| Variables | Definition |
| Lnfee | Logarithm of annual audit fees of listed companies |
| Big4 | Equals one if the listed company buys audit service from international big four firms and zero if listed company buy audit service from local audit firms in China. |
| Cor | Amount of duty crime cases accepting by national prosecuting authority |
| Size | Logarithm of total asset of listed companies |
| Lev | Final total debt/total assets of the listed companies |
| Rec | Final net receivables/total assets of the listed companies |
| Inv | Net ending inventory/total assets of the listed companies |
| EPS | Net income/total number of ordinary shares of the listed companies |
| Opinion | Equals one if the Chinese listed companies receive standard unqualified audit opinion and zero if listed companies receive modified audit opinion |
| Opinion_lag | First lagged of opinion |