The Effects of the Implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Audit Quality: An Examination of Financial Restatements

Abstract

This study examines how audit quality has changed since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) passed. First, this research includes information about the accounting profession over the past century. A literature review that considers audit quality and restatements along with the correlation between the two is also included in this paper. Additionally, this paper includes a study that analyzes audit quality based on financial restatements from 1993-2013. The study concludes that substantive quantitative evidence does not exist to indicate that audit quality has improved since SOX passed over ten years ago and addresses implications for various groups of stakeholders.