Evaluate the major security problems currently being experienced in Essay

Evaluate the major security problems currently being experienced in the Middle East - Essay Example ysing security has involved a broad range of issues with respect to the state and its function as a protection system and a collective identity structure, and has raised questions based on an epistemological nature to study other levels of analysis between the local and the global. By challenging security issues in the context of mainstream studies, critical scholars have opened up space for new understandings of conï ¬â€šict and security in Middle Eastern regions. Although the Gulf war’s conflicts along with the Madrid peace process-opened the door for the Middle East peace talks, such developments created the context for seriously pursuing Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) in the early 1990s. It was clear that regional players in the post-Cold War period would be able to acquire this challenge of taking a more active role in ensuring their security in the regional context. However there were still some common security concerns that needed to be addressed through cooperative means. The 1990 Damascus declaration was the start of new military alliances between the Arab states and West for which the talks inaugurated between the issue of Israel and Middle East (Barnett, 1996). In an effort to digest the constraints confronted in the Arab-Israeli conflict, there left no option other than for the national security policies to rely either on weapons build-ups or deterrence in their attempts to deal with conventional and non-conventional threats. Therefore scholars and practitioners in order to secure the security realm of the Middle East started exploring the notion of mutually beneficial cooperation based on the progress of the bilateral peace negotiations. Since the think tanks were already taking keen interest in assessing the possibilities for creating some kind of regional security structure that would easily manage regional security threats in a comprehensive manner, therefore all they could engage themselves into was the analysis of conditions under

Criticism and Commentary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Criticism and Commentary - Assignment Example And of course certain production values and cinematic allusions were also recognized. Dark Shadows was also compared to other Burton movies. The review totally reflects most of the readers opinions but of course the author subtly manages to write the article in a way that the readers are less concerned. Generally the criticism is believable because it uses the movie and other Tim Burton movies as a reference to her points and other observations. What makes the author successful in making the viewer want to watch the movie (instead of the usual praises in a movie) is the author understands Tim Burton’s aesthetic and why the Tim Burton formula continues to work even after a lot of movies. She also knows what the viewers want. The critique is also very mild. It’s as if the critic is practicing the mantra â€Å"if you don’t have anything to say, shut up.† But the words, â€Å"Dark Shadows† isn’t among Mr. Burton’s most richly realized works, but it’s very enjoyable, visually sumptuous and, despite its lugubrious source material and a sporadic tremor of violence, surprisingly effervescent, truly capture the essence of the

Organisational Behaviour case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Organisational Behaviour case study - Essay Example Chain of command includes authority and unity of command. Span of control in the number of subordinates a manager can efficiently and effectively directs. Centralization is the degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in the organization. Consistent with the recent management efforts to make organization more flexible and responsive, there has been a marked trend towards decentralizing decision making. In a decentralized organization, action can be taken more quickly to solve problems, more people provide input into decisions, and employees are less likely to feel alienated from those who make the decisions that affect their work lives. Finally formalization refers to the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized. If a job is highly formalized, then the job incumbent has a minimum amount of discretion. . When formalization is low job behaviors are relatively non-programmed and employees have to freedom to exercise discretion in their work. In the County general hospital, reorganization of the structure of the administration teams within each department has to take place. To date, administrative staff within each department had reported solely to an administrative manager. ... Its major disadvantage is the difficulty to coordinating the task of diverse functional specialists so that their activities are completed on time and within budget. Service departmentalization on the other hand exactly the opposite benefits and advantages. It facilitates coordination among specialties to achieve on time completion and meet the budget targets. Furthermore, it provides clear responsibility for all activities related to a service, but with duplication of activities and costs. The matrix structure attempts to gain the strengths of each, while avoiding their weaknesses (Anderson, 1994). The strength of the matrix lies in its ability to facilitate coordination when the organization has a multiplicity of complex and interdependent activities. The direct and frequent contacts between the different specialists in the matrix can make for better communication and more flexibility. Information permeates the organization and more quickly reaches the people who need to take accou nt of it. It facilitates the efficient allocation of specialists. When individuals with highly specialized skills are lodged in one functional department or service group, their talents are monopolized and under used. The matrix achieves the advantages of economies of scale by providing the organization with both the best resources and the effective way of ensuring their efficient deployment. The major disadvantage of the matrix lies in the dual command chain. This results in confusion and ambiguity, role conflict and more stress to workers. But over the past decade, senior managers are working with new structural options that can better help their organizations to

Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example There are several applications that can provide a better outlook while ensuring that there is the ability to receive better alternatives with the competition. By working with a consultant, there is the ability to analyze and identify the problems which are occurring in a business as well as change several aspects to ensure that easier functioning occurs. When looking at the situation with News 4 U, it can be seen that alterations in the main system will also assist with a higher profit, ability to grow substantially and will help with alternatives in the business and the needs that are associated with this. 1.1 Company Background ‘News4u’ is a family newsagent business which was established in 2006 by Tanveer Ahmed. The independent sole trader is located in Southbridge of Edinburgh. There are four members of staff to help to run the business and to help assist with the store who are all members within the family, ‘News4u’ is open daily for fourteen hours bet ween the hours of 8-10pm. The newsagents provides to their customers daily products such as News papers, cigarettes, juice, crisps, stationary and a wide variety of Scottish Souvenirs. 1.2 Problem Background There are two areas that are continuing to provide complexities with â€Å"News 4 U† one which is based on the internal environment, and one which is based on the outcome from the external environment. The internal environment is currently having issues with the staff, specifically because of the small size of the business. There isn’t the ability to keep enough staff available for continuous shopping and to meet the demands of those that are in the store. This has created complexities in keeping the shop open for a longer period of time and is not allowing customers to receive the necessary support. Parallel to this problem are also issues with the paper work, which is currently out of date, and doesn’t provide a systematic way for employees and those overl ooking the business to keep up with the changes being made in the store. The second level of problems is based on the return from customers as well as the inability to keep up with competitors who are offering similar alternatives. Promotional deals are not providing the right alternatives for those working within the store. There are also difficulties with customers that are shopping in the store, specifically because of a lack of space that is available and a layout which is not conducive to seeing the variety of items which are available. By examining these aspects, there will be the ability to change the way in which the News 4 U works and to make the return more effective from customers and into relation to the competition. 2.0 Problem Exposition When looking at the particular problems with News 4 U, it can be seen that there needs to be an alteration first in the internal environment while connecting this to more efficient means with the external

Memoir of American Sniper Essay Example for Free

Memoir of American Sniper Essay Growing up in a small southern town, Kyle always loved the thrill of hunting, the adrenaline of a rodeo and the adventures of cowboys. Little did he know that his career would include each of these elements. Through his four tours of duty, Kyle served in many major battles of the Iraqi war and ranked over 160 confirmed kills. His first kill came in late March 2003. His Seal Team was tasked to assist the marines as they marched toward Baghdad. Set up on the roof of a run down building, he observed through his scope a woman yank a Chinese grenade from beneath her clothes. As ordered to, he opened fire and consequently saved several Americans’ lives. Over time he increased his accuracy and lethality. One day, he spotted a group of three insurgents 1,600 yards away. Though they believed they were a safe distance away, Kyle incredibly dialed up his own solution, and killed one of them; that shot resulted in his longest confirmed kill in Iraq. I liked this memoir because Kyle demonstrates his patriotism and his selflessness through his perilous adventures. Kyle enlisted in the Seals to honor America, and to protect her people. Chris â€Å"risked [his] life for [his] buddies, to protect [his] friends and fellow countrymen† (267). Furthermore, even though he had a newborn baby, he sacrificed his responsibility as a father in order to serve his country. His extreme patriotism and selflessness allowed him to become a legend.

US Political Polarization: Republicans and Democrats

US Political Polarization: Republicans and Democrats Partisanship has always existed in the United States. Though, there have been periods of decline and resurgence. But since the 1970s America has seen an increase in â€Å"party unity† votes in Congress. From 2009 to 2012 party unity votes was around 70%, a clear indication of polarization in Washington.[1] The ideological differences that exist within Congress is also indicative of the attitude of the general public. A majority of people are willing to call themselves Democrats or Republicans. â€Å"Party identification, like other attitudes, affects beliefs as well as opinions.†[2] Party affiliation is a significant tool to predict tendencies of voters, those that associate themselves with the Republican Party tend to vote Republican and those associated with the Democratic Party tend to vote Democrat. Presidential performance ratings are indication of polarization amongst the parties. Republicans tend to give a higher approval rating for Republicans and lower rating f or Democrats, and the opposite is true for Democrats.[3] Elections and politics in America have become more polarized than ever before. The foundation that created a more polarized America can be found in the changes in the media, campaign financing, and the way candidates are elected. The history of news media is one of an evolution of technology, practices, and regulatory environments that transformed the views of America. Years ago, the choices for Americans to get their news were limited to a few TV networks and local newspapers. The government instituted regulations over the broadcast news, such as the equal time provision-which required stations to provide equal access to candidates for office. The long standing FCC policy called the fairness doctrine perhaps was the most impactful in broadcast news. The policy created a condition in which news outlets were not targeting distinct core beliefs. Instead, the policy â€Å"required that stations devote a share of airtime to public affairs programming, and that they do so in a manner that is balanced and equitable.† [4] So essentially, people received the similar information at the same time. In the past the national news was delivered by few weekly papers but technological advances brought a great potentia l market of viewers. The introduction of cable and internet made mass communication easier and cheaper. In 2010, nearly every household in America had access to either: radio, television, and at least one mobile device.