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Article
Publication date: 13 August 2019

Damai Nasution and Ralf Östermark

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test the scale of auditors’ awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence, defined as the degree to which auditors

1283

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test the scale of auditors’ awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence, defined as the degree to which auditors recognise the importance of the reputation for independence and acknowledge the impact of their judgements and decisions on that reputation, and to provide preliminary evidence of an association between auditors’ awareness of the profession’s reputation and auditors’ ethical judgement.

Design/methodology/approach

A seven-item scale was developed to measure auditors’ awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence, and an auditing case was used to measure auditors’ ethical judgement. A survey questionnaire of practising auditors working in auditing firms in Indonesia provides data for testing the validity and reliability of the new scale and proposed hypothesis.

Findings

The findings show that the scale is unidimensional and has satisfied reliability and validity. Moreover, the preliminary evidence of a positive association between the new scale and auditors’ ethical judgement is provided.

Research limitations/implications

Further studies should test the validity and reliability of the scale of awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence with larger data and in different settings. Investigation of the antecedent factors of auditors’ awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence is suggested.

Originality/value

This paper develops a new measure, namely, the awareness of the profession’s reputation for independence. Preliminary evidence to establish an association between that awareness and auditor ethical judgement is provided.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 16 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 July 2018

Xuan Huang and Fei Kang

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how companies’ reputation affects their selection of auditors.

1409

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how companies’ reputation affects their selection of auditors.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper measures company reputation using the reputation scores from Fortune’s “America’s Most Admired Companies” list. Multivariate analysis is performed to examine the impact of company reputation on public companies’ auditor choice. Robustness checks include conducting Heckman procedures and instrumental-variable two-stage least square regressions to control for self-selection bias and using alternative measures to proxy for company reputation and auditor industry expertise.

Findings

This paper finds that companies with higher reputations are more likely to hire industry-specialist auditors than their counterparts. The results suggest that because of reputation concerns, high-reputation companies have strong incentives to maintain and signal their financial reporting quality, which in turn increase their demand for audit quality.

Practical implication

This paper suggests that company reputation constitutes an important determinant of auditor selection and, therefore, has both policy and practical implications for the demand of audit services. The paper provides policy-makers and practitioners with insights into critical factors influencing companies’ complex decision process of auditor selection.

Originality/value

The findings of this paper on the empirical link between company reputation and auditor choice contribute to the auditing literature by enhancing the understanding of the effects of different company-level characteristics in financial reporting and audit planning process. This paper also adds to the growing literature on the influence of company reputation on corporate behavior by documenting the important role that company reputation plays in the managerial decision-making process.

Details

Accounting Research Journal, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1030-9616

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2012

Marietta Peytcheva and Peter R. Gillett

The purpose of this paper is to investigate practicing auditors' beliefs regarding the effect of prior involvement on the occurrence of quality threatening behaviour (QTB) during…

2773

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate practicing auditors' beliefs regarding the effect of prior involvement on the occurrence of quality threatening behaviour (QTB) during an audit. The authors examine the extent to which auditors' beliefs about QTB are consistent with the theoretical framework of Kanodia et al., according to which prior involvement in audit work would increase the likelihood of auditors suppressing evidence inconsistent with earlier audit decisions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct an experiment in which auditors assess the likelihood of perceived reputation threats associated with encountering disconfirming evidence late in the audit, and the likelihood that such evidence will be suppressed.

Findings

Auditors participating in the study believe that prior involvement will induce a perception of personal reputation threats in an auditor encountering evidence inconsistent with the conclusions of earlier audit work. Participants perceive an auditor with prior involvement in the audit work to be more likely to suppress audit evidence than an auditor with no prior involvement; this effect is largely explained by the personal reputation threats believed to be induced by prior involvement.

Research limitations/implications

The findings provide important information, from the perspective of practicing auditors, about a situational antecedent of QTB that is present on most audit engagements. Prior involvement is perceived by auditors to induce a conflict of interest in reporting troublesome evidence uncovered late in the audit. These perceptions suggest it is important to raise reviewers' awareness of the possibility of undesirable behavior in such situations. Potential limitations of the study relate to generalizability of the results under different levels of misstatement risk and under different environments in audit practice. Also, the authors do not measure auditors' actual behaviour, but their assessment of hypothetical situations and beliefs about others' actions. Future research can examine actual auditor behaviour in the presence of prior involvement.

Originality/value

The paper provides evidence on auditors' beliefs about the effects on QTB of prior involvement, a factor that has not been previously studied in this line of research. The authors show that auditors' beliefs about QTB are consistent with Kanodia et al.'s theoretical framework. The study is the first to measure auditors' assessments of perceived reputation threats and to show their mediating effect on the predicted behavior of audit professionals.

