Audit Firm Size and Market Price Per Share of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

Authors

  • Augustine O. Okolie Department of Accounting, Faculty of Management Sciences, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/ijbsr.v4i5.490

Keywords:

Audit Firm Size, Earnings Quality, Earnings management, Market Price per Share

Abstract

This study investigates the influence which audit firm size exerts on the market value per share of companies in Nigeria. Based on a sample of 342 companies – year observations from the NSE and applying audit firm size as a measure, comprehensive multivariate analyses were conducted on archival data covering 2006 – 2011. The result showed that audit firm size exerts significant relationship and significantly influences market price per share of the companies in the sample. It is suggested that companies in Nigeria should improve their earnings quality only through sales growth and cost control strategies and present distinct reports on earnings quality. Furthermore, company auditors should issue Integrated Audit Quality Assurance Reports based on earnings quality assessment, statutorily backed by earnings monitoring of companies in Nigeria while regulatory agencies should issue authoritative codes of best practice in Nigeria.

References

Adeyemi, S. B. and Fagbemi, T. O. (2010). Audit quality, corporate governance and firm characteristics in

Nigeria, International Journal of Business and Management, 5 (5), 169 – 179.

Alles, M. G., Kogan, A. and Vasarhelyi, M. A. (2004). Restoring auditor credibility: tertiary monitoring and

logging of continuous systems, International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 5, 183 – 202.

Ebrahim, A. (2001). Auditing quality, auditor tenure, client importance, and earnings management: an additional

evidence, Unpublished, Rutgers University.

Ali, A. (1994). Incremental information content of earnings, working capital from operations, and cash flows,

Journal of Accounting Research; 32, 61-74.

Amir, E. (1996). The effect of accounting aggregation on the value – relevance of financial disclosures: The

Case of SFAS No. 106. The Accounting Review, 71, 573 – 590.

Amir, E. and Lev, B.(1996). Value – relevance of nonfinancial information: the wireless communication

Industry, Journal of Accounting and economics, 22, 3 – 30.

Arrunada, B. (2000). Audit quality: attributes, private safeguards and the role of regulations. The European

Accounting Review, 9 (2), 205 – 225.

Badawi, I. M. (2008). Motives and consequences of fraudulent financial reporting. paper presented at the 17th

annual convention of the global awareness society international, May, 2008, San Fracisco, USA.

Bauwhede, H. V., Willekens, M. & Gaeremynck, A. (2000). Audit quality, public ownership and firms’

discretionary accruals management, working paper.

Becker, C. L., Defond, M. L., Jiambalvo, J. and Subramanyam, K. R. (1998). The effect of audit quality on

earnings management, Contemporary Accounting Research, 15 (1), 1 – 24.

Beneish, M. D. (1997). Detecting GAAP violations: implications for assessing earnings management among

firms with extreme financial performance, Journal of Accoun ting and Public policy, 16, 271 – 309.

Beneish, M. D. and Vargus, M. E. (2002). Insider trading, earnings quality, and accrual mispricing, The

Accounting Review, 4, 755 – 791.

Bergstresser, D. and Philippon, T. (2002). Manager incentives and earnings management. Journal of Financial

Economics.

Bowen, R, Burgstahler, D. and Daley, L. (1987). Incremental information content of accrual versus cash flow.

The Accounting Review, 62, 723 – 47.

Burgstahler, D. C., and Dichow, I. D. (1997). Earnings management to avoid losses and earnings decreases.

Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24, 99 – 126.

Burns, N. and S. Kedia (2004). The impact of performance based compensation on misreporting”, Mimeo HBS

Carmichael, D. R. (2004). The PCAOB and the social responsibility of auditors, Accounting Hrrizons, 18 (2),

– 133.

Chan, K, L. Jegadeesh, N. and Lakonishok, J. (2001). Earnings quality and stock returns, Working Paper,

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Chariton, A. and Ketz. J. (1990). Valuation of earnings, cash flows and their components: an empirical

investigation, Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance, 5, 75 – 497.

Clarkson and, P. M. and Simunic, D. A. (1994). The association between audit quality, retained ownership and

firm specific risk in U.S. vs. Canadian IPO markets, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 17, 207 – 228.

Colbert, G. and Murray, D. (1998). The association between audit quality and auditor size: an analysis of small

CPA firms. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance,13 (2), 135 – 150.

