Date of Award

5-2015

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Business Administration

Advisor/Committee Chair

Dennis Caplan

Abstract

This paper studies the impact that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) has had on investor confidence in audited financial statements. Most studies of SOX examined its effect on audit quality, but the principal goal that government officials wanted to accomplish was to restore investor confidence in audited financial information following the frauds at Enron, WorldCom, and other public companies. The main method used in gathering data is a small survey to investors, where they answered questions regarding certain parts of SOX to gain insights into investors’ perspectives. After analyzing the survey results as well as researching scholarly works on other key sections in SOX, it has been determined that SOX has had a significant impact on investor confidence in audited financial statements. Certain sections have stronger impacts than others, and can be used by public companies to appeal better to investors.

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