Is Auditors’ Migration Status Associated with their Performance?
研究中国审计师从经济欠发达地区迁往发达地区（向上迁移）或反向迁移（向下迁移）是否影响审计质量，发现向上迁移的审计师审计质量更高，向下迁移的则更低。
We investigate whether audit quality is associated with auditors’ migration status at the time of their entry to the job market after obtaining their academic degrees. Moving from less (more) to more (less) economically developed regions is termed as upward (downward) migration. Using a large sample of auditors in China, we find that upwards (downwards) migrating auditors tend to deliver higher quality (lower quality) audits than nonmigrating auditors. The association between migration status and audit quality varies predictably with auditor and client characteristics. Upwards migrating auditors are more successful in their career development than local auditors, and investors and clients appear to understand the varying audit quality provided by migrating auditors. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that employers underestimate (overestimate) the ability of upwards (downwards) migrating graduates in the recruitment process.