Title: Parental Occupation and Audit Labor Supply: Evidence on Auditors’ Career Choice, Career Advancement, and Audit Quality

Speaker: Limei Che, Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University

Time: 10:00-11:30, December 3rd, 2025 (Wednesday)

Venue: Room 1007, Mingde Business Building (Zhongguancun Campus)

Language: Chinese & English

ABSTRACT:

Auditor shortage is a global challenge for the auditing profession, with far-reaching implications for the audit market. Prior research in labor economics shows that family background strongly shapes individual career path. However, little is known about how family background, particularly parental occupation, affects audit labor supply. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether and how having an accountant parent influences individuals’ decisions to enter the auditing profession, their career advancement, and their job performance in terms of audit quality. Drawing on comprehensive Swedish data covering the entire population of employees in both audit firms and non-audit firms from 1999 to 2020, we find that individuals with at least one accountant parent are more likely to pursue career in auditing and achieve better career advancement, as reflected in a higher probability of becoming lead (signing) auditors and earnings higher salaries. Regarding audit quality, the results provide strong evidence that auditors with both parents being accountants deliver higher quality audits, while no such effect is observed when only one parent has worked as an accountant. These findings indicate that early exposure to the accounting work environment through parental occupation facilitates entry into the auditing profession and enhances career outcomes. This study underscores the potential for regulators and practitioners to mitigate auditor shortage by promoting initiatives that provide future auditors with earlier audit work exposure.