Research on the Impact of Corporate ESG Rating Divergence on Audit Fees

文章从审计费用视角出发，选取2019~2023年沪深A股上市公司数据作为样本，探讨ESG评级分歧与审计费用之间的影响效应和作用机制。研究发现，ESG评级分歧会导致审计费用的增加；机制检验结果表明，ESG评级分歧通过提高企业代理成本和媒体关注度来增加审计费用；异质性分析表明，对于采用非大规模会计师事务所进行审计的企业、公司治理水平低的企业而言，ESG评级分歧对审计费用的影响作用更大。This paper selects the data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2019~2023 as a sample from the perspective of audit fees, and discusses the impact effect and mechanism between ESG rating divergence and audit fees. The study found that ESG rating divergence can lead to an increase in audit fees; the results of the mechanism test show that ESG rating divergence increases audit fees by increasing corporate agency costs and media attention. The heterogeneity analysis shows that ESG rating divergence has a greater impact on audit fees for companies that use non-large-scale accounting firms for audits and companies with poor levels of corporate governance.