Conflicts of Interest and the Case of Auditor Independence¶
Moore, D. A., Tetlock, P. E., Tanlu, L., & Bazerman, M. H. (2006). Conflicts of Interest and the Case of Auditor Independence: Moral Seduction and Strategic Issue Cycling. Academy of Management Review, 31(1), 10-29.
Cited by¶
2 citations across 2 artifacts.
Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.
Mechanisms¶
- Audit or Attestation
- Its central failure mode is the captured verifier: when the examiner is selected and paid by the party being examined, independence quietly erodes until the opinion is a rubber stamp — the "who audits the auditor" problem, whose textbook case is Arthur Andersen's collapse after signing off on Enron's accounts.
This sourceExplains how client selection and payment can erode auditor independence, illustrated by Arthur Andersen and Enron.
- Its central failure mode is the captured verifier: when the examiner is selected and paid by the party being examined, independence quietly erodes until the opinion is a rubber stamp — the "who audits the auditor" problem, whose textbook case is Arthur Andersen's collapse after signing off on Enron's accounts.
- Third-Party Audit
- Its signature failure is capture — an auditor paid by, and repeatedly re-hired by, the audited party drifts toward the client's view, issuing comfortable findings that preserve the relationship; over time the "independent" assessor becomes a de facto insider.
This sourceExplains how client control over auditor hiring, fees, and continued relationships can gradually bias judgment, build common identity, and erode genuine independence even without deliberate corruption.
- Its signature failure is capture — an auditor paid by, and repeatedly re-hired by, the audited party drifts toward the client's view, issuing comfortable findings that preserve the relationship; over time the "independent" assessor becomes a de facto insider.
Verification¶
Does it exist? Confirmed. This work's DOI resolves to a registered record, which fixes its identity. That is all it fixes.
Does it back the claim? Not recorded. Neither this nor any other of the 2 citations of this work carries a recorded support check.
Was it audited? Yes. A second, independent pass read the citation against the article text and recorded a verdict.
Support is checked per citation rather than per work — the same source can be cited soundly in one article and wrongly in another. Per-citation recording began recently, so a citation with no recorded check is a gap in the record rather than evidence it went unchecked.
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