CAQ grants funding to four research projects

The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) granted funding to four academic research projects.

In December, the CAQ requested proposals on key auditing topics, including audit committee effectiveness, audit quality indicators, professional skepticism, and the value of the audit. Thirty-six proposals were submitted in response.

The CAQ’s Research Advisory Board, which consists of members from academia and the auditing profession, selected the following projects to support:

• “Audit Committee Quality and Financial Reporting in Merger and Acquisition Transactions,” by Tom Adams and Jayanthi Krishnan, Temple University.
• “Management Bias and Accounting Estimates: When Do Auditors Assimilate Management’s Bias and When Do They Correct for It?” by Brian Fitzgerald, Texas A&M University (accepted a position at Northeastern University), and Kecia Smith and Christopher Wolfe, Texas A&M University.
• “Does Disclosing Critical Audit Matters in the Audit Report Increase Perceived Auditor Responsibility for Misstatements?” by Steven J. Kachelmeier, Jaime J. Schmidt, and Kristen Valentine, University of Texas at Austin.
• “The Way Forward on Professional Skepticism: Conceptualizing Professional Skepticism as an Attitude,” by Christine Nolder, Suffolk University, and Kathryn Kadous, Emory University.