Publications and Working Papers

Fellows and staff generate research that informs the oversight activities of the PCAOB. Research papers and the conclusions reached by the researchers solely reflect the views of the author(s) and are not evaluated or approved by the Board.

The PCAOB, as a matter of policy, disclaims responsibility for any private publication or statement by any of its economic research fellows or PCAOB staff economists. The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board, its members, or staff of the PCAOB.

(Note: Italic name indicates a PCAOB staff member; bold name indicates a current or former economic research fellow.)

Published Papers

"The Economics of Audit Production: What Matters for Audit Production? An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Mid-level Managers within the Audit Firm," by Daniel Aobdia, Preeti Choudhary and Noah Newberger; The Accounting Review, March 2024.
"The Effects of Non-Big 4 Mergers on Audit Efficiency and Audit Market Competition," by Andrew Kitto; Journal of Accounting and Economics, 2023.
"Auditors’ Use of In-House Specialists," by Ally Zimmerman, Miguel Minutti-Meza, Dereck Barr-Pulliam, and Joon-Suk Lee; Journal of Accounting Research; April 2023
"The Effect of Audit Firm Internal Inspections on Auditor Effort and Financial Reporting Quality,” by Daniel Aobdia and Reining Petacchi; The Accounting Review, 2022.
"The Costs of Waiving Audit Adjustments," by Preeti Choudhary, Kenneth Merkley, and Katherine Schipper; Journal of Accounting Research, 2022.
"On the Economics of Mandatory Audit Partner Rotation and Tenure: Evidence from PCAOB Data," by Brandon Gipper, Luzi Hail, and Christian Leuz; The Accounting Review, 2021, 96(2): 303-331.
"Heterogeneity in Expertise in a Credence Goods Setting: Evidence from Audit Partners," by Daniel Aobdia, Saad Siddiqui, and Andrés Vinelli; Review of Accounting Studies, 2021, 26: 693-729.
"The Economic Consequences of Audit Firm's Quality Control System Deficiencies," by Daniel Aobdia; Management Science, 2019, 66(7): 2883-2905.
"Do Practitioner Assessments Agree with Academic Proxies for Audit Quality? Evidence from PCAOB and Internal Inspections," by Daniel Aobdia; Journal of Accounting and Economics, 2019, 67(1): 144-174.
"Auditors' Quantitative Materiality Judgements: Properties and Implications for Financial Reporting Reliability," by Preeti Choudhary, Kenneth Merkley, and Katherine Schipper; Journal of Accounting Research, December 2019, 57(5): 1303-1351.
"Public Oversight and Reporting Credibility: Evidence from the PCAOB Inspection Regime," by Brandon Gipper, Christian Leuz, and Mark Maffett; The Review of Financial Studies, 2019, 33 (10): 4532-4579.
"The Impact of the PCAOB Individual Engagement Inspection Process – Preliminary Evidence," by Daniel Aobdia; The Accounting Review, 2018, 94(4): 53-80.

Working Papers

"Offshore Shared Services Center Usage by U.S. Big 4 Audit Engagement Teams" by Matthew G. Sherwood; December 2022.
"Do Entry Barriers to the Public Company Audit Market Deter Low Quality Audit Firms?" by Andrew Kitto, Phillip T. Lamoreaux, and Devin Williams; June 2022.
“Determinants and Career Consequences of Early Audit Partner Rotations,” by Brandon Gipper, Luzi Hail, and Christian Leuz; April 2022.
"Technology-Based Audit Tools: Exploring the Current State and Future Direction," by Colleen M. Boland, Nicholas B. Galunic, and Matthew G. Sherwood; December 2021.
"The Profit Persistence in the U.S. Audit Market," by Andrew Kitto and William A. Ciconte III; October 2021.
"Do Tax Experts Play a Monitoring Role in Audit Engagements?” by Ally Zimmerman, Miguel Minutti-Meza, Saad Siddiqui, and Andrew Bauer; August 2021.
"The Implications of IT Environment on the Audit and Financial Reporting Quality," by Jake Sigler, Preeti Choudhary, and Vikram Ramadas; July 2021.
“Monitoring Quality of Group Audits: Internal and Regulatory Inspections of Component Audits of U.S. Issuers,” by Denise Downey, Colleen Boland, and Jean Bedard; June 2021.
"Weak Incentives for Audit Quality: Evidence from Broker-Dealers," by Zachary T. Kowaleski; August 2020.
"Why do Auditors Fail to Report Material Weaknesses in Internal Controls? Evidence from the PCAOB Data," by Daniel Aobdia, Preeti Choudhary, and Gil Sadka; May 2020.
"Does Information on Audit Participants Explain Audit Quality of U.S. Multinational Corporations?" by Denise Hanes Downey and Jean C. Bedard; October 2019.
"Consequences of Low-Quality Audits for Engagement Partners: The Importance of Audit Firm Quality Control Systems," by Daniel Aobdia and Reining Petacchi; April 2019.