Although the detrimental impact of traffic congestion on firm operations and human health is widely acknowledged, it is unclear whether auditors perceive traffic congestion as a risk factor. We posit and find that the traffic congestion levels in audit clients' domicile cities are positively associated with audit fees. Using a structured equation model, we identify and illustrate several channels that explain the effect of traffic congestion on audit fees. We also find evidence of audit fee increases after events that expose clients to higher levels of traffic congestion. Finally, the effect of traffic congestion on audit fees is more pronounced when clients have higher operation concentration near their headquarters or when auditors' offices are located near clients’ headquarters. Collectively, our findings suggest that auditors view traffic congestion as a risk factor that is priced into audit fees.

中文翻译：

---

交通拥堵：审计师会对交通拥堵定价吗？

尽管交通拥堵对公司运营和人类健康的不利影响已得到广泛承认，但尚不清楚审计师是否将交通拥堵视为一个风险因素。我们假设并发现审计客户所在城市的交通拥堵程度与审计费用呈正相关。使用结构化方程模型，我们确定并说明了解释交通拥堵对审计费用影响的几种渠道。我们还发现了在导致客户面临更高程度的交通拥堵的事件发生后审计费用增加的证据。最后，当客户在其总部附近经营集中度较高或当审计师办公室位于客户总部附近时，交通拥堵对审计费用的影响更为明显。总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，审计师将交通拥堵视为一个风险因素，并已计入审计费用中。