[5] Americans enjoy a greater variety of view points, and this abundance of new implies political polarization can occur. Consumers of new media rely on news source they find as reliable and tend to avoid information that contradicts their prior beliefs. Fox news a conservative news outlet has a high believability percentage among Republicans (77% in 2012) and a low believability percentage among Democrats (37% in 2012).[6] Liberal media outlets have a similar ratings, high believability among Democrats and low believability among Republicans. It is safe to assume those with conservative beliefs are more likely to tune into a conservative media outlet and those with liberal views are more likely to tune into a liberal media outlet. These media outlets provide a common narrative on current events, a narrative that is suited for their audience. The audiences in turn are being told what they want to hear. And with the capabilities of the internet, the media outlets are able to target specific audiences and tailor information to reinforce what they already believe. This abundance of new outlets and targeting by the media contributes to political polarization. Modern campaigns for federal office are generally very expensive. Assembling campaign teams, raising funds, hiring consultants and technical specialists are all activities that cost money. There is no way for most candidates to organize and run a competitive campaign without the flow of money. Currently, money spent on major federal campaigns comes from private sources.[7] Money coming in from private sources raises a couple of problems in elections. Money is distributed unequally, so it threatens democratic equality, meaning, someone with more money could have more influence on the outcome. This also raises the concern that elected officials are more willing to serve their contributors than their constituents. This is entirely possible and could lead to elected officials taking more extreme positions on issues in order to please their contributors. For its part the federal government has stepped in to regulate the flow of campaign financing, creating the FEC to enforce law and to co llect and publish detailed information on campaign contributions. A 2010 Supreme Court decision banned all limits on independent spending led to the creation of SuperPACs. SuperPacs are essentially independent committees pushing their own agenda to support a candidate or attack a candidate. Unfortunately, candidates have no control over the SuperPACs and how they spend their money. Nearly $1.3 billion was spent independently on federal campaigns by parties and PACs in 2012.[8] The money generated by the SuperPACS is mostly spent to purchase television adverstising. In 2012, over 3 million political ads aired from January 1 through Election Day.[9] There was a substantial increase in volume and cost of political ads from 2008 to 2012 and a substantial increase in attack ads from 51% of ads aired in 2008 were attack ads to 61% in 2012.[10] At the same time, nonparty independent expenditures in congressional elections grew from $120 million in 2008 to $500 million in 2012.[11] Perhaps there is a correlation between attack ads and raising campaign funds. A campaigns ability to demonize an opponent, which provokes fear and anger among his constituents, is enough to motivate the candidate’s base to donate and turn out to vote. Polarization in Congress is not new. The extent of Congressional polarization depends on many factors, one being Primary Elections. Elections in Primaries differ than those in a general election. In Primary elections candidates tend to shift their positions either to the left or right end of the spectrum. Once they secured their party’s nomination, they shift their position to a more moderate position to attract independent voters. Candidates follow this method of campaigning because Primary constituents are more extreme than those in a general election.[12] Elections in the America preserves American democracy. Allowing citizens to pick their representatives and replace those that under performed. â€Å"The threat of replacement provides elected officials with a powerful incentive to listen to their constituents.†[13] Some voters may punish representatives that make an unpopular vote on issues by replacing him with another representative. This competition in primaries help create polarization within Congress.[14] When faced with competition in the primary election candidates tend to take extreme positions. Republicans candidates that face no competition/opponent had an average primary position .77 and those that encountered an opponent had an average primary position of .85[15], a position further from the center. This is because primary voters care more about a candidate’s positions than the general election voting base. The 2010 Tea Party phenomenon is an example of extreme and engaged primary constituents. The Tea Party movement knocked mainstream conservatives out of the picture, which in turn, hurt the Republican Party in the general election because of their extreme positions. The extremism and activism that exists in primary elections contributes to the political polarization in America. The ideological divide between Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals is real. Polarization is not only present in the branches of government but also among the people. The political system that has been created has contributed greatly to the growth of polarization. The foundations can be traced back to the media’s influence over the public, financing of campaigns and the manner in which the public selects representatives. [1] Barry Burden, â€Å"The Polarizing Effects of Congressional Primaries,† in Galderisi et al. (eds.),  CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION (2001). [2] (KJKV).pg.466. [3] (KJKV).Pg. 447 [4] (KJKV).pg. 629 [5] (KJKV).pg. 640 – It is entirely possible that despite having a mobile phone, the device may not be able to surf the Web, which limits the potential information sharing in that household. [6] (KJKV).pg. 638 [7] (KJKV).pg. 508 [8] (KJKV).pg. 511 [9] Erika Franklin Fowler and Travis N. Ridout, â€Å"Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in  2012† [10] Erika Franklin Fowler and Travis N. Ridout, â€Å"Negative, Angry, and Ubiquitous: Political Advertising in 2012† [11] (KJKV).pg. 510 [12] Gary C. Jacobson, â€Å"The Electoral Origins of Polarized Politics: Evidence From the 2010 Cooperative  Congressional Election Study.† American Behavioral Scientist 56(12) 1612–1630. [13] (KJKV)Pg. 521 [14] Barry Burden, â€Å"The Polarizing Effects of Congressional Primaries,† in Galderisi et al. (eds.),  CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION (2001). [15] Barry Burden, â€Å"The Polarizing Effects of Congressional Primaries,† in Galderisi et al. (eds.),  CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARIES AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION (2001).

