者数量增加带来的诉讼风险敏感，表现为审计费用更高，有助于理解审计师如何应对诉讼风险因素。
SUMMARY We investigate whether auditors are sensitive to litigation risk related specifically to having greater numbers of institutional investors that hold the common stock of a given client. Our findings suggest that audit fees are higher when the number of institutional investors holding stock in the company is greater. Additional tests corroborate our inference that the association between audit fees and the number of institutional investors is related to litigation risk. The importance of improving our understanding of auditors' sensitivity to factors that increase litigation exposure is highlighted by the number and magnitude of lawsuits filed against auditors relating to the audits of public clients.