About

Professor Roger D. Martin is the Cohen Family Business Minor and the Bicentennial Associate Professor of Commerce at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce. He holds a Ph.D. in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting from The University of Kansas. His expertise encompasses auditing and financial reporting, with a research focus on the impact of auditing, assurance services, and corporate governance mechanisms on the quality of information provided to external users of financial statements. His research involves analysis of archival market data and behavioral experimental data. Professor Martin has taught a variety of courses in financial, managerial, auditing, and ethics at McIntire and has been recognized for his teaching excellence with the University of Virginia All-University Teaching Award. He has served as President of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association and continues to hold several service roles within the organization. His professional experience includes working in the telecommunications industry with GTE Corp in accounting and finance, and serving as a telecommunications auditor and expert witness for the Kansas state regulatory commission. Before joining the University of Virginia, he was a faculty member at Southern Methodist University, Michigan State University, and Indiana University. He has also served as an Academic Fellow at the Securities & Exchange Commission during the 2008-2009 academic year. His scholarly work has been published in numerous reputable journals, and he has presented at national conferences and research workshops.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Economics
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Psychology
• Actuarial science
• Business
• Accounting

Selected publications

• How Do Look-Back Analyses and Evidence Specificity Affect Auditors' Planning Judgments?

  The Accounting Review · 2020 · 5 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Actuarial science
  • Psychology

  ABSTRACT During a look-back analysis, auditors review prior-period evidence to understand estimation inaccuracies and assess the reliability of management's estimation process. We find that evidence specificity moderates the relation between the consistency of an estimation inaccuracy with management's incentives and auditors' reliability assessments. The direction of an estimation inaccuracy has no effect on auditors' reliability assessments when the prior-period evidence is less specific. When prior-period evidence is more specific, auditors report the highest (lowest) reliability assessments of management's estimation process when an estimation inaccuracy is inconsistent (consistent) with management's incentives. Auditors' low reliability assessments in the more specific, consistent condition, however, do not translate to high risk assessments. Instead, specificity has a main effect on auditors' risk assessments. A follow-up experiment reveals, though, an inverse relation between auditors' reliability and risk assessments when auditors are provided procedures to address various levels of assessed misstatement risk.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Accounting Faculty Experiences with Practice-Oriented Fellowships

  Accounting Horizons · 2013-01-01 · 6 citations

  article

  SYNOPSIS We describe our experiences with practice-oriented fellowships along with survey data gathered from other full-time accounting faculty who participated in similar fellowships between 2000 and 2010 across a broad set of sponsoring organizations (including the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC], the Financial Accounting Standards Board [FASB], public accounting firms, and other organizations). Our survey results identify commonalities in (1) faculty members' backgrounds, (2) fellowship administration and logistical issues surrounding the transition into fellowships, (3) the nature of the work experience during the fellowship, (4) transitions back to academia following the fellowships, and (5) faculty members' evaluations of their fellowship experience. By reporting on the issues, costs, and benefits from participating in practice-oriented fellowships, we hope faculty will understand more about these opportunities and be more likely to participate in practice-oriented fellowships. We also hope that this paper helps universities and sponsoring organizations understand better the needs and concerns of faculty members who are considering whether to participate in these fellowships.

  PublisherDOI

• Audit Quality Indicators: Audit Practice Meets Audit Research

  Current Issues in Auditing · 2013-08-01 · 33 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  SUMMARY Regulators, audit firms, and academic researchers are exploring issues related to Audit Quality Indicators (AQIs), including how to optimize their use and how to anticipate the consequences of measuring, reporting, and monitoring AQIs on a routine basis. This article describes the main topics addressed by a panel discussion and participant breakout group discussions at a 2012 symposium hosted by the Center for Audit Quality. Topics include how AQIs could be useful to audit stakeholders, what we know from practice about the current state of AQIs, and how academic research might inform the development and use of AQIs by stakeholders.

  PublisherDOI

• Reflections on a Decade of SOX 404(b) Audit Production and Alternatives

  Accounting Horizons · 2013-12-01 · 44 citations

  articleOpen access

  SYNOPSIS Since passage of the quickly finalized Sarbanes-Oxley Act during July 2002, audit production in the U.S. has been substantially expanded by mandated internal control audits. The control audit mandate is unique to the U.S. and costly to apply, yet little is known about the conduct of control audits or the efficacy of lower-cost alternatives. This paper reflects our overall knowledge about control audit production and observation of a consistent message across public and limited non-public archival data, analytical studies, and numerous personal experiences of audit practitioners. Our primary observation is that, absent any financial misstatement, auditors find it difficult to identify material weaknesses in control design. Conversely, when auditors know about misstatements they can, and do, detect related material weaknesses and thereby identify most public companies found by mandated control audits to have ineffective controls. Thus, it appears possible to exploit this observation to identify and publicly disclose most companies with weak controls without incurring the cost of full internal control audits. We believe that U.S. markets could benefit from more transparency about the current U.S. audit production process and from informed debate about the best mechanism design for balancing the needs of all parties interested in internal control quality disclosure.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Accounting Faculty Experiences with Practice-Oriented Fellowships

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2012-07-30

  articleOpen access

  We describe our experiences with practice-oriented fellowships along with survey data gathered from other full-time accounting faculty who participated in similar fellowships between 2000 and 2010 across a broad set of sponsoring organizations (including the SEC, the FASB, public accounting firms, and other organizations). Our survey results identify commonalities in (1) faculty members’ backgrounds, (2) fellowship administration and logistical issues surrounding the transition into fellowships, (3) the nature of the work experience during the fellowship, (4) transitions back to academia following the fellowships, and (5) faculty members’ evaluations of their fellowship experience. By reporting on the issues, costs, and benefits from participating in practice-oriented fellowships, we hope faculty will understand more about these opportunities and be more likely to participate in practice-oriented fellowships. We also hope that this paper helps universities and sponsoring organizations understand better the needs and concerns of faculty members who are considering whether to participate in these fellowships.

