방역작업자의 브롬화메틸(methyl bromide) 노출수준과 생물학적 모니터링

이종성,이용학,신재훈,최정근,오차재,정호근 한국산업위생학회 2001 한국산업보건학회지 Vol.11 No.3

This study was performed to estimate environmental and biological monitoring of worker exposed to methyl bromide through quarantine fumigation. Airborne methyl bromide and it's metabolites were analyzed by gas chromatography and ion chromatography, respectively. The results are as followings; airborne concentration of methyl bromide(TWA) was 2.08±1.56 ppm(N=8). Dispersion and setting/degas groups were 0.67±0.12 ppm(N=2) and 2.54±1.53ppm(N=6), respectively. Bromide ion concentration in serum was 23.40±14.91㎎/ℓ(N=10) in the exposed workers and 4.74±0.82㎎/ℓ(N=21) in the non-exposed workers. Bromide ion concentration in urine was 35.56±26.89㎎/ℓ(N=11) in exposed group and 6.62±2.31㎎/ℓ(N=21) in non-exposed group. Good correlation was observed between concentration of serum and urine(r^2=0.890 p<0.01). No significant correlations of other determinanats were observed. Calcuated from a regressive curve. the biological half lifes of serum and urine were 10.7 and 5.9 days. In these results, biological monitoring of bromide ion of serum and urine provided useful information for evaluating exposure of workers to methyl bromide, so that an availability of bromide ion of biological samples was showed as biological monitoring indices for methyl bromide.

Research Articles : Editor`s Note

( Jong Seo Choi ),( Jong Hag Choi ) 한국회계학회 2014 會計學硏究 Vol.39 No.6

The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Clients` Audit Opinion Shopping Behavior

( Jong Hag Choi ),( Heesun Chung ),( Catherine Heyjung Sonu ),( Yoonseok Zang ) 한국회계학회 2016 회계학연구 Vol.41 No.3

This study investigates whether the tendency for audit clients to engage in opinion shopping becomes weaker after the enforcement of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). While Lennox (2000) provides evidence that U.K. firms successfully engage in opinion shopping, there is limited evidence on the mitigating effect of SOX on opinion shopping. Using observations collected from the period before and after the enforcement of SOX (year 2001, 2004 and 2005), we find that, for our sample period, firms are likely to switch (retain) their incumbent auditors when the likelihood of receiving a going concern opinion is lower (higher) from a successor auditor, suggesting evidence of opinion shopping. More importantly, we find that firms are less likely to engage in opinion shopping after the enforcement of SOX. These findings suggest that more stringent legal and audit environment in the post-SOX period, at least partially, restricts firms’ opportunistic behavior of shopping for a better audit opinion and enhances auditor independence. These findings provide valuable implications to regulators as well as academicians and practitioners.

Editor`s Note

( Jong Seo Choi ),( Jong Hag Choi ) 한국회계학회 2015 會計學硏究 Vol.40 No.1

Audit Market Concentration and Audit Fees: An International Investigation

Jong-Hag Choi,Jeong-Bon Kim,Eugenia Y,Lee,Hee-Yeon Sunwoo 한국회계정보학회 2018 한국회계정보학회 학술대회발표집 Vol.2018 No.1

[Purpose] Several large auditor consolidations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, along with Arthur Andersen’s collapse in 2001, facilitated concentration in the global audit market. Subsequently, regulators have expressed serious concerns regarding the potential detrimental effects of this market concentration, including potential cartel pricing by dominant large auditors. However, several practitioners and academics do not agree with such concerns. To provide answers for such controversies, our study investigates the association between audit market concentration and audit fees. [Methodology] We use international data from 25 countries and proxy for audit market concentration using the Herfindahl index. [Findings] Our study yields two principal findings. First, there is, on average, no significant association between audit market concentration and audit fees. Second, a country’s legal regime changes this association dramatically: while the association is significantly positive in countries with a weak legal regime, it becomes weaker and eventually turns negative as the legal regime becomes stronger. [Implications] These findings will provide regulators and other stakeholders with important insights into the effects of audit market structure on audit pricing.

