공기업의 외부감사인 규모 및 감사인 순환제도가 감사품질에 미치는 영향

초록

[Purpose] This study analyzes the impact of auditor size on audit quality in SOEs and the variation in audit quality due to auditor rotation in SOEs. Due to the different characteristics and institutional environments of SOEs and non－SOEs, the results of the empirical analysis may be different. Therefore, this study aims to extend the existing studies on audit quality to SOEs and provide meaningful implications for establishing accounting oversight policies in SOEs. [Methodology] This study analyzes financial information from 2011 to 2023 for a sample of 32 SOEs in the Republic of Korea designated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in January 2023. As proxies for audit quality, we use absolute value of discretionary accruals. [Findings] We analyze the audit quality of SOEs by auditor size and find that auditor size does not have a significant impact on audit quality. When we analyze the fluctuation of audit quality over the audit rotation period, we find that the Big4 have consistent audit quality from the first audit year to the year before the audit rotation. On the other hand, for the non－Big4, audit quality is significantly higher in the year before audit rotation and significantly lower in the year of continuation. [Implications] We find that auditor size does not have a significant impact on audit quality in SOEs, suggesting that a fair selection process is more important than auditor size in selecting external auditors. Moreover, since audit quality may be lower in the continuous audit year than in other periods, it is necessary to focus the capabilities of external supervisors and internal audit organizations on the continuous audit period, and it is necessary for non－Big4 to establish institutional mechanisms to ensure consistent audit quality throughout the audit period. In addition, the high audit quality in the year before the auditor change and the low audit quality in the year of continuous audit suggest that the auditor rotation system, which requires periodic change of auditors, is effective in improving the audit quality of SOEs.

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