... Auditor rotation and the appearance of independence: Evidence from non-professional investors Steven E. Kaplan a,*, Elaine G. Mauldin b,1aW.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona ... found. These findings suggest that compared to audit partner rotation, audit firm rotation does not strengthen independence in appearance among non-professional investors and that non-professional investors ... reporting the results of two experiments that pro-vide evidence on whether audit firm rotation, relative to the currently required audit part-ner rotation, strengthens the appearance of independence...