Prior studies provide mixed interpretations for the effect of abnormal audit fees on audit quality. One interpretation is that abnormal audit fees reflect economic bonding which decreases audit quality, while the other interpretation is that they are associated with unobserved audit efforts and audit risk. We argue that long-term abnormal audit fees clarify mixed evidence, as they reflect the gradual formation and development of both economic bonding and sustained auditor efforts over time. We examine the effect of long-term abnormal audit fees on audit quality by focusing on client's future stock price crash risk. Using 42,604 firm-year observations of U.S. firms, we find that sustained positive abnormal audit fees (consistently positive long-term abnormal audit fees) are negatively associated with future stock price crash risk, supporting the auditor effort argument and negating the economic bonding argument. We also find weak evidence that current-period abnormal audit fees are positively associated with future stock price crash risk, supporting the audit risk argument. Overall, our evidence shows that the magnitude and the pattern of long-term abnormal audit fees jointly affect audit quality in mitigating a client's bad news hoarding behavior.

中文翻译：

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审计费用持续异常的资本市场后果：来自股价崩盘风险的证据

先前的研究对异常审计费用对审计质量的影响提供了不同的解释。一种解释是，异常审计费用反映了经济联系，从而降低了审计质量，而另一种解释是，它们与未观察到的审计工作和审计风险有关。我们认为，长期异常审计费用澄清了混合证据，因为它们反映了经济联系和持续审计工作随着时间的推移逐渐形成和发展。我们通过关注客户未来的股价崩盘风险来考察长期异常审计费用对审计质量的影响。通过对美国公司 42,604 家公司年度的观察，我们发现持续正的异常审计费用（持续正的长期异常审计费用）与未来股价崩盘风险呈负相关，支持了审计师努力论点并否定了经济债券论点。我们还发现微弱的证据表明当期异常审计费用与未来股价崩盘风险呈正相关，支持了审计风险论点。总体而言，我们的证据表明，长期异常审计费用的规模和模式共同影响审计质量，以减轻客户的坏消息囤积行为。