Abstract:Using the data of corporate bonds issued by listed family firms in 2008—2020, this paper examines the impact of high quality auditors on the credit spreads from the perspective of audit governance. This paper finds that high quality auditors from top 10 accounting firms can reduce credit spreads of corporate bonds issued by family firms, which is realized by reducing the enterprise information risk and restraining the entrenchment of the controlling families. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis finds that the negative relation between high quality auditors and credit spreads is more significant in family firms where the high degree of separation between control rights and cash flow rights is larger and with less participation of institutional investors. The conclusion enriches the literature on corporate governance in family firms from the perspective of audit governance.