Incumbent Auditor Independence and Predecessor Auditor Tenure
研究发现前任审计师任期越长，现任审计师变更的可能性越低，且在财务困境公司中，前任任期与现任出具持续经营意见正相关、与第二类持续经营错误负相关，表明前任任期传递了客户对审计关系的承诺，有助于增强现任独立性。
Prior studies examine incumbent auditor tenure and independence. In this article, we examine predecessor auditor tenure and incumbent auditor independence. We find a negative association between predecessor auditor tenure and the likelihood of incumbent auditor change and a positive association between long predecessor auditor tenure and long incumbent auditor tenure. We also find a positive (negative) association between predecessor auditor tenure and incumbent auditor going concern opinions (type II going concern errors) among financially distressed firms. Our findings indicate that predecessor auditor tenure signals client commitment to the auditor in the audit process and that this commitment facilitates greater incumbent auditor independence among financially distressed firms. Further analysis indicates that predecessor auditor tenure enhances incumbent auditor independence early in the auditor–client relationship. Our findings are important as regulators, investors, and other stakeholders attempt to better understand auditor independence. Our findings also highlight that mandatory auditor rotation may limit a client’s ability to signal its commitments to the auditor–client relationship.