The AICPA Special Committee on Assurance Services was set up in response to a decline in the market vitality of the audit. (See Elliott 1994a and 1994b for background.) Our purpose is to develop ideas and initiate steps to refurbish the profession's product. This mission was conceived in response to the current and emergent audit/assurance environment, the obvious context for considering the vi...

This paper tests whether companies engage in opinion shopping and examines the role of audit committees when auditors are dismissed (1996-98). There are three findings. First, US companies strategically dismiss when incumbent auditors are more likely to issue unfavorable audit opinions compared to newly appointed auditors. I estimate opinion shopping motivates 17% of auditor dismissals, and I f...

In this paper, I examine possible reasons behind observed differences in audit committee composition and activity. The governance structures of audit committees appear to be sensitive in meeting the monitoring and litigation risk needs of the parent firm. However, boards with stronger CEOs also have a higher probability of placing insiders and interested directors on their audit committees than...