Public health emergencies have a significant impact on the safety of life and property of the people, and also exert a profound influence on various aspects of Chinese society and economy. In this study, we aim to select public health emergencies that occurred between 2018 and 2021 as empirical data. Using event analysis techniques, we systematically investigate how such emergencies affect the audit behavior of listed companies in China and the quality of their audits. Our findings indicate that public health emergencies have a significant positive impact on audit quality (lower discretionary accruals) and also affect audit behavior, as evidenced by the increase in audit fees following the o... More >