Abstract
The overarching objective of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive understanding of China’s audit oversight system, paying due attention to the development and transformation of China's audit oversight system from its inception in 1978. The audit oversight system is fundamental to the effective functioning of the market economy, gaining significance with the evolution of the financial sector. However, whereas prior studies extensively examine audit oversight systems in European and Anglo-American countries, the audit oversight in developing nations remains significantly underexplored. This thesis consists of three intra-independent studies offering an extensive investigation of China's audit oversight system.The first study employs cross-level institutional logics, derived from institutional theory, to examine the influence of societal logic on audit oversight logic between the period 1978 to 2007. This finding highlights the significance of the alignment between social logic and field logic on the efficacy of audit oversight.
The second study employs Bourdieu’s theory of social change to examine the tensions between the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CICPA) and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in its struggle for management of China’s audit oversight system. The negotiated contexts in which the CICPA and the MoF attempt to secure their role and status in the audit oversight led to the establishment of a system not comprised of absolute control but a system of joint responsibility and co oversight. The findings provide a counterargument to prior accounting research on China, portraying the CICPA as an interdependent body of the MoF.
The third study addresses the issue of transnational audit oversight becoming a significant phenomenon with growing transnational listings and the globalization of capital markets. This study relies on the concept of regulatory space in combination with Oliver's (1991) strategic responses, to investigate the power struggle between the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) in the US, on the transnational oversight authority of Chinese audit firms. The distinctive pattern of resistance strategies employed by both countries with power parity is underscored by this discovery.
Overall, the three studies combined examine the rationale, the process of the development, and the transformation of China’s audit oversight, in both the domestic and transnational arenas. This thesis also examines the actions, opinions, and influences of the relevant actors involved, thereby contributing to the research on audit oversight in China.
| Date of Award | 15 Jul 2026 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Wei Huang (Supervisor), Shuai Yuan (Supervisor) & Steven Dellaportas (Supervisor) |