An empirical analysis of the petroleum refining industry's participation in the FASB's standard-setting process: Working paper series--99-04

Despite the recognized importance of constituent input in the Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB's) standard-setting process, corporate participation has been limited. Results from prior research indicate that differences exist between the petroleum industry and other industries for lobbying behavior, accounting choices, and tax rates. This study explores further the participation of Fortune 500 petroleum refining corporations in the FASB's standard-setting process from 1973-1997. Results in this study indicate that while petroleum companies comprise only 6.6 percent of Fortune 500 companies, they submitted approximately 18 percent of all Fortune 500 comment letters on the 173 documents preceding FAS Nos. 1-133, with an average of 18.4 percent of petroleum companies participating per document. The level of petroleum industry participation is affected by the scope of the standard under consideration and the time period the document was issued. Substantive standards generate significantly more letters from petroleum companies than amendments or industry standards. However, industry standards in the period 1973-1977 attracted the highest level of petroleum refining industry participation driven by the oil and gas industry documents issued in that period. All of the individual petroleum refining companies that are listed on the Fortune 500 throughout the 25-year period submitted comment letters, ranging from nine to 94 letters. Compared to individual companies in other industries, petroleum companies participate much more frequently. This provides some evidence of greater benefits of participation by the petroleum refining industry which may be the result of greater government regulation than for other industrie

The Influence Of Auditor And Client Characteristics On Auditor Use Of Analytical Procedures

This study examines the effect of certain characteristics of the audit situation and the auditor upon the extent and effectiveness of analytical procedures.  Results indicate that characteristics of the auditors (including the auditor’s knowledge of the client and the client’s industry, the auditor’s knowledge of analytical procedures, and the auditor’s perception of such techniques) are instrumental in the decision to use and rely upon analytical procedures