  Publisher

• Some Observations about SOX 404(b) Control Process Audits

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2012-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Pre- and Post-Parturition Personality Factors In "Keep" versus "Give" Unwed Mothers

  Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy · 2012-02-27 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Unwed mothers who decide to place their child for adoption were compared, both pre- and post-parturition, with those who chose to keep their child. Dependent variables included locus of control, assertiveness, and self-concept, measured respectively by the James I-E scale, 16PF scales E, H & Q2, and Bill's Index of Adjustment and Values. It was found that in general, there are few differences between these two groups, but with a significant improvement in self-esteem by both groups post-parturition. The women who decide to keep their child have a high ideal self-concept following the birth, and are more conforming and conservative than the women who surrender their child. Les filles-meres qui ont decide de faire adopter leur enfant sont comparees a celles qui ont decide de garder leur enfant. Cette comparaison se fait en deux etapes: avant et apres la naissance de l'enfant. Les variables dependantes a l'etude etaient les suivantes: le foyer de controle, l'assurance et le concept de soi. L'echelle James I-E, les echelles E, Het Q2 du 16PF et l'Index d'ajustement et de valeur de Bill ont servi a mesurer ces variables. En general, peu de differences distinguent ces deux groupes. Cependant, on a note chez les deux groupes, apres avoir donne naissance, une amelioration significative dans le degre derespect de soi. Apres avoir donne naissance, les femmes qui gardent leur enfant ont un concept de soi qui incarne un ideal noble. De plus, elles se montrent plus conformistes et conservatrices que ;es femmes qui placent leur enfant en adoption.

  Publisher

• Risk Shifts in the Market for Audits: An Examination of Changes in Risk for “Second Tier” Audit Firms

  Auditing A Journal of Practice & Theory · 2009-10-22 · 125 citations

  articleSenior author

  SUMMARY: The market for audit services has been affected in recent years by significant changes like the demise of Andersen and the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. One impact of these market changes has been an increase in the frequency of auditor switches, and in particular, the frequency of clients switching from Big 4 auditors to smaller audit firms. We examine whether this switching activity has resulted in changes in the risk characteristics of publicly traded clients of Second Tier audit firms. This analysis is important as regulators are concerned about audit market concentration and would like to see the Second Tier audit firms expand their share of the publicly traded client market. Results indicate that Second Tier firms are accepting clients with potentially increased audit and client business risk characteristics relative to their existing client base, but they also appear to be “shedding” clients that have increased audit and client business risk characteristics relative to their existing client base. Some of the differences in risk characteristics for those departing clients are more pronounced in the period after 2000, when we expect the most significant changes in the audit market occurred. Second Tier auditors are increasingly exposed to more business risk as they accept larger clients coming from Big 4 predecessor auditors, which may increase their exposure to litigation.

  PublisherDOI

• Audit Qualifications of Income‐Decreasing Accounting Choices*

  Contemporary Accounting Research · 2006-06-01 · 6 citations

  article

  Abstract In this study we conduct an experiment to examine how qualifying an income‐decreasing accounting change in years of strong financial performance affects financial report users' assessments of strategic reporting, current financial performance, and future financial performance (performance over the next three years). We find that without the qualification, users viewed the income‐decreasing accounting change as relatively nonstrategic and that user assessments of current and future performance were not different. In the presence of the qualification, users believed that the accounting change was relatively strategic, and they discounted the income effect of the accounting change. We find further that their assessments of future performance were below their assessments of current performance but no different from the assessments of future performance in the absence of the qualification. Although our findings suggest that audit qualifications encourage users to be skeptical of income‐decreasing accounting changes, we find no evidence that they impose negative consequences on management in terms of lower assessments of financial performance.

  PublisherDOI

• Auditing Fair Value Measurements: A Synthesis of Relevant Research

  Accounting Horizons · 2006-09-01 · 185 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  To contribute to the PCAOB project on auditing fair value measurements (FVMs), we synthesize relevant academic literature to offer insights, conclusions, and future research directions for auditors, standard-setters, and academics focusing on auditing FVMs. We structure our synthesis along two dimensions: (1) an emphasis on the auditor's need to understand how FVMs are prepared, and (2) the audit steps and procedures necessary to verify and attest to FVMs, including an awareness of the potential biases inherent in auditing FVMs. Drawing primarily from the judgment and decision-making literature, we highlight a number of potential biases and limitations in the preparation and audit of FVMs. Additionally, we note that the specialized valuation knowledge necessary to effectively audit FVMs will be difficult for auditors to gain and maintain.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• William R. Kinney

  Indianapolis Zoo

  11 shared

• Marcy L. Shepardson

  Indiana University Bloomington

  10 shared

• Susan D. Krische

  American University

  6 shared

• T. Jeffrey Wilks

  Brigham Young University

  5 shared

• Donald G. Fischer

  3 shared

• Frank D. Hodge

  University of Washington

  3 shared

• Jamie Pratt

  Indiana University

  3 shared

• Lawrence F. Shepel

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• University of Virginia All-University Teaching Award