신화조선과 혁신조선의 자산재평가 의사결정 사례

최종학 ( Jong Hag Choi ) 한국회계학회 2010 회계저널 Vol.19 No.4

감사인 교체연도의 이익조정 수준과 전임 감사인의 계속감사기간 사이의 관계

최종학(Jong Hag Choi),최선화(Sun Hwa Choi) 한국경영학회 2008 經營學硏究 Vol.37 No.4

The accounting scandals of Enron occurred in year 2001 greatly influence world economy. One of the reason for the audit failure of Arthur Andersen to fail to find the cooked book of Enron is regarded as the extended auditor tenure of Arthur Andersen (22 years in a row) to audit Enron consecutively. Thus. after the Enron incident, auditor tenure has been received grater attention. Regulators called for the research on the effect of the auditor tenure on audit quality as well as financial reporting quality. They worry the potential audit quality impairment due to prolonged auditor tenure which could result in close relationship between auditor and client. In contrast, academic literature on auditor tenure has documented that longer auditor tenure is associated with lower levels of earnings management and more propensity to issue going-concern audit opinion. This finding is in sharp contrast with the popular beliefs of regulators but is consistent with the claim that auditors can gain firm-specific expertise over time. which enhances audit quality. This paper extends prior research by relating issues in auditor tenure and those in auditor change. This paper examines the association between the magnitude of earnings management by the client firms at the first year with a successor auditor and the tenure of the predecessor auditor in case of the auditor change. If successor auditor evaluates audit risk of the client high as the tenure of predecessor auditor increases. and if the successor auditor wants to avoid significant decline in audit quality. the successor auditor will increase audit effort. This will lead to lower level of earnings management. which is similar to the level of the earnings management before the auditor change. As a result. there would be significant relation between the tenure of predecessor auditor and the level of earnings management at the first year of auditor change. The sample is 384 firm-years which have changed auditor during 2002-2006. We chose the year of 2002 for the start of the sample period in order to avoid the potential effect of the mandatory auditor retention and rotation policies which became full effects starting from 2002. There is a great variety in he auditor tenure that tenure of prior auditor ranges from 1 year 05.89%) to more than 13 years (5.72%). The average of the tenure is about 4.79 years and he median of the tenure is 3 years. We use discretionary accruals estimated from modified Jones model as a proxy for audit quality. Our model examines the relation between absolute values of discretionary accruals at the first year with new auditor and prior auditor's tenure after controlling for other factors expected to affect the accruals. For our main analyses. we use the absolute value of discretionary accruals. which is the consistent method that used in prior studies. However. we also use he discretionary accruals after separating the full sample into sub-samples depending on the sign of the accruals in the sensitivity analyses. The empirical results support our hypothesis that the magnitude of earnings management at the first year with a successor auditor is negatively associated with the length of prior auditor's tenure. Specifically. the absolute value of discretionary accruals decreases with the tenure of prior auditor at a diminishing rate. Further test on signed (positive and negative) accruals reveals that new auditor constrains income-increasing accruals. Additional analysis suggests that the association is mainly driven by auditor change between a Big 4 and a non-Big 4 auditors, either the change from a Big 4 to a non-Big 4 auditor or the change from a non-Big 4 to a Big 4 auditor. The change from a Big 4 auditor to another Big 4 auditor or that from a non-Big 4 auditor to another non-Big 4 auditor is not significant in the relation. Compared to that of last year with prior auditor. the magnitude of earnings management at the first year with successor auditor has increased.

감사의견 구매 목적의 감사인 교체와 감사품질 하락

최종학(Jong-Hag Choi),정희선(Heesun Chung) 한국경영학회 2015 經營學硏究 Vol.44 No.6

본 연구는 국내 비상장기업을 대상으로 Lennox(2000)의 방법론을 적용하여 감사의견 구매 목적의 감사인 교체 현상이 존재하는지 살펴보고, 이러한 감사인 교체가 감사품질에 미치는 영향을 분석하였다. 비상장기업의 경우 상장기업과 비교하여 비적정의견을 받는 경우가 많은 반면, 감사인 교체에 대한 정책당국의 감독 및 감시가 상대적으로 철저하지 않으므로 감사의견을 개선할 목적의 감사인 교체가 가능할 것으로 예측하였다. 2006년부터 2013년까지 70,040 기업-년을 대상으로 분석한 결과, 현 감사인과 비교하여 후임 감사인으로부터 비적정의견을 받을 확률이 낮을 경우 감사인이 교체된 반면, 그 반대일 경우 현 감사인이 교체되지 않고 재고용되고 있음을 발견하였다. 이는 국내 비상장기업들이 의견구매 목적으로 감사인을 교체하고 있음을 지지하는 결과이다. 또한, 이러한 의견구매 목적의 감사인 교체 이후 성과조정 재량적 발생액이 증가하는 것으로 나타났다. 수준(level) 변수를 이용한 분석뿐 아니라 변화(change) 변수를 이용한 분석에서도 유사한 결과가 발견되었다. 특히, 이러한 감사품질 저하 현상은 감사법인이 non-Big 4로부터 다른 non-Big 4로 변경될 때 더욱 뚜렷하게 나타났다. 이 발견은 규제기관과 이해관계자들에게 여러 중요한 시사점을 제시할 것으로 기대된다.

