ChatGPT, a language-learning model chatbot, has garnered considerable attention for its ability to respond to users’ questions. Using data from 14 countries and 186 institutions, we compare ChatGPT and student performance for 28,085 questions from accounting assessments and textbook test banks. As of January 2023, ChatGPT provides correct answers for 56.5 percent of questions and partially correct answers for an additional 9.4 percent of questions. When considering point values for questions, students significantly outperform ChatGPT with a 76.7 percent average on assessments compared to 47.5 percent for ChatGPT if no partial credit is awarded and 56.5 percent if partial credit is awarded. Still, ChatGPT performs better than the student average for 15.8 percent of assessments when we include partial credit. We provide evidence of how ChatGPT performs on different question types, accounting topics, class levels, open/closed assessments, and test bank questions. We also discuss implications for accounting education and research.
Auditors who engage in unethical behavior often face subsequent reputational damage, such as loss of market share to competing auditors. KPMG was recently embroiled in a high-profile scandal that involved prominent members of the firm inappropriately receiving confidential information about upcoming PCAOB inspections. This article summarizes a study by Hale and Truelson (2022) that analyzes the effect of the scandal on KPMG’s reputation within the audit marketplace. Specifically, the study examines KPMG’s ability to attract new clients, the types of clients acquired, and audit fees charged to new clients. We then conclude by discussing the implications of the scandal on audit practitioners, regulators, and academics.
Motivated by prior literature on organizational identification and 23 semistructured interviews with a variety of US audit partners and directors, we examine whether the gender and ethnic diversity of an office's audit partners influences the retention of the office's audit professionals and the quality of the audits conducted by the office. Using hand‐collected data on US audit partners, we find that greater levels of (or changes in) diversity in office audit partners' gender and ethnicity are associated with lower (reduced) turnover among office audit professionals and higher (increased) office‐level audit quality. We conduct a path analysis based on the most common mechanisms highlighted in our interviews to provide further insight into the audit quality results. The results indicate partial mediation through increased retention, greater gender and ethnic diversity among office audit personnel, client continuity, and increased efficiency. Further tests reveal that the association with audit quality is incremental to, and distinct from, the effect of individual engagement partner characteristics and does not reflect client screening. The findings underscore the importance of gender and ethnic diversity among office audit partners to organizational outcomes and provide important practical implications for audit firms.
and workshop participants at Virginia Tech. Ling Lisic gratefully acknowledges financial support from the L. Mahlon Harrell Junior Faculty Fellowship at Virginia Tech, and Timothy Seidel gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Glen D. Ardis Fellowship at Brigham Young University.
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