Do Familiarity With a Loan Applicant's Auditor and the Auditor's Associations With Past Borrowers Impact Lending Judgments?

Abstract

This study examines whether knowledge about a loan applicant's auditor affects commercial loan decisions. The research questions addressed are: (1) whether a loan officer's familiarity with an applicant's audit firm affects lending decisions, and (2) whether an applicant is negatively impacted by having an audit firm with a history of associations with past borrowers who have defaulted or who have experienced financial statement restatements or regulatory enforcement actions. Participating loan officers were assigned to one of four treatment groups formed by manipulating the above two factors. They made risk assessments of the loan applicant as well as providing probabilities of granting credit. Results indicate that familiarity with a borrower's audit firm reduced assessments of risk associated with lending, but this did not appear to translate into increasing the likelihood that lenders would approve the line of credit. The study also finds an adverse impact on risk assessments and lending decisions when a borrower's audit firm has a negative history of associations with past borrowers.

Citation

Schneider, A. (2023), "Do Familiarity With a Loan Applicant's Auditor and the Auditor's Associations With Past Borrowers Impact Lending Judgments?", Karim, K.E. (Ed.) Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research (Advances in Accounting Behavioural Research, Vol. 26), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 257-268. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1475-148820230000026009