비감사서비스의 제공이 감사인의 독립성에 미치는 영향에 대한 연구들의 비판적 검토 및 제안

최종학(Jong-Hag Choi) 한국산업경영학회 2008 경영연구 Vol.23 No.1

  2001년 미국의 Enron사는 분식회계 결과가 공표된 후 파산하였고, Enron사의 회계감사를 실시하였던 Arthur Andersen 역시 청산되었다. 이러한 일련의 사건들은, 감사서비스와 더불어 비감사 서비스를 동시에 제공하고 있는 회계법인들의 독립성에 심각한 의심을 품게 하는 계기가 되었다. 미국 의회는 2002년 7월에 사베인스-옥슬리 법안을 통과시켜 동일 감사인의 비감사서비스 중 9가지 사항을 제한하였고, 이러한 움직임에 따라 금융감독원도 동일 감사인이 제공하는 비감사서비스의 종류를 일부 제한하였다. 이러한 상황하에서 현재 세계 회계학계의 가장 큰 관심사중의 하나는 비감사서비스의 제공이 과연 회계감사인의 독립성을 해치느냐 하는 것으로서, 현재 국내외에서 이 분야에 대한 수많은 연구들이 이미 진행되었거나, 현재 진행 중이다.<BR>  본 연구에서는 이 주제에 대한 선행연구들을 회계법인이 비감사서비스를 피감사 회사에 제공하는 것이 1) 회계감사의견, 2) 회계발생액(accruals), 3) 시장참가자의 반응, 4) 회계감사 보수와 어떻게 관련이 있느냐 하는 것과, 5) 비감사서비스 구매의 유형과 동기의 다섯 가지 세부주제로 구분하여, 이에 대한 종합적인 비판적 고찰을 수행하였다. 총 50개 이상의 선행연구들이 분석 대상이 되었다. 문헌연구가 빠지기 쉬운 나열식 해설이 아니라 전체적인 주제별 분류를 통하여 숲을 볼 수 있도록 하였으며, 각각의 연구들을 개별적으로 설명한 후 추가적으로 비판적 고찰을 통하여 기존 연구들의 연구주제 및 연구방법론상의 문제점들을 설명하였다. 추가적으로 미래에 가능한 후속 연구들도 소개하였다.<BR>  이러한 분석적 고찰은 실무계 및 규제기관의 담당자들이 회계학 학술연구의 결과를 보다 손쉽게 접할 수 있게 하여 의사결정에 이용할 수 있을 것이다. 학계에서도 본 연구를 이용하여 과거의 선행연구들을 손쉽게 정리 및 비교할 수 있을 것이며, 연구방법론 등을 학습하여 후속 연구에 이용할 수 있을 것으로 기대된다. 또한 본 연구에 소개된 미래에 연구가능한 주제들을 이용하여 후속 연구를 수행할 수도 있을 것이다.   Enron bankrupted in 2001 after revealing a massive accounting fraud. Subsequently, Arthur Andersen, the auditor of Enron, disrupted in turmoil. Public was in a shock and doubted the independence of auditors who provide both audit and consulting service to a same client, such as the case of Arthur Andersen. The U.S. congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley Act in July 2002, which restricted the provisions of several kinds of consulting service provided by auditors. The Financial Advisory Service of Korea is also considering a similar regulation. In this situation, one of the hottest topic in accounting research is if the provision of non-audit service actually impairs auditor independence.<BR>  This paper critically reviews prior research on this issue. This paper classifies the research into five categories based on the sub-subjects of the research. Those sub-subjects are the relationship between the provision of non-audit service by auditor and 1) audit opinion, 2) accounting accruals, 3) the response of the market participants, and 4) audit fee; as well as 5) the motivation/type to purchase non-audit service by clients. Within each subject, this paper reviews individual research to provide a clear understanding of the research as well as the subject itself to provide a general picture on the subject.<BR>  Practitioners and regulators may use this study in understating past scientific studies easily. It is also expected that this study help academics in summarizing strengths and weakness of past research and methodologies.

