Three Essays on Audit Regulation, Audit Market Structure, and the Quality of Financial Statements

Abstract

The dissertation "Three Essays on Audit Regulation, Audit Market Structure, and the Quality of Financial Statements" is a collection of three research papers written during my doctoral studies at the University of Konstanz between May 2009 and April 2014. All three studies cover the main topic auditing and are empirical analysis. The main focus of the first two studies is on audit regulation, whereas the third study deals with former audit firm employees.The thesis is organized as follows: The study in Chapter 1, Audit Market Regulation and Supplier Concentration around the World: Empirical Evidence, analyses the connection between audit regulations and the structure of the national audit markets.Chapter 2, Audit Market Regulation and Earnings Characteristics: Cross-Country Evidence on the Role of the Audit Market Structure, contains the investigation of the effect of audit regulations on the financial reporting quality.The study in Chapter 3, The Effect of the Appointment of Former Audit Firm Employees to the Board of Directors on the Quality of the Financial Reporting, analyses changes of the audit fees and the discretionary accruals following the appointment of a former audit firm employee to the board of directors.