ARE AUDITORS MORE CONSERVATIVE?

Abstract

We examine whether conservative individuals are more likely to join and stay in the auditing profession. Our study is based on a database of college graduates in one major Chinese university over the period 2004-2014. Our data allow us to track the career path of each student from the initial university enrollment in the accounting major all the way up to five years after joining the auditing profession. We measure conservatism using two proxies based on each student’s selection of general education elective courses in the university. We find that more conservative students are more likely to choose accounting as their major. However, we find no evidence that the accounting major students who are more conservative are more likely to become auditors. In addition, we find that the auditors who are more conservative are more likely to remain in the auditing profession five years after graduation.