한국테크랜드 분식회계 및 부실감사 사례

최종학 ( Jong-hag Choi ),안혜진 ( Hyejin Ahn ),황인이 ( Iny Hwang ) 한국회계학회 2016 회계저널 Vol.25 No.1

한국테크랜드는 홈페이지 구축 소프트웨어 전문개발업체로 설립되었으며, 네트워크보안기술을 개발하며 벤처기업으로 성장하여 2001년 코스닥시장에 상장하였다. 이후 대테러장비 및 기능성 식약품으로 사업을 확장하고, 일본 및 중국으로 진출하는 등 적극적 인행보를 보였으나 계속되는 영업부진 및 투자손실 등으로 경영난에 시달리게 되었다. 한국테크랜드는 결국 증권선물위원회의 감리 결과 분식회계 사실이 밝혀졌고, 경영진의 횡령ㆍ배임 사실이 함께 드러나면서 상장폐지 되었다. 한국테크랜드는 단기대여금을 과대계상하고, 특수관계자 매출 등을 허위계상, 매출액을 과대계상하는 등 분식회계를 하였으며, 분식회계가 이루어지는 동안의 외부감사인인 A 회계법인과 B 회계법인은 재고자산, 매출 및 매출채권 등에 대한 감사를 소홀히 한 것으로 확인되었다. 본 사례를 통해 성공한 벤처기업의 전형이었던 한국테크랜드가 쇠락해 가면서 생겨난 경영진의 도덕적 해이와 분식회계, 그리고 이를 발견하지 못했던 부실감사에 대해 살펴보고, 경영진의 횡령, 배임과 회계부정에 쓰인 구체적인 방법들을 파악해 볼 수 있다. 또한 외부감사인이 회계감사를 통해 왜 회계부정을 적발하지 못하였는지, 그리고 중소기업 감사 시 외부감사인이 어떤 점을 유의해야 하는지 알아보도록 하자. Korea Techland Ltd. (KTL henceforth) was established in 1997 as a software developer. At initial stage, KTL successfully developed networksecurity software and grow rapidly as internet was widely used and homepage became popular in the late 1990’s. As a successful venture enterprise, the firm was listed in KOSDAQ market in 2001. After the listing, the firm expand its business areas to anti-terrorism equipments, related education and consulting, nutritional supplement delivery system, and clothing shopping mall. In addition, KTL started operations in Japan and China. Although KTL pursued aggressive expansion strategy, KTL’s new attempts turned out unsuccessful. The firm’s operating performance was getting deteriorated and the firm actually suffered continuing losses from its operation and new investment. The firm changed its name when the management switched its main business to another. After all, the post-audit review performed by Korean Financial Supervisory Service revealed that KTL committed accounting fraud to inflate firm performance. The management also committed misappropriation and malpractice. As a result, the firm was delisted eventually. KTL was revealed to have overstated short-term loan, sales to the related parties, account receivables and inventory. The firm asserted that the sales of security equipment occurred via the related party located in Japan and considerable inventories were also kept in Japan. However, all the assertions of the management were found to be false. The sales through related parties were fictitious and the inventory did not exist in Japan. Moreover, the firm did not recognize impairment losses from long-term investment asset and intangible asset. Overall, KTL understated net loss amount by 44.4% in 2008, 8.7% in 2009, and 79.4% in 2010. After reflecting all the adjustments, net asset of KTL decreases from 45,550 million won in 2008 to 15,254 million won in 2010. Throughout the 3 years, adjusted sales were all below 3,000 million won which is the amount of criteria for judging delisting. In spite of such a serious problem inherent in financial statement reporting, two audit firms that audited KTL for 2008 and 2009 failed to find out the accounting fraud and did not perform quality audit. Although the two audit firms recognized that KTL experienced consecutive operating losses and was under the pressure of delisting, they did not conduct appropriate audit process. First, they ignored the importance of audit risk assessment which reflects the risk of business, accounting system, and internal control of the client firm. If they have assessed audit risk as high and thus reflect the risk in the audit process, they would expand audit scope and increase substantive tests. Second, they did not evaluate collectibility of loan and did not assess its collateral, which enables KTL to overstate its short-term loan. Third, the auditors did not focus on abnormally large transactions with related parties and thus miss fictitious sales. In addition, they did not confirm the existence of inventory in Japan. Although the inventory was in the foreign country, the auditors should have request cooperation of accounting firms in Japan to confirm the existence of inventory if the amount of inventory was significant. Lastly, the audit firms did not review financial statement of investee to assess the long-term equity investment and intangible asset(sales right). At that time, the operating performance of investee located in U.S. was deteriorated and the operation of main production facilities was already stopped in 2010. But, the auditors did not notice the facts and just accept the amount of equity investment suggested by KTL. Through this case, students can understand the deteriorating process of a venture firm and accounting frauds occurred in the process. More specifically, students are able to learn the ways that the management of KTL used to commit accounting fraud and why audit firms fail to find the fraud. Also, students can find out features of external audit of small and medium-sized firms. Even though the management of small and medium-sized firms are more likely to commit misappropriation and malpractice, and thus exposed to higher audit risk, auditors tend to input relatively smaller audit efforts due to the small audit fees of such clients. From this case, we need to perceive the importance of thorough audit risk assessment for small and medium-sized firms, sufficient audit efforts based on the assessed audit risk, and the realization of audit fees to support the enough audit efforts.