The Evolution of Performance Measurement, Career Development, and Compensation for Audit Partners in the Context of Public Scrutiny
研究了2007至2017年间，荷兰八大审计事务所如何调整审计合伙人的绩效评价、职业发展和薪酬政策以应对公众对审计质量的关注，发现政策变化确实影响了实际做法，如审计质量对职业发展更重要，利润分享与质量和长期绩效挂钩更紧密。
ABSTRACT We examine how audit firms changed their policies regarding audit partner performance measurement, career development, and compensation during a period of heightened public scrutiny of audit quality (2007 to 2017). We theorize how implementing policy changes requires a delicate transition in the organizational design and internal processes of the firms and may not effectively translate into their day-to-day practices. Our access to proprietary performance management policies and individual partner performance and compensation data from the eight largest Dutch audit firms allows us to gain an in-depth understanding of the evolution of performance management for audit partners. We find that most of the policy changes have real consequences. For example, audit quality becomes more consequential to career development, whereas profit sharing becomes better linked to quality and long-term performance. We conclude that audit firms appear effectively responsive to public scrutiny, increasingly aligning partner incentives with societal expectations of audit quality.