Cindy Fornelli Executive Director Center for Audit Quality

As a part of its continuing commitment to foster independent academic research, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) has announced funding for four new academic research projects.

The CAQ received 36 research proposals in response to a December 2013 request for proposals on key auditing topics, including audit committee effectiveness, audit quality indicators, professional skepticism, and the value of the audit. After careful consideration of the proposals, the CAQ’s Research Advisory Board (RAB), comprised of members from academia and the auditing profession, selected the following projects to receive support:

• “Audit Committee Quality and Financial Reporting in Merger and Acquisition Transactions,” by Tom Adams and Jayanthi Krishnan, Temple University
• “Management Bias and Accounting Estimates: When do Auditors Assimilate Management’s Bias and When Do They Correct for It?” by Brian Fitzgerald, Texas A&M University (accepted a position at Northeastern) and Christopher Wolfe, Texas A&M University
• “Does Disclosing Critical Audit Matters in the Audit Report Increase Perceived Auditor Responsibility for Misstatements?” by Steven J. Kachelmeier, Jamie J. Schmidt, and Kristen Valentine, University of Texas at Austin
• “The Way Forward on Professional Skepticism: Conceptualizing Professional Skepticism as an Attitude,” by Christine Nolder, Suffolk University and Kathryn Kadous, Emory University
  

“The CAQ is pleased to provide ongoing support for independent research that aims to address critical auditing issues,” said CAQ Executive Director Cindy Fornelli. “I applaud our Research Advisory Board members for their dedication to identifying projects that will inform the profession’s efforts to continuously improve audit quality.”

Through the RAB, the CAQ has provided 25 grants to fund academic research since 2009.