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Home | News | How jurisdictions oversee auditors and why it matters in the Journal of Accounting Research
News | June 26, 2026

How jurisdictions oversee auditors and why it matters in the Journal of Accounting Research

Independent oversight of auditors has become an important part of financial regulation worldwide. A new international study co-authored by research fellow Ulrike Thuerheimer (University of Amsterdam) examines how countries set up public audit oversight bodies (POBs) and what these choices mean for audit quality.

How jurisdictions oversee auditors and why it matters in the Journal of Accounting Research
The paper ‘Establishment of National Public Audit Oversight Boards: Descriptive Evidence and Implications for Audit Quality’ by Ulrike Thuerheimer and co-authors Elizabeth Carson (UNSW Sydney, Australia), Phillip Lamoreaux (Arizona State University, United States), Roger Simnett (Monash University, Australia) and Ann Vanstraelen (Maastricht University) appeared in the Journal of Accounting Research (March 2026).
 
The European Commission announced the intent to start a audit supervision reform last September. Based on the findings in the publication, Thuerheimer has taken part in bilateral stakeholder discussions with staff of the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services, and Capital Markets Union of the European Commission. She provided academic input into the consultation process late last year. The researchers hope that their insights into the design of public audit oversight will help inform further harmonisation and strengthening of audit supervision in Europe.
 

On the website of Amsterdam Business School, you can find the full news item about the publication and learn why some countries move faster than others to adopt this type of oversight and whether oversight bodies improve audit quality.  

Paper Abstract 

We investigate the establishment of public audit oversight bodies (POBs) worldwide. We present descriptive evidence on POBs’ characteristics and factors influencing the timing of their establishment, finding that countries with stronger institutions, civil law traditions, and higher media attention to audit quality adopt POBs faster. While countries may choose similar POB design features, these choices do not align with the factors driving adoption speed. We also explore whether the finding of a positive impact on audit quality of the U.S. PCAOB generalizes to other countries. A difference-in-differences analysis over 20 years provides some evidence that POB establishment and their characteristics improve audit quality. However, the results appear sensitive to audit quality measures and research design. Our study offers the first broad-based investigation of POB adoption and provides important nuance on the relation between POBs and audit quality.

Article citation

Elizabeth Carson, Phillip Lamoreaux, Roger Simnett and Ann Vanstraelen (2026), 'Establishment of National Public Audit Oversight Boards: Descriptive Evidence and Implications for Audit Quality', Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 64, Issue 1, March 2026, p. 127-180 doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.70008.