Abstract The impact of macroeconomic policy on micro-enterprise behavior is a hot topic in the field of economics and management. Taking A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2006 to 2015 as samples, this paper theoretically and empirically examines the impact of macro-industrial policy on auditing opinions of micro-enterprises. The empirical results show that industrial policy significantly reduces the probability that supported enterprises will be issued non-standard audit opinions, and path analysis reveals that the impact of industrial policy on audit opinions can be achieved by improving the quality of accounting information of supported enterprises. After controlling the potential endogeneity through building difference in differences model (DID), it is still found that industrial policy can significantly improve the quality of accounting information of supported enterprises. By further exploring into its intrinsic mechanism, we find that industrial policy can reduce the degree of financing constraints of supported enterprises, and thus improve the quality of accounting information. Industrial policy will reduce the tunneling behavior of the major shareholders of the supported enterprises, thereby reducing the manipulation motivation of the tunneling behavior and improving the quality of accounting information. The above conclusions reveal two paths of industrial policy to audit opinions. It not only provides supporting evidence for the positive economic consequences of industrial policy, but also enriches the economic connotation of audit opinions. Accordingly, this paper puts forward the importance of studying the relationship between macroeconomic policy and audit opinions. It holds that audit research should break through existing limitations and be placed in a larger macro-background.
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