The study looked at how enforcing rules on auditors in China can improve the quality of audits. They found that auditors who were punished for not doing a good job had better audit quality afterward. This was shown by lower errors in financial reports and more careful auditing. The threat of losing their job or damaging their reputation made auditors work harder to do a better job. Overall, the results suggest that when auditors know they could face consequences for doing a bad job, they are more likely to do a good job.