감사보수의 비대칭적 행태 (Upward Stickiness in Audit Fees)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국경영학회
· 수록지 정보 : 경영학연구 / 41권 / 4호 / 809 ~ 836페이지
· 저자명 : 김지홍, 이명건, 유혜영

초록

본 연구는 감사보수의 비대칭적 행태를 분석한 것으로, 정상감사보수가 전년대비 증가할 때와 정상감사보수가 전년대비감소할 때 실제감사보수가 차별적으로 반응하는지를 검증하였다.
1999년부터 감사보수 자율화가 도입된 이래, 감사보수자율화는 기업들의 감사수임료에 대한 부담을 줄여주는 긍정적인역할을 담당해왔다. 그러나 동시에 감사인들 간의 지나친 가격경쟁으로 감사수임료 인하가 이루어졌으며, 이는 감시시간축소를 통한 감사품질 저하로 이어져 사회적 문제를 야기하고 있다.
선행연구는 감사보수 결정요인에 관한 연구와 감사보수 할인에 관한 연구가 주를 이루며 이러한 연구들은 감사보수에 관련된 정태적 분석을 하였다. 이에 본 연구는 이들의 연구와 차별적으로 감사보수 변동이 어떻게 일어나는가에 관해 동태적으로 접근하고자 한다. 즉 감사보수를 결정짓는 모형을 구축한 후 정상감사보수를 구하고 이러한 정상감사보수(기대감사보수)가 증가할 때 실제 감사보수의 증가정도와 정상감사보수(기대감사보수)가 감소할 때 실제감사보수의 감소정도가차이가 나는지 살펴봄으로써 감사보수가 비대칭적 행태를 가지는지 연구하고자 한다.
2002년부터 2009년에 걸쳐 거래소에 상장된 3,360 기업-년도를 대상으로 실증분석한 결과, 실제감사보수가 정상감사보수 감소시보다 정상감사보수 증가시에 덜 탄력적으로 변동하여, 감사보수의 상방경직적 행태를 확인하였다. 또한, 이러한현상은 Non-BIG4 감사인의 경우 심화되는 것으로 나타났다. 한편, 외국인 지분율이 높은 경우, 사외이사 비중이 높은경우, 감사위원회를 설치한 경우 및 감사위원회 독립성이 높은 경우 등을 통해 지배구조의 역할이 감사보수 상방경직 행태에 미치는 영향을 살펴본 결과, 외국인 주주비중이 높을 수록 상방경직 현상이 완화되는 것으로 나타났다.

영어초록

Using data from 3,360 firm-years, we attempt to make an empirical analysis to test whether audit fees are sticky. Specifically, we examine audit fee behavior over time. We argue that audit fees do not immediately or fully adjust to changes from one year to the next as predicted by a standard audit fee model because of the competitiveness of the audit market. Under the Free Audit Engagement System, it has been argued that budget constraints may lead auditors to perform lower quality audits in Korea.
There is a rich literature on audit fees, including the determinants of audit fees and the existence of audit fee premiums representing quality. Nevertheless, the competitiveness of the market for audit services continues to be under-researched. The behavior of audit fees,especially over time, is not well understood and the examination of audit fee behavior over time can improve our understanding of the competitiveness of the audit market. Few studies examine audit fee behavior over time. Our study examines the response of audit fees to changes in the variables that are usually seen as their determinants, such as size, complexity and risk.
Specifically, we use a standard audit fee model to estimate expected audit fees for each firmyear.
We then compare actual audit fee movements from year to year with the expected movements predicted by the model.
We argue that auditors do not increase the audit fee sufficiently, because of competitive markets that force pricing to revert to lower levels. We test for overall stickiness by examining the extent to which changes in actual audit fees are consistent with predicted changes. Our findings show that, when changes occur to the determinants of audit fees, then audit fees do not change to the extent suggested by audit fee models. In particular, upward adjustments are much smaller than downward adjustments.
As a supplemental test, this study examines whether the behavior of audit fees is influenced by differential audit quality measured by the well-known Big 4/non–Big 4 dichotomy.
Furthermore, we also examine the impact of corporate governance on the audit fee stickiness.
The empirical result shows that audit fees get more sticky when a lower quality auditor is engaged to audit the firms. We also find that the monitoring role in the firms with high level of foreign shares alleviates stickiness. However, the ratio of outside directors and the establishment of audit committees are not associated with the alleviation of audit fee stickiness at conventional levels.
Our findings provide evidence regarding the competitiveness of the audit market that will be of interest to regulators. In this study, we highlight that the Financial Supervisory Service needs to apply extra care in proposing regulatory system to prevent further audit market concentration. We also argue that the differential approach to inspect auditors can provide audit firms with incentives to maintain high quality control system by generating demands for auditors that are perceived to have better quality control system. In addition, the results of this study suggest that firms with higher level of foreign shares can submit financial statements that are more trustworthy.

참고자료

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