The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board hosted a two-day conference last week that highlighted economic research in topics of significance to the audit regulator’s mission.
Held in partnership with the journal Management Science, the PCAOB Office of Economic and Risk Analysis held the 2025 Registered Reports Conference on Sept. 26 and 27, which brought more than 115 researchers from around the world to Washington, D.C.
“The scholarly work of researchers is critically important to helping the PCAOB successfully carry out its mission,” PCAOB Acting Chair George Botic said in a statement. “Whether we are evaluating the effectiveness of auditing requirements, assessing our inspections, or anticipating how emerging technologies and trends in the marketplace will reshape the audit profession, evidence-based research is indispensable to our decision-making process.”
Nine research proposals were chosen for presentation at the conference out of 103 submitted following the PCAOB’s call for proposals. The proposals addressed three broader themes—the use of technology in the audit, audit market structure and incentives, and critical audit and financial reporting processes.
The specific topics included:
- The use of technology-based tools in auditing and its implications for audit quality and efficiency;
- How integrating generative AI in audit engagements affects auditors and audit outcomes;
- The scope and potential implications of private equity investment in accounting firms;
- Audit quality and efficiency implications of cross-country restructurings of global audit networks;
- The effects of auditor litigation risk on audit fees and outcomes;
- Audit partner labor market consequences of PCAOB and internal audit inspections;
- The effectiveness of engagement quality reviews in U.S. audits;
- Audit firm use of centralized audit teams; and
- Accounting service offshoring and financial reporting quality.
The proposals were selected for presentation following a blind review by PCAOB economists and Management Science reviewers. Conference attendees also discussed recent research addressing stakeholder perspectives on the role of audited financial statements and the PCAOB’s contribution to that role.
“This conference surfaces the most important and timely research ideas and puts them on a path to generate rigorous, data-driven insights,” said Joshua White, PhD, the PCAOB’s acting chief economist and director of its Office of Economic and Risk Analysis. “By leveraging the external research community and prioritizing evidence-based oversight, the PCAOB strengthens its capacity for robust economic analysis and advances its mission to protect investors.”
The conference agenda and proposals can be found here.
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