This study investigates whether common auditors have an impact on firms’ green innovation. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find the common auditor ties to firms with green patents are positively related to focal firms’ green innovation. When examining underlying mechanisms behind such effects, we observe that our main findings are more profound for focal firms with more opaque information, communicating with auditors intensively and audited by senior auditors, which indicates information sharing serves as the plausible mechanism. Cross-sectionally, our findings are more remarkable for non-SOEs, firms with lower financial constraints, firms located in regions with environmental courts, local auditors, auditors with green auditing abilities and firms in the same industry. Further analysis suggests that the common auditor ties to firms with green patents can further improve focal firms’ environmental performance and green patent citations, which in turn boosts market share of involved audit firms. Overall, we document that common auditors have a positive spillover regarding green innovation to connected clients through transferring valuable green expertise in a legitimate way.

This paper employs a difference-in-differences approach to study whether a Chinese audit firm improves its competencies through organizational learning after one of its audit teams has a client cross-listed in the US. Among a group of companies that are listed only in China, we define those audited by firms that have cross-listed clients as the treatment group, and companies audited by other firms as the control group. We find an improvement in audit quality for the treatment group after their audit firms have cross-listed client experience in the US. A large-scale survey of auditors corroborates these findings and sheds light on specific actions undertaken by audit firms to facilitate learning. Both the empirical and survey results highlight the benefits of auditing crosslisted clients in the US and its positive externality on improving the audit quality of non-US-listed companies.

This paper employs a difference-in-differences approach to study whether a Chinese audit firm improves its competencies through organizational learning after one of its audit teams has a client cross-listed in the US. Among a group of companies that are only listed in China, we define those audited by Chinese audit firms that are not international Big 4 affiliates and have cross-listed clients as the treatment group, and companies audited by other audit firms as the control group. We find an improvement in audit quality for the treatment group after their audit firms have cross-listed client experience in the US, and this improvement is not attributable to the effect of joining an international accounting firm network, registration with the PCAOB, or the consolidation in the audit market. A survey of auditors corroborates these findings and provides evidence on audit firms’ specific actions to facilitate learning. Our findings shed light on the benefits of auditing cross-listed clients in the US and its positive externality on improving the audit quality of non-US-listed companies in China.

In contrast to previous literature, our study not only examines the communicative value of Key Audit Matters (KAMs) through the capital market reaction to KAMs but also analyses the content and reporting format of KAMs, which vary based on the intrinsic risk of business activity. Using a sample of Chinese firms from 2017 to 2020, we find that more M&A-related KAMs are reported and they are disclosed through less boilerplate language when M&As are accompanied with the Performance Commitment contracts (PCs), an indicator as high possibility of overpayment during M&As thus inducing the high risk of the goodwill impairment and high litigation risk. Additionally, we find that the negative impact of PCs on boilerplate language is amplified when the benchmark in PCs is precisely achieved or when the firm has been sued in recent years. In other words, the disclosure of M&A-related KAMs is more tailored to the client firm when auditors observe a high risk for accountability. Consequently, capital market participants, as well as other recipients of auditing reports, such as regulators and analysts, perceive non-boilerplate M&A-related KAMs as informative for their decision-making process.

Establishing a comprehensive risk management system and establishing a sound and effective internal control mechanism are important conditions for the survival and healthy development of enterprises. Enterprises should continue to innovate their internal control mechanisms, continuously improve and strengthen their internal control and risk management functions, continuously improve their internal control effectiveness, and assist in high-quality development of enterprises. The article elaborates that the digital transformation of auditing helps to achieve internal audit goals and improve the effectiveness of internal control; Blockchain technology, due to its excellent characteristics of distributed decentralization, authenticity, transparency, and tamper resistance, will help transform the methods of financial and accounting business and audit supervision; The application of blockchain technology in the field of auditing will inevitably lead to the reshaping of audit work models; Blockchain technology will become a trigger point for the audit revolution, comprehensively empowering audit and risk management work. The article introduces JD's blockchain ABS standardization solution, while Tencent and TCL Group's industrial blockchain solve the reliable transmission of trust and value at low cost, confirming that the close combination of blockchain technology with enterprise finance and auditing can assist internal control and play an important risk prevention and control role in enterprise operations. The "blockchain+audit" can achieve online real-time audit, risk assessment and warning, and data analysis becomes the core of audit content; Blockchain+auditing will become an important tool for internal control and risk management in enterprises.

