... evidence suggesting audit effort is associated with slower loss recognition in accruals before the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) became effective. We find stronger evidence that audit effort is associated with slower loss recognition post-SOX when clients raise substantial external funds or when the auditor...

... importance fee-based measures, both performance-adjusted discretionary total and current accruals as proxies for earnings management, and a measure of audit committee best practices. We document a positive association between client importance and our two proxies for earnings management. This association...