The relationships between common auditors and accounting comparability of companies listed on Ho Chi Minh City stock exchange, Vietnam

Abstract

This thesis examines the impact of common auditors—including audit firms, audit offices, and individual auditors—on the accounting comparability of companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange in Vietnam from 2016 to 2022. It also explores moderating factors that might influence this relationship. Employing a quantitative methodology, this study analyses a large sample comprising 45,178 firm-pair observations to test its hypotheses. The findings reveal that common audit firms, audit offices, and audit partners significantly enhance accounting comparability. However, common auditors in charge do not exhibit a significant effect on such comparability. Notably, the positive impact of common audit firms on comparability is more pronounced when all involved audit partners are female or when the audit firms are industry specialists. The study also finds that when a pair of listed companies switches from different audit firms to a common one, their accounting comparability improves. Conversely, comparability declines when companies move from a common audit firm to different ones. These results, supported by various robustness checks, offer valuable theoretical and practical insights for stakeholders, highlighting the critical role of common auditors in enhancing accounting comparability in the context of a rapidly developing country like Vietnam.