Collins, D. W., Maydew, E. L. and Weiss, I. S. (1997). Changes in the value – relevance of earnings and book

values over the past forty years. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24, 39 – 67.

Copley, P. A. (1991). The association between municipal disclosure practices and audit quality. Journal of

Accounting and Public Policy, 10 (4), 135 – 150.

Craswel, A., Stokes, D. J. and Laughton, J. (2002). Auditor independence and fee independence, Journal of

Accounting and Economics, 33, 253 – 275.

Davidson, R. A. and Neu, D. (1993). A note on association between audit firm size and audit quality,

Contemporary Accounting Research, 9 (2), 479 – 488.

DeAngelo, L. E. (1981). Auditor size and audit quality, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 3 (3), 183 – 199.

Dechow, P., Sloan, R. and Sweeney, A. (1995). Causes and consequences of earnings manipulations: an analysis

of firm’s subject to enforcement actions by SEC, Contemporary Accounting Research, 13, 1 – 36.

Deis, D. R. and Giroux, G. A. (1992). Determinants of audit quality in the public sector, the Accounting Review

(3), 462 – 479.

Dye, R. (1988). Earnings management in an overlapping generations model, Journal of Accounting Research,

, 195-235.

Eilifsen, A. and Messier, W. F. (2000). The incidence and detection of misstatements: a review and integration

of archival research, Journal of Accounting Literature, 19, 1 – 43.

Enofe, A. (2010). Reaping the fruits of evils: how scandals help reshape the accounting profession, International

Journal of Business, Accounting and Finance, 4 (2), 53 – 69.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2011).: Financial Reporting Council Act, No. 54, (7th June) (98); Government

Notice No. 140, The Federal Government Printer, Lagos, Nigeria.

Foster, G. (1979). Briloff and the Capital Market, Journal of Accounting Research, 17, 262-274.

Francis, J. R. and Krishnan, J. (1999). Accounting accruals and auditor reporting conservatism, Contemporary

Accounting Research, 16 (1), 135 – 65

Frankel, R., Johnson, M. and Nelson, K. (2002). The relation between auditors' fees for non-audit services and

earnings quality, The Accounting Review 77 (Supplement), 71-105.

Gerayli, M. S., Yanesari, A. M. and Ma’atoofi, A. R. (2011). Impact of audit quality on earnings management:

Evidence from Iran, International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, 66, http//www.eurojournals.com/finance Retrieved February 27, 2010

Healy, P. M., and Wahlen, J. M (1999). A review of the earnings management literature and its implications for

standard setting, Accounting Horizons, 13, 365 – 383.

Heninger, W. G. (2001).The association between auditor litigation and abnormal accruals, The Accounting

Review, 76 (1), 111 – 126.

Kedia, S. and Philippon, T. (2008). The economics of fraudulent accounting, Review of Financial Studies.

Khan, T. (2006). Financial reporting disclosures: an international perspective (Unpublished), Victoria

University, Australia.

Kim, J., Chung, R. and Firth, M. (2003). Auditor conservatism, asymmetric monitoring and earnings

management, Contemporary Accounting Research, 20 (2), 323 – 359.

Knechel, W. R. (2009). Audit lessons from the economic crisis: rethinking audit quality. inaugural lecture

delivered at Maastricht University on Friday, September 11.

Krishnan, G. V. (2003). Does Big 6 auditor industry expertise constrain earnings management? Accounting

Horizons, 17 (Supplement), 1 – 15

Krishnan, J. and Schauer, P. C. (2000). The differentiation of quality among auditors: evidence from the not-for-

profit sector, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory. 19 (2), 9 – 26.

Krishnan, J. and Yang, J. S. (1999). Auditor industry specialization and earnings response co-Efficient, working

paper. Temple University, (April).

Lennox, G. S. (1999). Audit quality and auditor size: an evaluation of reputation and deep pocket hypotheses,

Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 26 (7/8): 779 – 805.

Lev, B. (1989). On the usefulness of earnings and earnings research: lessons and directions from two decades of

empirical research, Journal of Accounting Research, 27 (Supplement), 153 – 201.