Effects of Audit Fees on Audit Quality

Effects of Audit Fees on Audit Quality Chapter 1 In this part of dissertation, there is a grief introduction about this dissertation, which includes the following context: the background and overview of related researches in this paper; the motivation for doing this study and a introduction of the structure of this paper. Introduction Firth (1997) notices that the responsibility of auditor is reporting comparative correct financial information to shareholders in an independent position. However, what makes regulators concern more about is the client-auditor relationship, especially the economic relation, which formed in the long-term cooperation may have impact on auditors independent position. For a long time, because of the dependence of auditors fees on client firms, therefore, the controversy about whether this economic dependence might impair auditors independence position and audit quality make many empirical researches in the area. The impairment of audit independence caused by the economic relationship will result in the audit opinion shopping. Previous studies consider about the affects of audit fees on audit quality in two ways: high audit fees paid to auditors may be the reflection of the complexity of auditing process and also increase auditors effort. However, on the other hand, large audit fees paid to auditors might easy to build the economic bonding between client and auditors, thus, auditors are easy to compromise to audit independence, as the fear of losing highly profitable fees. Though a lot studies have researched the relationship between audit fees and audit quality, most of the studies just have blue results for their studies (Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato, 2007). Basing on the theory that examining the fees paid by client firms will better analyze the relation between audit independence and audit quality, this paper uses the methodology consistent with the way used in previous studies, i.e. Kinney and Libby (2002), Choi, Kim and Zang (2006), Hoitash et al (2007), in which develop a methodology that is depended on the notion that audit fees related to expected fees have effect on audit independence and quality. Therefore, being same as previous studies here will use to audit fees model to measure the expected fees in order to compare with the actual fees paid to auditor. Using the methodology in Choi, Kim and Zangs (2006) study, the differences between actual fees and expected fees are divided into two parts: the positive one and negative one, which helps us to compare whether there is any different reflection when auditors are paid less or excess their expectation. As for the proxy for examining audit quality, the discretionary accruals mode l which drawn from previous literature are selected. As suggested by Choi, Kim and Zang (2006), the modified Jones model for discretionary accruals is used in this paper. The variables in models are selected according to previous studies which consider the influence on audit fees from perspectives of client firms sizes, auditing risk, complexity and the size of audit firms (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993). Beside dividing abnormal fees into positive subsample and negative subsample, the combined sample is cut into other two subsample which are based to the sizes of audit firms, which aims to examine the different behaviors to audit fees between BIG4 auditors and NON-BIG4 auditors. Thus, the objective in this paper is to prove whether abnormal fees might result in lower audit quality and whether there is different behavior to abnormal fees between BIG4 and NON-BIG4 auditors. Continuing the previous study which is finished by Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam (1993), this study uses the data collected from UK market in order to find out related evidence from this market and 787 observations cover the period from 2006-2008 are collected from UK quoted public companies will help to examine audit fees paid to auditors. In addition to examine the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality, this study also follows the investigation which is finished by Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003) which focuses the study on whether the payment of non-audit fees has influence on audit independence. To extent this study, the paper here will test the ratio of non-audit fees to total fees paid to auditors which aims to find whether there is a positive relation between increased ratio of non-audit fees and decreased audit quality. Being different with Ashbaugh et als (2003) research which analyzes non-audit fees in full sample, this non-audit fees here will be analyzed in subsample with positive abnormal fees and subsample of negative fees respectively, thus, whether non-audit fees have different influences on audit quality when auditors are paid higher or lower fees than their expectation should be examined. The motivation for doing this study is based on the aim that finding out whether the economic bonding between auditors and client firms is existed really, as this relationship is one of the most controversial topic in public and academic area, especially after the Enron even and the failure of Anderson, this topic motivates more and more interesting in this area. However, according to the results of previous studies, many studies failed to prove the existent of this relationship between auditors and client firms, and the results in other relative studies are ambiguous. Moreover, because of active economic environment and accounting events, most studies paid attention on American market, as for other markets, seldom of relative investigations can be found. The aim in this study is try to find out relative evidence from UK market. The structure of this paper follows: the next part is a literature review in related area which introduced both early and latest studies; and then is the development of hypotheses the resource of relative theory and the contribution of hypotheses are included in this part. The design of methodology is presented in chapter 4 which has a description of important models in detailed. Furthermore, the chapter after it is the description of sample and the result of test, which is also the center of this study. The limitation and conclusion will be displayed in the last chapter which gives an overview and comment of this study. Chapter 2 There is a literature review of relative studies in this part. The literature review covers the studies in relative area which includes the result of studies and the development of methodology related to the investigation. The primary previous studies are displayed and concluded in this chapter. 