制度因素如何影响企业的会计质量和审计质量是会计研究的基本问题。本文以一个中外合资公司为例,分析了股东的动机如何影响会计的信息质量和审计需求,不同会计师事务所的审计行为如何影响审计质量。这个案例的特殊性在于:中外合资双方的股东根据自己的目的编制了两套会计报表,聘请了中外两家会计师事务所对会计报表进行审计。以两套会计报表的差异为基础,我们分析了两个股东的动机如何影响会计行为;以两家会计师事务所的审计行为为基础,我们分析了两家会计师事务所在审计判断、审计程序等方面的差异,从而判断不同事务所的审计质量差异。我们的研究发现,股东的动机对会计信息质量有显著的影响。中方的中央企业控股股东有利润最大化的动机,因此在会计方法的选择上过于激进,忽略了会计的稳健原则。合资公司美方股东对财务报表的真实性、准确性及良好的内控有更高的要求,其在会计方法的运用上偏重于使用稳健的会计方法,注重经营业务的实质。我们也发现,中方股东缺乏高质量的审计需求,其聘请的会计师事务所在审计判断、审计程序方面都存在诸多问题;而外方股东有高质量的审计需求,聘请“四大”之一的普华永道(PWC)作为会计师事务所,审计师在审计中较好地贯彻了审计准则的要求。通过比较分析,我们发现,PWC的审计质量明显高于该中央企业聘请的内资会计师事务所的审计质量。我们还发现,尽管外方股东持股比例很高,但是外方股东对合资公司会计信息质量的影响微乎其微,合资公司的会计信息质量只是反映了中方股东的动机。外方股东还需要发生额外的会计报表编制成本和审计成本才能获得高质量的会计信息。 How institutional factors affect corporate accounting quality and audit quality is a fundamental issue in accounting research. This paper uses a Sino-foreign joint venture company as an example to analyze how shareholders’ motivation affects the quality of information and audit requirements of accounting, and how the auditing behavior of different accounting firms affects audit quality. The particularity of this case is that the shareholders of the Sino-foreign joint ventures have prepared two sets of accounting statements based on their own purposes, and have hired two accounting firms, both Chinese and foreign, to audit the accounting statements. Based on the differences between the two sets of accounting statements, we analyzed how the motivations of the two shareholders affect accounting behavior; based on the auditing behavior of the two accounting firms, we analyzed the auditing judgments and audit procedures of the two accounting firms. Differences in the aspects to determine the audit quality of different firms. Our research found that the motivation of shareholders has a significant impact on the quality of accounting information. The controlling shareholder of the Chinese central company has the incentive to maximize profits, so it is too aggressive in the choice of accounting methods and ignores the sound principle of accounting. The US shareholders of the joint venture company have higher requirements on the authenticity, accuracy, and good internal control of the financial statements. They use accounting methods to emphasize the use of sound accounting methods and focus on the essence of the business operations. We also found that Chinese shareholders lacked high-quality auditing requirements. The accounting firms they hired had many problems in terms of audit judgments and audit procedures. The foreign shareholders had high-quality audit requirements and hired the “four major” companies. PWC, as an accounting firm, auditors in the audit to better implement the requirements of the auditing standards. Through comparative analysis, we have found that the audit quality of PWC is obviously higher than the audit quality of the domestic-funded accounting firm appointed by the central government. We also found that despite the high share of foreign shareholders, the foreign shareholders’ influence on the quality of joint venture accounting information is minimal, and the quality of the accounting information of the joint venture only reflects the motivation of Chinese shareholders. Foreign shareholders also need to generate additional accounting statements to prepare costs and audit costs in order to obtain high-quality accounting information.