Does reduced boilerplate of KAMs indicate increased audit effort? Evidence from China

By examining the effects of media coverage and legal environment and the modifying effect of auditors' market shares, this paper investigates whether reduced boilerplate of key audit matters (KAMs) reflects increased audit effort. Our findings indicate that auditors can change boilerplate of KAMs according to the tone of media coverage: auditors may reduce boilerplate of KAMs when firms are exposed to more negative media coverage and may increase boilerplate of KAMs when firms are exposed to more positive media coverage. Auditors of firms that are exposed to weaker legal environment reduce boilerplate of KAMs. Boilerplate of KAMs disclosed by audit firms with larger market shares is more significantly influenced by negative media coverage and legal environment than those with smaller market shares. Additionally, the effects of media coverage and legal environment on boilerplate of KAMs are only significant for the sub-samples with non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) and higher information symmetry. These results prove that reduced boilerplate of KAMs reflects increased audit effort.