关键审计事项结论性描述与股价同步性

陈峻博　郜进兴

（中国财政科学研究院）

摘要：在审计报告由合规披露向价值沟通转型的背景下，如何更好地发挥审计信息的沟通作用成为值得关注的议题。本文以2016—2023年沪深A股上市公司为研究样本，实证检验关键审计事项结论性描述对股价同步性的影响及其作用机制。研究发现，关键审计事项结论性描述能够降低股价同步性。机制分析表明，结论性描述通过缓解投资者的信息不对称、增强关键审计事项文本可读性和吸引投资者关注，降低股价同步性。交互效应分析发现，会计信息质量强化了结论性描述对股价同步性的抑制作用。异质性分析结果显示，当关键审计事项文本篇幅较长、相似度较高、审计师具有行业专长和分析师关注度较低时，结论性描述更能够降低股价同步性。此外，结论性描述能够影响个人投资者决策，并且审计师独立性越强，结论性描述对股价同步性的抑制作用越明显。本文的研究为规范关键审计事项披露制度提供参考，并有助于进一步发挥审计信息在资本市场中的积极作用。

关键词：关键审计事项；结论性描述；股价同步性；资本市场；信息供给；信息融入

作者简介：陈峻博，中国财政科学研究院博士研究生，北京，100142；郜进兴，中国财政科学研究院教授、博士生导师。

引用格式：陈峻博，郜进兴. 关键审计事项结论性描述与股价同步性［J］. 经济与管理研究，2026，47（10）：148-164.

Conclusive Descriptions of Key Audit Matters and Stock Price Synchronicity

CHEN Junbo, GAO Jinxing

(Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences, Beijing 100142)

Abstract: Exploring the governance mechanisms of stock price synchronicity has theoretical and practical implications for improving resource allocation efficiency and promoting the high-quality development of the real economy through capital market functions. Using data from A-share listed firms in China from 2016 to 2023, this paper investigates the effect of conclusive descriptions of key audit matters (KAMs) on stock price synchronicity.

The findings show that conclusive descriptions of KAMs reduce stock price synchronicity. Mechanism analysis suggests that the effect operates by mitigating information asymmetry among investors, improving the readability of the KAMs section, and attracting investor attention. The interaction effect shows that accounting information quality amplifies the inhibitory effect of KAMs conclusions on stock price synchronicity. Heterogeneity analyses show that this effect is stronger for longer and more similar KAMs disclosures, greater auditor industry expertise, and lower analyst coverage. Additional tests indicate that conclusive descriptions mainly influence the decision-making of individual investors and are unlikely to constitute false or misleading statements by auditors. Moreover, the inhibitory effect becomes more pronounced when auditor independence is stronger. These conclusions support standardizing the KAMs disclosure system and deepen the understanding of the positive role of audit information in capital markets.

This paper makes three contributions. First, by focusing on conclusive descriptions of KAMs, this paper extends the literature on the economic consequences of auditors’ behavioral decisions under a non-mandatory information disclosure framework. Taking stock price synchronicity as the focal variable, it examines the practical implications of auditors’ selective disclosure through conclusive descriptions of KAMs, thereby deepening understanding of the market spillover effects generated by the communicative value of audit information. Second, this paper enriches the literature on the governance of stock price synchronicity. Drawing on signaling, information entropy, information processing, and reputation theories, it reveals that conclusive descriptions increase the supply of firm-specific information and accelerate its incorporation into stock prices by conveying auditors’ risk perceptions, mitigating investors’ information asymmetry, improving paragraph readability, and attracting investor attention, thereby reducing stock price synchronicity. Third, this paper identifies the boundary conditions under which conclusive descriptions affect stock price synchronicity from the perspectives of KAMs’ textual characteristics, the external information environment, accounting firm attributes, auditor characteristics, and investor types. These findings provide theoretical insights and practical guidance for refining KAMs disclosure standards, strengthening accounting firms’ quality control systems, and encouraging investors to extract valuable information from textual disclosures in audit reports.

Keywords: key audit matters; conclusive description; stock price synchronicity; capital market; information supply; information integration

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