1. The importance of auditor independence Since the collapse of Enron in US and the scandal of Andersen, the worlds capital market confidence was reduced (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). A large of the attention is paid on accounting and auditing practices, especially on the auditor independence. As some scholars (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002) point about that the independence of auditor is the base of the public confidence to audit process and the guarantee of the quality of financial information. In addition to this, rather than a benefit to investors, auditing also reduces the cost of information exchange for two sides (Douch, 1980 and Simunic, 1982). From these words, we can easily know that a high quality of auditing information might ensure the reliability of market information, therefore, many experts in this area focus their empirical researched on factors for the reduction of auditor independence in order to find out the reasons for impairing auditor independence. The economic bonding between client and auditor account f or an important position in this kind of research. 2. Review on the payment of high audit fees on opinion shopping DeAngelo (1981) shows the evidence through investigating the low balling phenomenon in audit market that when audit firms have a significant economic benefit on client firms, audit quality and independence are easy to be reduced. The same as DeAngelos (1981) research, Magee and Tseng (1990) also have similar conclusion. Authors extend the previous research (DeAngelo, 1981) to find out in which condition the economic bonding may lead to the impairment of audit independence. The study provides a result that when auditors compensation is tied to the decision of audit opinion and then, their independence is more likely to compromise to economic bonding. Frankel, Johnson and Nelson (2002) take the research in this area to provide empirical evidence for the relation between audit fees and earnings management. Their study is based on data selected from 3074 proxy statement listed in SEC in the period from Feb 5, 2001 to June 15, 2001. The evidence of this research confirms the assumption th at there is an association between audit fees and the possibility of the compromise of audit independence. Kinney and Libby (2002) continue the research from Frankel, Johnson and Nelson (2002). Through analyzing the empirical research which has been done in the previous study, authors draw up a conclusion that auditors are probable to loss their independence in reducing their willingness to resist with client-induced biased in reporting audit opinion, when there is a strong economic benefit between auditors and clients. However, some empirical tests in the same area conclude the opposite results. Craswell, Stokes and Laughton (2002) do the research to indentify whether fee dependence have impairment on audit independence. They do the research from both aspects of national market level and local market level, but they find evidence neither from national market level and local market level can demonstrate that fee dependence has negative impact on audit quality. In other words, the economic bonding is not existed in the auditor-client relationship. In the following paragraphs, literature review about the impact of abnormal audit fees and non-audit fees on audit opinion shopping are shown. 2 .1 The review of abnormal audit fees on opinion shopping From the literature review above, the evidence for the opinion shopping through the behavior of paying high non-audit fees is still absent. And some auditors (Kanodia and Mukferji,1994) point out that switching incumbent auditors cause clients loss initial engagement and negotiate fees, beside this, switching auditors is less likely for client firms to achieve clean opinion (Chow and Rice, 1982) and event more conservative audit opinion (Krishnan, 1994). Therefore, comparing with paying high non-audit services fees and switching auditors, paying auditors with higher audit fees is a more efficient and less risk approach in opinion shopping (Fang and Hong, 2004). However, although there are some proofs can provide the assumption that higher audit fees, on some extent, can exert impact on audit quality, to analyze the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality, there are many factors should be concerned about, as these factors (no just economic bonding) also result in high fees. Some practitioners extend their research in this area by analyzing the association abnormal between audit fees and the changes in audit opinions. Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato (2007) consider the high audit fees paid to auditors on two aspects: one is the positive side which suggests paying high fees can increase auditors effort in their jobs, thus, the quality also be improved; the other is the negative side which suggests that high audit fees paid to auditors may enhance the economic dependence on clients, thus, auditors independence is easy to compromise to economic benefit and audit quality also reduced. In the research, they examine the fees paid to auditors between the period over 2000-2003, using two metrics to assess audit quality: the accruals quality measure and the absolute value of performance-adjusted discretionary accruals. They predict abnormal audit fees by using pricing model from previous studied Simunic (1980), and consider about the factors may have impact on fess pricing, such as risk, complexity, and company size. The outcome of this investigation shows the conclusion that abnormal audit fees might result in economic bonding and thus impair audit quality. Similarly, Choi, Kim, and Zang (2006) have the same category of abnormal audit fees: the positive abnormal fees and the negative abnormal fees, the sample in this research constituted by the data collected from 9820 listed large companies audit fees observations during 2000-2003 period. Study also choose model from Simunic (1980) to estimate the audit fees. The result of the regression model shows that evidence that the possibility of auditors independence compromise to economic bonding is depending on whether clients may pay higher audit fees than the normal fees. In another word, audit quality will be impaired by abnormal fees. Fang and Hong (2004) also issue the opinion about the abnormal fees that high fees paid to auditors may be caused by the real improvement in companies; therefore, the positive increase in audit opinion may also cause the increase in audit fees. Authors examine the relation between abnormal audit fees and audit quality by comparing the audit opinion in present year with the prior year, and find out the association between the abnormal fees and the changes of opinions. The database in this research is comprised by Chinese listed companies during the period from 2000-2002. Through the testing in regression model, authors find that the result is consistent with the positive relation between abnormal audit fees and improvement in audit opinion, which provides evidence that client companies succeed in opinion shopping through overpaying to auditors. 