This study investigated the effect of corporate social performance (CSP) on audit hours and whether the emphasis of matter (EOM) paragraphs in audit report moderates the association between CSP and audit hours. Auditors input audit hours based on the judgement of audit risk related to firm and managerial characteristics. They increase audit hours when they perceive that client companies are riskier; thus, audit hours reflect auditors' perceptions of the firm. Prior studies have shown that high CSP is associated with ethical managers, leading to fewer audit hours. However, auditors' perceptions of CSP can be different depending on their knowledge about firms' potential risks. EOM paragraphs consists of risk-related factors, such as going-concern opinions or litigation and they should be considered when auditors determine that users need to check this information acquired in the auditing process. Therefore, EOM is likely to affect auditors' perceptions of CSP. This study investigates this possibility by examining whether the associations between CSP and audit hours are different in firms with and without EOM paragraphs in audit reports. Using Korean listed companies from 2011 to 2016, we found that CSP has a negative association with audit hours, suggesting that better CSP is related to ethical corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Korea, consistently with the literature. However, CSP is not related to audit hours for firms with EOM paragraphs, possibly indicating that auditors differently interpret CSP based on their knowledge gained in the auditing process. Our findings contribute to the literature by suggesting that EOM paragraphs can be used in distinguishing firms' CSR motivations and that information users should be careful in interpreting CSP.

This study investigates whether an increase in litigation risk results in Big N auditors leaving the industry and examines the impact of this increase on audit quality. Using a sample of Korean savings banks from 2009 to 2015, the study finds that the proportion of Big N auditors sharply decreases after a savings bank crisis, suggesting that Big N auditors are likely to reject riskier clients, while audit quality is unchanged. The results provide new evidence that an increase in litigation risk does not necessarily increase audit quality. The findings have academic and practical implications, as they suggest that policies for improving audit quality should consider auditors’ strategies in response to litigation risk.

Newly listed firms can actively engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to build reputation, but they may postpone CSR until they have enough slack for it. Related to this, prior literature does not provide consistent results, the US evidence supports the latter while the Chinese results support the former. To extend the literature, we use Korean listed companies and examine the association between the listing period and CSR. We further investigate the effect of analyst following on the relationship. The empirical results show that firms with a shorter listing period invest more in CSR and that the association exists only in firm-years followed by analysts, indicating the importance of the information environment to inform CSR. We additionally find that young listed companies mainly use social contribution and soundness, which can be discretionarily conducted from a short-term perspective. The results of this study using CSR to obtain a short-term objective suggest that policymakers need to analyze a firm’s behavior from various perspectives and to establish proper guidelines to achieve a long-term goal of CSR “sustainability”.

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