The Influence of Labor Market Power in the Audit Profession
利用在线招聘数据，研究发现审计办公室在劳动力市场集中度高的地区拥有更大市场力量，表现为提高技能要求和增加工作量但工资不变或略低，其客户公司更少重述盈余且可操控应计利润更低，且该效应在员工跨职业和地域流动性低时更显著。
ABSTRACT This paper examines the influence of labor market power in the audit profession. Using a dataset of online job postings, we confirm that audit offices in more concentrated labor markets have greater labor market power and exercise it in the form of higher skill requirements and greater required effort from their auditors, at similar or slightly lower wages. We then show that client firms of audit offices in more concentrated labor markets are less likely to restate their earnings and have lower absolute discretionary accruals. These findings are only present when employees have lower mobility across professions and geographies, consistent with audit offices’ power in the local labor market explaining the results. Collectively, our findings highlight the importance of labor market power in understanding audit quality. Data Availability: Data are available from the sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: J31; J40; J42; M42; M55.