2.2 The relation between the size of audit firms and audit quality But one point worth researcher to notice is the higher payment of audit fees does not mean the tendency of opinion shopping necessarily. Some evidences from other area can proof that the purpose of opinion shopping is not the only reason of high audit fees. Simunic (1980) issues his opinion in the research of audit pricing that the competition in audit market is function of fees pricing. The same as this theory, the research on the low balling behavior (DeAngelo, 1981; Kanodia and Mukferji, 1994) confirm the opinion that competitive market will produce influence on audit fees. In addition to this, the audit firm sizes, the quality of auditors also have effects on audit price. Francis (1984) analyzes the effect from audit firm size on audit fees. Author researches for the evidences by comparing the differences of audit fees of Big-8 (Big-4 now) firms and of non-Big-8 firms over the period from 1974-1978 in Australian market. The research provides the evidence that there is larger size audit firms will result in higher audit fees, at the same time, study demonstrates that higher audit fee is consistent with higher audit quality. The similar research is done recently by Choi, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) through using a large sample from 1 5 countries and a cross-country regression. Beside this, study links the research to audit characteristic and legal environment. After analyzing the difference between the fees in Big-4 firms and non-Big-4 firms, authors achieve the conclusion that the relation between firm size and the level of audit fees is existed. According to the interview finished among auditors (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993), the BIG 6 and NON-BIG6 (BIG4 now) auditors confirm that the BIG6 premium might exist if comparing with very small audit firms, but no medium size firms. The interview here reflects a phenomenon that the difference in audit fees between BIG4 and NON-BIG4 audit firms are not so obvious. 2.3 The payment of non-audit services fees on opinion shopping The provision of non-audit services by audit firms to client firms is another controversial topic in opinion shopping. Policy makers argue that the provision of audit and non-audit services to same clients is possible to reduce the level of auditors independence (Houghton and Ikin, 2001). At the same time, auditors protect themselves by arguing that supplying non-audit services does not impair their independence, because these works are often be done by different partners and staff. For a long time, researchers have never stopped investigating in the area. 3. The influence of non-audit fees on audit independence As to the audit independence, there are many definitions for it. DeAngelo (1981a, p.186) defines audit independence as the conditional probability of reporting a discovered breach; Knapp (1985) provides the definition as the ability to resist client pressure; the definition from AICPA (1992) is an attitude/state of mind; according to Magill and Previts (1991) definition, audit independence is a function of character, with the attributes of integrity and trustworthiness being key and ISB (2000) defines audit independence as the freedom from those pressure and other factors that compromise, or can reasonably be expected to compromise, an auditors ability to make unbiased decisions. Although there are somewhat differences between those definitions of audit independence, they have a common point that is the importance of objectivity and integrity (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). Beside provide the audit services to clients, audit firms also provide other services to clients, these services are called non-audit services, such as management advisory and consulting, but the compliance related services, such as taxation and accounting advice, are also included in them. However, as many experts (Beattie, Brandit and Fearnley, 1996) point out that this kind of non-audit services related closely to the annual reporting round. Therefore, the use of consultancy for non-audit services is somewhat wrong. What is discussing most in academy about the provision of non-audit services is the potential conflict of interest faced by audit firms who receive large non-audit fees from their audit clients. For example, after the Enron case, it was disclosed that Andersen received $25m in audit services fees and $27m for non-audit fees (Beattie and Fearnley, 2002). So, such high non-audit services fees paid to audit make public and scholars to suspect that the provision of non-audit services increases the economic bonding between auditors and clients. Many investigations are based on the assumption that the provision of non-audit fees reduces auditors independence, as they fear for losing high profit engagement with clients in the future; therefore, they are probably to give up independence for high profit. 