The impact of audit opinion on cost of debt: Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract

We consider whether the category of audit opinion an enterprise receives is pertained to the cost of debt of Vietnam corporations and how does it impact them. Proceeding from the data collected from 80 listed companies in the Vietnam stock exchange in the period of 2007 - 2017, we used a quantitative method to demonstrate the negative impact of modified audit opinion on the cost of debt. When companies receive a modified opinion, they have to pay higher interest rates and have a shorter maturity. From the results, this paper suggests some implications for the financial statement disclosure of listed firms and regulators in order to contribute to the transparency of the financial reports.

Keywords

• audit opinion
• cost of debt
• listed company
• vietnam