法律制度，審計質量和投資【外文翻譯】

1、0外文翻譯LegalRegimesAuditQualityInvestmentMaterialSource:TheAccountingReviewVol72No.3July1997pp.385406Auth:RachelSchwartzI.INTRODUCTIONThepurposeofthispaperistoexpletheimpactofauditslegalliabilityonauditqualityinvestment.Th

2、eanalysisextendsthecurrentliteratureonauditsliabilityunderFederalSecuritiesLawsbyshowinghowdamagemeasurescandirectlyaffectlevelsofinvestments.SpecificallyIshowthateventhoughauditsliabilitycanimprovetheauditqualitywhichco

3、uldpromotesociallyoptimalinvestmentsaliabilityregimethatincludesanimproperdamagemeasure(suchas.thetypicaloutofpocketmeasurecurrentlyused)inducesexcessiveinvestment.Previousliteratureonauditsliabilityhasgenerallyfocusedon

4、theimpactofliabilityrulesonauditquality(e.g.BalachranNagarajan1987Dye1993MelumadThoman1990Narayanan1994Nelsonetal.1988Palmrose1994Schwartz1997SmithTidrick1997).Themodelsdescribeanequilibriumphenomenonfauditingefft.Animpl

5、icitassumptioninthesestudiesisthatbecausehigherauditqualityprovidesbetterinfmationtoinveststhelegalregimethatinducesthehighestauditqualityalsogeneratesthemostefficientinvestment.Althoughbetterinfmationallowsinveststomake

6、meefficientinvestmentswecannotassumethatthebetterinfmationinducedbylegalliabilityisalsosufficienttoguaranteeasociallyoptimallevelofinvestment.Liabilitypaymentsthatmotivateauditstowkhardarebasicallytransferpaymentsfromaud

7、itstoinvests.Ifinvestscanaffecttheamountofthesepaymentsbyalteringtheirinvestmentlevelsthenthelegalregimemaydistttheefficiencyofinvestmentdecisions.Ishowherethatwiththeoutofpocketmeasureofdamagesthecurrentbasisfdeterminin

8、gliabilitypaymentsofauditstheinvestmentlevelexceedsthesociallyoptimallevelofinvestment.Thiskeypointindicatesthatitisinappropriatetoranklegalregimesonlyintermsoftheauditquality.Amecompleteanalysisshouldexaminetheimplicati

9、onsfinvestmentdecisionstheresultingsocialwelfareincludeatleastthetwocomponentsofliabilityrulesdamagemeasures.2ofsociallyoptimalinvestmentarankingofliabilityregimesonthebasisoftheauditqualityalonemaybemisleading.SecondIid

10、entifythedamagemeasureasamainsourceofinvestmentinefficiencythushighlightingitasanimptantcomponentoflegalregimes.Damagemeasuresthatvarywiththeinvestmentlevelsuchastheoutofpocketmeasureusedinthecurrentauditsliabilityregime

11、createafmofinsurancewhichinducesexcessiveinvestment.AnillustrativeexamplethatcomparesthefourlegalregimesthatwerediscussedinthispaperisprovidedinappendixA.Auditscurrentlegalregimeconsistingofvaguenegligencewithanoutofpock

12、etdamagemeasurepreventsanequilibriumphenomenonofsociallyoptimallevelsofauditqualityinvestment.Asuboptimalauditqualityiscreatedbyavaguedefinitionofduecareasuboptimalinvestmentlevelresultsfromtheoutofpocketdamagemeasure.As

13、ocialoptimumofauditqualityinvestmentrequiresanalternativelegalregime.Providing2propositionstoinsightintowhyauditsliabilityiscurrentlydeterminedbythenegligencerulewhileproductliabilityissubjecttothestrictliabilityrule.Ifs

14、trictliabilityisimposedwiththeoutofpocketdamagemeasureinvestsarecompensatedftheirinitialinvestmentwillbemotivatedtoinvestasiftheirinvestmenthadnoprobabilityofbadoutcomes.Astrictliabilityrulecanleadtothesociallyoptimalaud

15、itprovideddamagesaresetatthesociallyoptimalinvestmentlevel.Investmentswilloccuratthesociallyoptimallevelifdamagesdonotvarywiththelevelofinvestment.Hencealternativelegalregimesthatconsistofdamagesthataresetindependentofth

16、eactualinvestmentcanachievesocialoptimum.Underastrictliabilityruledamagesshouldbemadeequallytothesociallyoptimalinvestmentindependentoftheactualinvestmentindertocausesocialoptimum.Inducingthesociallyoptimalauditefftinves

17、tmentunderthevaguenegligenceliabilityrulerequiresIOIdamagespaymentsthataresettobalancetheconflictingeffteffectsthatareelicitedbythevaguenegligenceliabilityrule.Settingthe“crect“damageamountthatwouldinducethesociallyoptim

18、alefftunderthevaguenegligenceruleappearstoimposemuchgreaterinfmationalrequirementsonthecourtsthanisneededunderthestrictliabilityrule.Thusalthoughthevaguenegligencerulecanelicitthesocialoptimumtheexcessiveinfmationnecessa