3.1 The review of the researches in association between non-audit fees and audit quality In the early 1980s, researchers had found that the percentage the revenues from providing other services in audit firms had increased lot (Barkess and Simnett, 1994). The early empirical study is done by Simunic (1984). Author establishes his study on the assumption that those client companies who purchase non-audit services have a higher audit fees paid to auditors than audit fees from those companies who do not purchase non-audit services, and both of them hire the same incumbent auditors. In this investigation, author just focus the test in Big-8 (Big-4 now) firms, which avoids the differences on audit quality, and selects a database compromise of 397 US listed companies. From the research, he finds out than there is a positive relation between non-audit services and audit fees. Simon (1985) continues previous research (Simunic, 1984) in this area by using more recent data in the period from 1978-1983. His research depends on the voluntary disclosure from proxy statements (the non-audit services fee is not disclosed that time). His research also produces the result that client firms who purchase non-audit services have higher audit fees than those companies without the engagement of non-audit services with audit firms. The evidence from UK market (Ezzamel, Gwilliam and Holland, 1996) constitutes the research on the data from 314 UK listed companies. From the study, authors found out similar result consistent with previous researches (Simunic, 1984; Simon, 1985). To be different from above studies, this study joints non-audit services with other factors together to investigate the effects on audit pricing. Many previous researches have confirmed the phenomenon that the positive relationship between the purchase of non-audit services and higher audit fees paid by clients exists. But the existence of this relationship causes regulators, practitioners and publics attention about whether this economic bonding between client firms and auditors might impair audit independence. Barkess and Simnett (1994) concern about independence on two aspects, one perspective is to examine whether those clients purchase other services from auditors are less likely to receive qualified opinion; the other one is the determination of the relationship between the provision of other services and audit service by comparing those companies who provide non-auditor services but do not change auditors and those companies change auditors. In the study, the sample is compromised by the Top 500 listed companies in Australia for each of the years from 1986 to 1990. From the study, they conclude the result that 85%of the companies in the research purchased non-audit services from the incumbent auditors and the increase in the percentage in stable in the period. In addition to this, their result supports the point that there is a positive relationship between audit fees and the provision of non-audit services. As far as the audit independence concerned, their research show that there i s not identified relationship between the supply of non-audit services and the type of audit report, as they found that there were 308 qualified opinions in the total sample of 2094 audit reports. Therefore, they concluded that there was not enough evidence can demonstrate the hypotheses that auditors were less likely to issue the qualified opinion when the level of non-audit services to clients was higher. In other words, the provision of other services does not impair audit independence. However, Wines (1994) concluded the opposite result by testing 100 public companies on the Australian Stock Exchange at 30th June 1980, in the sample, 24 of these companies were failed to do the test, therefore, and author examined the 76 left for over the period of ten years. From the test in these 76 listed companies, author drawn up the findings that 7 of 76 companies paid a higher level of remuneration for non-audit services to auditor than the provision of audit services and those companies with non-qualified opinion had higher payment of non-auditor services fees than those companies with qualified opinion (28 companies. Hence, Wines gives the summary that the evidences from the research in 76 listed companies associate with the assumption that the provision of non-audit services has impairment on auditors independence. Wines (1994) also points out the limitation in his research is difficulty in assessing audit quality by considering the frequency with which auditing firms iss ue qualified opinions. However, one problem in Barkess and Simnett (1994) and Wine (1994) studies is that their sample is not large enough in test. Craswell (1999) makes advantage in his study by using a larger data sample and makes the evidence related to auditors actual decisions. The fiscal-year data chose by author to examine are obtained from who audit Australia, the sample is consisted by 885 public listed companies in 1984, 1477 in 1987 and 1079 in 1994, the results show that in each of the year (1984, 1987, 1994) the result does not associate with the assumption that non-audit services have negative effect on auditor independence, which is consistent with Barkess and Simnett (1994). But one limitation in his research is that this study just compares the companies with qualified opinions with those companies with unqualified opinions, while a better test should compare the companies with qualified opinions with such companies with clean opinions but experienced problems and likely to raise qualifications. Although most of the investigation have done by researchers show that the provision of non-audit services does not impair audit independence, regulators still hold the assumption that auditors will prefer to give up their independence in order to obtain more non-audit services fees from clients (DeFond, Raghunandan and Subramanyam, 2002), especially after the Enron accounting scandal. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the Act) imposed the prohibition on the provision of non-auditor services, which based on the direction of enhancing auditor independence, reducing conflict of interest and the concern that all non-audit services were not created equal (American Institute of CPAs, 2002). At the same time, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, 2002) made the revision the Commissions regulations related to the non-audit services, which are consistent with the content in Sarbanes-Oxley Act. After the prohibition on non-auditor services added in Sarbanes-Oxley Act and SEC was carried out, many scholars continue the prior researches in this area. Frankel, Johnoson and Nelson (2002) used a sample constituted of 3074 proxy statements, used two indicators (discretionary accruals and the likelihood of firms meeting earning benchmark), to test whether audit independence would be reduced when the non-audit services grew. The consequence of the research indicates the evidence that there is an association for the assumption that auditors likely tend to sacrifice their independence when the non-audit services fee is high. Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003) continued this research, but the conclusion challenges the results made by Frankel, Johnoson and Nelson (2002). In the test, they used the same indicators as prior one. In the test, they find that there is no relation between positive discretionary accruals and auditor fee metrics; furthermore, their test proof that the relatio n between fee ratio and the likelihood that firms beat analysts forecasts is not existed, in other words, auditors independence will not compromise to clients high non-audit services fees. 4. Review of the development of models In empirical studies, the relative models will help to connect independent variables together in order to analyze the relation between each variable. In the study of the relation between audit fees and audit quality, the most important models are the model for measuring audit fees and audit quality. In this part, a review of the development and modification of two models is displayed. 4.1 Review of the development of audit fees model Since Simunic (1984) develops the audit fees model in order to predict the expected audit fees, the model has been developed lot in these years. In the beginning, Simunic (1984) provides the theory that the audit fees level will be affected by the several factors, such as the client firms sizes, the complexity of auditing process, audit firms sizes and audit risk. The following scholars provide the related variables for model which the used to decide expected audit fee. Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam (1993) point out in their study audit size is an explanatory variable which has important influence on the determinant audit fees. In the study, authors suggest to use the measurement of turnover to control audit size, which is also the measurement of client firms sizes. However, the use of turnover as determining is not unproblematic because the definitions of turnover are varying widely between companies and industries. Therefore, to measure audit size and client firms sizes, many researchers choose the total assets as variable. To consistent with previous studies, Ashbaugh, LaFond and Mayhew (2003); Choi, Kim and Zang (2006); and Hoitash, Markelevich and Barragato (2007) use the nature log of total assets to control client firms sizes and audit size. In addition to using total assets and turnover as proxies to audit size, on most investigations, likes Ashbaugh et al (2003) choose the number of employees to quantize audit size. Both of these scholars use number of business segments and geographic areas in measuring audit sizes. As for the measurement of complexity of audit process which is another reason for increasing audit fees, Chan et al (1993) suggest to use the number of subsidiaries to measure it. According to previous studies (Ashbaugh et al ,2003; Hoitash et al ,2007), the proportion of foreign subsidiaries will have influence on the increase of audit fees, therefore, the ratio between foreign subsidiaries and total number of subsidiaries is selected to measure this effect on audit fees. Furthermore, Choi, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) use the ratio of the sum of inventories and receivables to total assets to present complexity. Lastly, the dummy of gain or loss before extraordinary items is a popular variable in latest studies, such as the study in Hoitash et al (2007). The level of risk in audit processing is another factor causes increase in audit fees. Turley and Cooper (1991) provide the hypothesis that there is a positive relation between audit risk and audit fees. Chan et al (1993) predict higher risk makes consequence in higher audit fees is because auditors want to take the excess fees than normal level as an insurance premium and this hypothesis is supported by interview findings. Most of previous studies focus on using such variables as liquidity ratio (the ratio between current liabilities and current assets), and gearing ratio (the leverage), to test the level of audit quality. However, as previous scholars point out that the audit risk which is the reflection of the nature of the business of the enterprise and the control of enterprise is difficult to measure. Therefore, the subjective judgments in measuring audit risk are hard to avoid. The level of client firms performances is will also has impact on audit fees. According to the interviews between audit partners (Chan, Ezzamel and Gwilliam, 1993), it is confirmed that there is a link between the level of client firms profitability and the level of audit fees, and the association between them is negative. Furthermore, it is commonly agreed that when a client is facing with financial pressure is more likely to ask for controlling overhead costs wich might be result in higher audit fees. To measure the level of this variable, Chan et al (2003) use the return on equity to measure it, while other researchers like Hoitash et al (2007) and Chan, Kim, Liu and Simunic (2008) use the return on assets to measure this. Beside variables above, there are other potential reasons which might also cause the changes in audit fees. However, seldom of previous studies pay attention on these potential variables (Chan, Ezammel and Gwilliam, 1993) according to the study finished by Chan et al (1993), the control of ownership is also one of the variables in audit fees model. The hypothesis in their paper makes the assumption that the extension of audit services will be a factor in the ownership control as companies with a diverse ownership structure are required a higher quality audit. Therefore, the audit fees are increased. However, it is difficult to measure the extension of ownership control directly. The timing variable is another reason in the fluctuation of audit fees (Chan et al, 1993). According to the audit season in UK market, the accounting year between 1 December and 31 March is the busy season, others are non-busy, and the former season will increases audit fees as auditors have a comparatively shorter deadline in it. Moreover, though test, authors find that the legal liability also have impact on the level of audit fees, as the evidences demonstrate that legal liability is a fee-increase factor. Lastly, other variables, such as the location of auditors, are seldom be used as variables in investigations. 4.2 Review of the development of discretionary ac