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2017

Fengchun Tang, Ling Yang and Huiqi Gan

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how internal auditors’ performance reputation for auditing and assurance engagements affects corporate managers’ reliance on their…

1131

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how internal auditors’ performance reputation for auditing and assurance engagements affects corporate managers’ reliance on their consulting recommendations.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment in which 103 MBA students were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. This paper uses analysis of covariance to analyze the data.

Findings

The results show that internal auditorsreputation for performing assurance engagements positively influences managers’ reliance on their consulting recommendations. In addition, managers’ compensation structure affects their perceptions of the importance of the decision, and the perceived decision importance in turn partially moderates the effect of internal auditors’ performance reputation on managers’ reliance decision.

Research limitations/implications

This paper advances the understanding of the consulting function of the internal audit function (IAF) and provides evidence on how internal auditors’ performance in one field (assurance) affects management’s perception of their performance in the other field (consulting).

Practical implications

The findings of this paper should be particularly interesting to the parties that are responsible for training internal auditors by highlighting the importance of strengthening internal auditors’ capability of performing consulting service with respect to business operation.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few studies that examine how internal auditors’ consulting recommendations affect managerial decisions in an operational setting. The findings of the interdependence between the assurance and consulting components of the IAF advance the growing research stream of internal audit and its impact on management decision-making.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 32 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2022

Arash Arianpoor and Roghaye Mizban

This study aims to investigate the impact of risk-taking and auditor characteristics on value creation in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In addition, it…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the impact of risk-taking and auditor characteristics on value creation in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. In addition, it investigates the moderator role of auditor characteristics in the impact of risk-taking on value creation, especially in pre-Covid 19 and post-Covid 19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The information about 199 company in 2014–2021 was examined. In the present study, in accordance with the related theoretical literature and the importance of auditor specialization, auditor tenure and auditor reputation, these factors were considered as the auditor characteristics.

Findings

The present findings based on the generalized least squares (GLS) method showed that risk-taking positively affects the value creation. The auditor characteristics (auditor specialization, auditor tenure and auditor reputation) have a significant positive effect on the value creation. Furthermore, the auditor characteristics enhance the impact of risk-taking on value creation. The results of generalized method of moments method and robust regression analysis are consistent with the GLS results. To take into account the Covid-19 conditions, the data were divided into pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19 years. The results showed that auditor characteristics moderate the impact of risk-taking on value creation in pre-Covid 19 and post-Covid 19.

Originality/value

The study highlights the role of auditor characteristics in the value creation, especially in the emerging market. Given that Covid-19 has seriously damaged global economic well-being and has put companies at a double risk, the present findings can be useful for managers, investors and the international community, and help company managers make risk-taking policies and select auditors with appropriate characteristics.

Details

Management Research Review, vol. 46 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8269

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2019

Sheela Devi D. Sundarasen

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the extent of alteration institutional characteristics, i.e. legal origin and corruption levels, may have on the signaling effects…

2401

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the extent of alteration institutional characteristics, i.e. legal origin and corruption levels, may have on the signaling effects of auditorsreputation, underwriters’ reputation and ownership retention on initial public offering (IPO) initial returns in OECD countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross-sectional data composed of 6,182 IPOs from 30 OECD countries are used for 2003-2012. Ordinary least square with multiple linear regressions is used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The findings indicate that the legal framework and corruption level of a country alters the signaling effects of underwriters’ reputation, auditorsreputation and ownership retention in an IPO environment. These three variables mitigate information asymmetry, signal firm value to potential investors and ultimately decrease IPO initial returns. This relationship is more significant in the civil law countries. Corruption levels negatively moderate the relationship in the common law and Scandinavian civil law countries but have no significance in the German and French civil law countries, indicating the importance of the signaling variables in these two civil law countries.

Originality/value

This study examines the extent of the alterations that the legal framework and the corruption levels cause to the signaling relationship between auditorsreputation, underwriters’ reputation and ownership retention on IPO initial returns in selected OECD countries.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2022

Totok Budisantoso and Heni Kurniawan

The main objective on this research is providing evidence of the contagion effect of decreasing audit's quality. Audit failure affects the quality of the financial analysis that…

Abstract

Purpose

The main objective on this research is providing evidence of the contagion effect of decreasing audit's quality. Audit failure affects the quality of the financial analysis that has been carried out and has a big impact on the accuracy of decision making due to the material information bias. Findings of this research will urge the Public Accounting Firm (PAF) to design a quality control of the audit services. This action is taken with the consideration of maintaining the quality of audit services and the reputation of auditors.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing manufacturing data listed on Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI), the researchers developed a model to explain the audit failure which is seen from restatement of financial statement in the subsequent period.

Findings

This research indicates that audit failure to detect the misstatement will decrease the audit's quality of other companies audited by the same auditor. There is also an insight that contagion effect of decreasing auditor quality was stronger for non-big four and non-industry specialist auditors.

