會計師同時提供ESG確信服務對審計品質之影響

The Impact of Auditors Providing ESG Assurance Services on Audit Quality

本研究分別以會計師事務所層級與個人層級探討，當會計師同時對同一客戶提供永續報告書確信與財務報表審計服務（本研究亦簡稱為雙重服務）對審計品質之影響，並進一步測試ESG確信服務之產業專家是否具調節效果。實證結果發現，當會計師個人同時提供雙重服務時，與審計品質呈顯著負相關。然而，若會計師個人為ESG確信服務之產業專家時，則能顯著減緩前述之正向關係，顯示具備ESG產業相關知識能使會計師確保自身之專業能力，進而維持審計品質。額外測試則發現，當會計師對客戶之經濟依賴性較高時，會加劇提供雙重服務對審計品質之負向影響。此外，當主簽會計師任期越長或其產業查核經驗越長時，亦能有效減緩同時提供雙重服務而導致審計品質低落之情況。

This study investigates whether audit quality is affected by concurrently providing sustainability report assurance and financial statement audit services (also referred to as“dual services”) to the same client, at both the firm and individual auditor levels. We further examine the moderating role of ESG assurance industry specialization. Our findings indicate that when individual auditors provide dual services, it is negatively associated with audit quality. However, individual auditors with ESG assurance industry specialization mitigate the negative association, suggesting that possessing ESG-specific industry knowledge enables auditors to ensure their professional competence, thereby maintaining audit quality. Additional tests reveal that high economic dependence on clients exacerbates the negative association between dual services provision and audit quality. Moreover, lead auditors with longer tenure or greater industry-related audit experience alleviate the decline in audit quality resulting from the provision of dual services.