Audit digitalization is the organic integration of digital technology and audit work; Internal audit digital intelligence is a collective term for internal audit digitalization and internal audit intelligence. This paper systematically expounds that the digital transformation of audit is conducive to achieving internal audit goals, giving full play to the internal audit function, and improving the efficiency of internal audit. The main paths and key points of the digital transformation of enterprise audit are introduced, and it is pointed out that intelligent audit is a major trend in the future development of auditing. The three types of intelligent audit and the application of digital twin in commercial bank audit are introduced. A brief introduction to Bank of Jiangsu's research-based audit and its achievements. It is pointed out that the digital transformation of audit is also the upgrading and transformation of organizations and talents, and it is necessary to vigorously cultivate and introduce audit professionals to support the smooth achievement of digital transformation of auditing.

Establishing a comprehensive risk management system and establishing a sound and effective internal control mechanism are important conditions for the survival and healthy development of financial enterprises. This paper analyzes the lessons of Société Générale's financial shock in Europe in 2008 due to the serious lack of internal control mechanism; Elaborated on the influencing factors and implementation paths of internal control in the digital intelligence era, pointed out the key points of constructing an internal control system under risk management in the digital intelligence era, and proposed the main methods and six major technologies of internal control in the digital intelligence era; This paper expounds that the audit Digital transformation is conducive to the realization of internal audit objectives and the improvement of internal audit efficiency. This paper introduces the main paths and key points of audit Digital transformation, and points out that intelligent audit is the major trend of future audit development; Introduced the application of digital twins in commercial bank auditing. It points out that the Digital transformation of audit is also the upgrading and transformation of organizations and talents, and it needs to vigorously cultivate and introduce audit professionals to support the smooth completion of the Digital transformation of audit. Financial enterprises should continue to innovate their internal control mechanisms, continuously improve and strengthen their internal control and risk management functions, continuously improve the effectiveness of internal control, and assist in the high-quality development of enterprises.

Applying the principle of the bonding theory, this study examined the relationship between corporate governance practice and performance of Chinese firms that are listed in the major international stock exchanges, including NASDAQ, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and London AIM markets, and further investigated whether the Chinese firms that adopted the corporate governance mechanisms of the stock exchanges where they are listed would outperform those of firms listed locally in the Chinese stock exchanges that operates in a weak enforcement mechanism environment. Hypotheses are tested using panel data analysis. The results suggest that the Chinese cross-listings exhibit bonding premium only in U.S. markets, while those non-cross-listed Chinese firms demonstrate better firm performance than those listed in London, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Further, the results reveal that for all the cross-listed Chinese firms, profitability rate and the leverage ratio play a positive role in improving the firms’ performance. The adoptions of Big Four auditing firms and international accounting standard as a must-to-do corporate governance mechanism regulated by the host stock exchange has less effects on firm’s performance. The study suggests that merely borrowing a corporate governance mechanism does not guarantee the improvement of corporate governance of a firm, and therefore to its firm performance; rather, a firm’s own background and country effects also matter.

Applying the principle of the bonding theory, this study examined the relationship between corporate governance practice and performance of Chinese firms that are listed in the major international stock exchanges, including NASDAQ, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and London AIM markets, and further investigated whether the Chinese firms that adopted the corporate governance mechanisms of the stock exchanges where they are listed would outperform those of firms listed locally in the Chinese stock exchange that operates in a weak enforcement mechanism environment. Hypotheses are tested using cross sectional data. The empirical tests show a mixed result. The cross-listings in New York and NASDAQ (dual-listing is excluded) exhibit bonding premium, while those noncross- listed Chinese firms demonstrated better firm performance that those listed in London, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Further, the study shed some lights on the relative importance of various corporate governance mechanisms in enhancing the firm performance in the context of the dominance of state-owned-enterprises in the market. The results reveal that different market has different corporate governance mechanisms under its different macro-environments. For the overall Chinese listings, the second largest shareholder of a firm could play a role as an effective corporate governance mechanism in increasing the firm’s performance. A negative relationship between the size of the board and the corporate governance was found. For those cross-listed Chinese firms, by adopting the stringent financial disclosure and the famous auditing firms could increase the firm performance, but not good enough comparing to these non-cross-listed Chinese firms. Meanwhile, controlling shareholder has negative effect on firm performance for the cross-listed Chinese firms. The study suggests that merely borrowing corporate governance mechanism does not guarantee the improvement of corporate governance (further to its firm performance), rather, firm’s own background and country effects also matter.

In this paper, we investigate the agency costs of government ownership and their impact on corporate governance and firm value. China is used as a laboratory because of the prevalent state shareholdings in exchange-listed firms. In this context, we specifically consider the trade-offs involved in the voluntary formation of an audit committee when the controlling shareholder is the state. The decision to improve corporate governance (in this case, introduce an audit committee) is shown to be value relevant and a function of existing agency relationships and non-trivial implementation costs. Our findings are robust to the level of pyramid groups, the ownership-control wedge, and financial leverage. The research adds to the debate regarding the effect of government shareholdings on corporate culture and performance - a topic that has taken on renewed importance in recent times.