ESG활동에 따른 주기적 감사인 지정기업의 감사품질 효과

Periodic auditor designation was introduced to improve audit quality. However, previous research has presented mixed results regarding its effectiveness. This study tries to verify whether the relationship between periodic auditor designation and audit quality differs between companies that actively engage in ESG activities and those that do not. The periodic auditor designation data is manually collected by reviewing the audit opinions disclosed on DART system. The ESG activities are measured using ESG scores disclosed by the Korea Institute of corporate governance and sustainability. Then regression analysis is conducted with 3,257 samples over the period from 2016 to 2022, excluding the introduction year. The result shuggest that earnings management of companies with periodic auditor designation did not show significant differences by ESG ratings. However, the increase in audit fees and time for designated firm was mitigated as the ESG rating increased. These results were observed only in large publicly listed companies, and the resut remains when using the report preparation standard as a proxy for ESG. This study provides insights for regulatory bodies and related research by demonstrating that companies more actively engaged in ESG activities tend to experience a mitigating effect on the increase in audit hours and fees.