Research limitations/implications

Audit failure still has the potential to occur. There is the potential that a failure in an audit of a particular client entity has an impact on defects of other clients served. If this allegation is proven, there are big challenges faced by the public accounting profession and PAF to pay special attention in order to maintain the professional reputation.

Practical implications

Professional body and government need to develop a robust standard and operating procedures as well as quality control on audit engagement.

Originality/value

Due to the intention of fraud occurred in Indonesia, namely SNP Finance and Garuda Indonesia case. It is important to learn from that cases. This research gives fruitful insights to prevent the same case in the future.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Rusmin Rusmin and John Evans

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relation between two dimensions of auditor quality, namely, auditor industry specialization and auditor reputation and the…

7096

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relation between two dimensions of auditor quality, namely, auditor industry specialization and auditor reputation and the audit report lag.

Design/methodology/approach

The data collection focuses on companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the financial year of 2010 and 2011. To ensure data homogeneity and reduce industry bias, this study focuses solely on manufacturing companies identified by the Indonesian Capital Market Directory.

Findings

This study finds a negative and significant association between industry-specialist auditors and audit report timeliness. Companies audited by industry-specialist auditors have shorter audit delays. The authors also find evidence that Big 4 auditors perform significantly faster audit work than their non-Big 4 counterparts. In addition, this study reports a statistical and significant relationship between auditing complexity, companies’ profitability, auditors’ business risk, and industry classification and audit report lag. The results show that firms with a large number of subsidiaries and firms experiencing poorer financial performance are found to be associated with longer reporting delays. Moreover, audit report timeliness is found to be faster for companies in the low-profile industry sector and owned by family members.

Research limitations/implications

Similar to other empirical investigations, this study is not without certain caveats. First, the period of audit report lag in this study reflects the audit work from the year-end to the audit report date. The authors do not consider audit work conducted outside this period in the analysis. Second, there are numerous control variables and although the authors have attempted to capture those variables to maintain the integrity of the research there are likely other excluded variables that may be important in explaining audit report timeliness. Finally, there are other factors, for example, an administrative approval process with the audit firm home office, which can affect audit report lags but have not been included in the model analysis. Future studies can seek to focus on refinements to the proxy measures for dependent and experimental variables.

Practical implications

Insights drawn from this study may be of assistance to policy makers as they consider the costs and benefits associated with varying levels of audit market concentration as well as providing a snapshot of the level of non-compliance on audit timeliness in Indonesia.

Originality/value

This study provides further empirical evidence on the relation between auditor quality and audit report lag using data from a different domestic setting. This study also enriches the auditor quality literature by employing industry-specialist and Big 4 auditors as a predictor for the timeliness of audit reports.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 25 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 April 2005

Mary F. Allen, Mark Linville and David M. Stott

We examine the role of past litigation in the selection of independent auditors. Using a sample of persons typically involved in auditor selection, we find that any litigation…

Abstract

We examine the role of past litigation in the selection of independent auditors. Using a sample of persons typically involved in auditor selection, we find that any litigation announcement alleging audit improprieties greatly reduces the auditor’s likelihood of hire regardless of the type of legal action announced or the degree of direct involvement by the auditor. Based on these findings, litigation imposes an indirect (and potentially substantial) cost by impeding the CPA’s ability to attract new clients.

Details

American Journal of Business, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1935-5181

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 July 2010

Stephan A. Fafatas

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of audit failure on Big 4 audit firm monitoring activities. The paper analyzes changes in discretionary accruals (DAs) among…

7736

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of audit failure on Big 4 audit firm monitoring activities. The paper analyzes changes in discretionary accruals (DAs) among clients of firms implicated in audit failure events and examines whether these DAs decline in the period following the event.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses archival data and regression analyses to test whether DAs for clients of implicated audit firms decline in the period following the audit failure as compared to clients of other Big 4 firms. Audit failures are identified during the years 1996‐2004 based on significant lawsuit settlements. The paper focuses on an office‐level analysis to control for audit quality differences which may vary across firm geographic locations as suggested by recent research.

Findings

Empirical results indicate that auditor response to audit failure has changed over time. Auditors implicated in audit failure events occurring in the post‐Enron and Sarbanes‐Oxley period enforce more conservative accounting choices in the year following the event. Specifically, clients of the implicated firm's office report a significant decline in discretionary accounting accruals relative to clients of other auditors in the same city location. However, a significant change in client discretionary accounting accruals is not found following audit failures that occurred prior to 2001, the year of the Enron bankruptcy.

Originality/value

The results of this paper extend the knowledge of the effects of litigation pressure on audit quality. Additionally, this paper helps address the question of how large‐scale audit failures witnessed at the beginning of the century have impacted audit firm conservatism.

Details

Managerial Auditing Journal, vol. 25 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-6902

Keywords

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