The Role of Equalized Parental Leave in Enhancing Audit Quality
研究发现大型会计事务所采用平等化育儿假政策后审计质量提升，员工工作满意度是其中机制，对人才管理和审计实践有参考价值。
SYNOPSIS In the “war for talent,” large accounting firms have invested considerable resources into employee talent, yet we know little about how specific talent policy features affect audit outcomes. Economic theory predicts policies that alter firm norms can be more impactful to firm performance. Therefore, I investigate whether the adoption of one initiative with a salient feature that normalizes policy use, equalized parental leave, is associated with higher audit quality. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find that audit quality improves after equalized leave adoption and that this is moderated by office-level employee demographics that reflect work-family conflict. I also use hand-collected employee job reviews to show that improved job satisfaction is one mechanism that drives these findings. This study informs academic literature and practitioners on the importance of one aspect of firm culture, builds on broader literature of economic impacts of paid family leave, and highlights one effective talent management strategy. Data Availability: Data are available from public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: M41; M42; J32.