The influence of auditor term length and term limits on US state general obligation bond ratings
Journal
Public Choice
ISSN
0048-5829
ISSN-Digital
1573-7101
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2012-01-01
Author(s)
Abstract
Improving transparency and enabling the principal to hold its agents accountable is a major issue in any principal agent relationship. This paper focuses on the role of public auditors in this task and presents evidence on the impact of auditor term length and term limits on government performance measured by state credit ratings at the US State level. I find no clear evidence for the influence of auditor term length, but strong evidence for a positive and significant influence of term limits on state credit ratings. Auditors who face a binding term limit are associated with higher credit ratings.
Language
English
Keywords
Public auditor
Term length
Term limit
Credit rating
Fiscal policy
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SEPS - Economic Policy
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Springer
Publisher place
Heidelberg
Volume
150
Number
1-2
Start page
27
End page
49
Pages
23
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
207846