Imprinting Theory in Auditing: Auditors' Famine Experience and Audit Quality

ABSTRACT This study investigates whether auditors' famine experience influences audit quality. While imprinting theory is well documented in other fields, its applicability to auditors' behavior remains understudied. Employing the imprinting theory as a theoretical framework, we explore the role of early‐life traumatic experiences in shaping audit quality. Using 14,292 client‐year observations in China's A‐share market from 2003 to 2016, we find that auditors with famine experience tend to provide higher‐quality audits. Moreover, this positive relationship is predominantly evident among auditors who experienced famine during their childhood and adolescence. Additional analyses document further evidence on famine severity as an augmenting factor and confirm that risk prevention and ethics concern are two channels through which auditors' famine experience is related to audit quality. These findings align with the imprinting theory, suggesting that early‐life experiences can shape auditors' behaviors and decision‐making processes, ultimately influencing audit quality.