Levitt, A. (1998). The numbers game: speech delivered at the New York University center for law and

business, New York. http://wwwrutgers.edu/accounting; http://www.sec.gbov/news

Li, J. and Lin, J. (2005). The relationship between earnings management and audit quality, Journal of

Accounting and Finance Research, 12 (1), 1- 11.

Limperg Institute, (1985). The social responsibility of auditors: a basic theory on auditors function. The

Limperg Institute, Netherlands.

Livnat, J. and Zarowin, P. (1990). The incremental information content of cash–flow components, Journal of

Accounting and Economics, 12, 25 – 46.

Mautz, R. K. and Sharaf, H. A. (1961). The philosophy of auditing; Florida, American Accounting, Association,

Monograph Series (6).

McNichols, M. and Stephen Stubben, (2008). Does earnings management affect firms’ investment decisions,

The Accounting Review,

Menon, K. and Williams, D. D. (1994). The insurance hypothesis and market prices. The Accounting Review,

, 327 – 342.

Moizer, P. (1997). Auditor reputation: the international empirical evidence, International Journal of Auditing, 1

(1), 61 – 74.

Odia, J. (2007). Creative accounting and its implications for financial reporting in Nigeria. Nigeria ournal of

Business Administration, 8 (1 & 2) (Jan/July).

Ohlson, J. A. (1995). Earnings, book values, and dividends in equity valuation, Contemporary Accounting

Research, 11 (2), 661 – 687.

Okolie, A. O. and Agboma, D. J. (2008). The impact of environmental dynamics on the accounting profession in

Nigeria. Journal of Business Administration and Management., 3 (1), 70 – 75.

Palmrose, Z. V. (1986). Audit fees and auditor size: further evidence. Journal of Accounting Research, 24 (1),

(97 – 110).

Palmrose, Z. V. (1988). An analysis of auditor litigation and audit service quality, The Accounting Review, 64 (1), 55 – 73.

PCARIP (2002). The Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Pro¬tection (Sarbanes Oxley’s)

Act, (2002). U. S. public Law 107 – 204, 107th Congress, 2nd Session, July, 2002.

Pfeiffer, R., Elgers, P, Lo M., and Rees L. (1998). Additional evidence on the incremental information content

of cash flows and accruals: the impact of errors in measuring market expectations, Accounting Review, 73, 373 – 385.

Piot, C. and Janin, R. (2005). Audit quality and earnings management in france, working paper, IUT GEA –

Piere Mendes France University, France.

Rayburn, J. (1986). The association of operating cash flows and accruals with security returns. Journal of

Accounting Research, 24, 112 – 33.

Roychowdhury, S. (2006). Earnings management through real activities manipulations. Journal of Accounting

and Economics, 42 (3), 335 – 370

Schipper, K. (1989). Commentary on earnings management, Accounting Horizons (December): 91 – 102.

Sloan, R. (1996). Do stock prices fully reflect information in accruals and cash flows about future earnings? The

Accounting Review, 71, 289 – 316.

Sweeney, A.P. (1994). Debt-Covenant violations and managers' accounting responses, Journal of Accounting

and Economics, 17, 281 – 308.

Swanson, Z. and Vickrey, D. (1997). Small firm information releases, cash positions, and security price

reactions, Journal of Financial Statement Analysis, 2 (3), 50 – 66.

Teoh, S. H. and Wong, T. J. (1993). Perceived auditor quality and earnings response co-efficient. The

Accounting Review, 68 (2), 346 – 366.

Vickrey, D. and Bettis, C. (2000). The incremental information content of operating cash flows and accruals,

Journal of Accounting and Finance Research, 8 (2), 27-36.

Wallace, W.A. (1987). The economic role of the auditor in free and regulated markets: a review, Research in

Accounting Regulation, 1, 7 – 34.

Watts, R. & Zimmermann, J. L. (1986). Positive accounting theory. Prentice Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliff.

Wilson, P. G. (1987). The relative information content of accruals and cash flows. Journal of Accounting

Research, 24 (Supplement), 165 – 200.

Wooten, T. C. (2003). Research about audit quality, The CPA Journal (January), 2003, http://www.nysscpa.org.

Retrieved: April 21, 2012.

Zhou, J. and Elder, R. (2001). Audit firm size, industry specialization and earnings management by initial public

offering firms, a working paper

Downloads

Published

2014-05-20

Issue

Section

Article

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 > >>