Date of Award

Spring 3-12-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Department

Accountancy

First Advisor

Matthew Stern, PhD

Second Advisor

Willie Reddic, PhD

Third Advisor

Tawei Wang, PhD

Abstract

The net benefits of compliance with sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX or the Act) have been a point of contention since its enactment. Emerging research suggests a spillover effect from internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) to operations (Bauer, 2016; Bauer et al., 2018; Caplan et al., 2017; M. Cheng et al., 2013; Q. Cheng et al., 2018; Feng et al., 2015; Su et al., 2014). This study seeks to extend this line of research by investigating the benefits of effective ICFR for customer satisfaction. Satisfying customers is a primary operating objective of most companies (Malhotra & Malhotra, 2011) because high customer satisfaction leads to less customer turnover, lower price elasticity of demand, lower customer acquisition costs, and improved company reputation, improved firm performance, and higher returns for shareholders (Anderson et al., 1994, 2004; Chandrashekaran et al., 2007; Fornell, 1992; Fornell et al., 2006, 2016; Grewal et al., 2010; Hult et al., 2017; Reichheld & Sasser Jr., 1990). Therefore, knowledge of the impact of ICFR on customer satisfaction has value to managers, regulators, and academics. This study estimates the treatment effect of remediating a control deficiency on customer satisfaction using a fixed-effects regression and a dynamic difference-in-difference model (de Chaisemartin & D’Haultfoeuille, 2018). No statistically significant treatment effect is identified, although point estimates suggest a negative treatment effect which contradicts the study’s hypothesis.

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Accounting Commons

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