Search results
1 – 10 of 277This study aims to examine the direct influence of workplace bullying (WB) on internal auditors’ independence using the nexus between the agency theory and social exchange theory…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the direct influence of workplace bullying (WB) on internal auditors’ independence using the nexus between the agency theory and social exchange theory. From the internal auditors’ perspective, the investigation covered both government and private colleges and universities in one of the Middle East countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was administered and delivered to internal auditors at each of the 85 educational institutions. A total of 267 valid questionnaires were analysed. The study’s measurement and structural models were tested and evaluated by using SmartPLS v.4 and partial least squares-structural equation modelling.
Findings
The study results indicated that bullying is common among senior managers, and that it has a significant, negative, high-level and direct effect on the independence of internal auditors in the higher education sector.
Practical implications
Regulators and other stakeholders should make a deliberate effort to promote positive behaviours and abandon negative ones regarding the independence of internal auditors and the performance of audit teams, which play a crucial role in enhancing the efficiency of audit units. For example, enhancing coordination and communication internally and externally. In addition to providing the internal auditors with equitable advancement and learning opportunities, senior management should also support their professional development.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between WB and the internal auditor’s independence in the context of government and private organisations in Southwest Asian countries.
Details
Keywords
Yosra Mnif and Imen Slimi
This paper aims to examine the impact of the auditor's characteristics on bank's earnings management (EM) through loan loss provisions (LLP) for African banks.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of the auditor's characteristics on bank's earnings management (EM) through loan loss provisions (LLP) for African banks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on 360 bank-year observations from 14 African countries for the period 2011–2016, discretionary LLP is used as proxy for EM. Panel regressions have been conducted.
Findings
The authors' findings reveal that auditor's industry specialization and tenure exert a negative and significant influence on the extent of LLP-based EM. The results also show that total fees paid to the banks' auditors are positively related to the extent of EM. In a further analysis, the authors find that industry specialist auditors are more effective in reducing the incoming-increasing. Similarly, the positive relationship previously found between EM and total fees still holds only for income-increasing. Moreover, auditor tenure negatively impacts both income-increasing and income-decreasing EM. As for auditor change, results reveal differential effect on EM.
Originality/value
The current research extends prior literature and provides an understanding of an important external monitoring mechanism, the external audit, within African banks. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is a paucity of cross-country studies that has addressed the influence of auditors' attributes on banks' EM in Africa.
Details
Keywords
Amel Kouaib, Isabelle Lacombe and Anis Jarboui
The study of the relationship between external auditing services and investment deviation in a French setting has received relatively little research attention thus far. There are…
Abstract
Purpose
The study of the relationship between external auditing services and investment deviation in a French setting has received relatively little research attention thus far. There are insufficient indicators to measure audit quality and then have a measurable link to investment efficiency. This study is motivated by such a research gap as well as the important role of auditing services in assuring investment efficiency. The purpose of this study is to test whether a good audit quality service improves corporate investment awareness in French-listed companies and contributes to establishing a comprehensive analysis framework for inefficient investment and how audit services have become an important tool to reduce the investment deviation of listed companies in France.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a sample of 89 non-financial French firms listed on the Stoxx 600 Index from 2015 to 2021, this study uses feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) regressions to study the relationship between investment deviation and auditing service quality.
Findings
After running an FGLS regression model for two firm groups (overinvestment and overinvestment groups) and testing for a set of control variables, especially COVID-19, the findings show a non-linear correlation between audit service and corporate investment deviation. Both underinvestment and overinvestment decisions are negatively and statistically significantly impacted by audit indicators. Furthermore, involving a high-quality specialised auditor may enhance overall monitoring and lead to a lower investment deviation level. Overall, the empirical results show that a high-quality audit service enhances the investment efficiency of French-indexed companies.
Practical implications
This study offers crucial information that audit regulators can use to better appreciate the advantages of high audit quality and to take seriously the policy issues that affect it. Board members are urged to provide excellent audit quality that improves investment efficiency with careful consideration.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing audit literature by illuminating the effect of audit quality services on investment deviation to show a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to the differences in prior studies’ findings in the field of audit quality impacts.
Details
Keywords
Ahmed Mohammed Jasim Shuwaili, Reza Hesarzadeh and Mohammad Ali Bagherpour Velashani
In recent decades, managerial desire to use internal audit services to promote well-controlled organizational processes has significantly increased in the public sector. Yet…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent decades, managerial desire to use internal audit services to promote well-controlled organizational processes has significantly increased in the public sector. Yet, there is rare information on how internal audits may effectively be implemented in the public sector. The present research aims to design a comprehensive internal audit effectiveness model for the public sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is an applied mixed-methods (qualitative–quantitative) and descriptive survey study. The research population in both qualitative and quantitative sections included all internal and external audit managers and staff of Iraqi public organizations. The study sample of the qualitative section included 28 audit managers and staff selected using purposive sampling, and the study sample of the quantitative section included 399 individuals selected using convenience sampling. The data collection instruments in the qualitative and quantitative sections included semi-structured interviews and questionnaires, respectively. Data analysis was carried out using thematic analysis in Atlas.ti software in the qualitative section. Quantitative analysis and model validation were also performed using path analysis and structural equation modeling in Smart-PLS software in the quantitative section.
Findings
The results of the qualitative section led to the identification of 38 effectiveness factors among seven main categories, which were finally presented in the form of a comprehensive model. The main categories included the communication between internal and external auditors, granting independence and authority to internal auditors, providing specialized human resources, providing technological resources, developing management support, strengthening organizational culture and developing audit plans. In the qualitative section, the model was validated and confirmed. Quantitative results further showed that the compilation of audit plans and the development of management support were the most important factors.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive framework on internal audit with an emphasis on resource-based theory and reducing the research gap in the field of agents influencing internal audit efficacy in the public sector of developing countries. Further, the study provides insights into an under-studied developing country, Iraq.
Details
Keywords
Wen-Jye Hung, Pei-Gi Shu, Ya-Min Wang and Tsui-Lin Chiang
This study investigates the effect of auditing industry specialization (AIS) on the relative derivatives use for earnings management.
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the effect of auditing industry specialization (AIS) on the relative derivatives use for earnings management.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample chosen in this study comprises 30,599 firm-year observations of Chinese public companies from 2005 to 2018. The sample is divided into two time periods (2005–2013 and 2014–2018) according to the year when IFRS 9 was implemented (IFRS 9, first discussed by the International Accounting Standards Board in March 2008, is based on an expected credit loss model for determining new and existing expected credit losses on financial assets. The definition was completed in July 2014 and implemented in 2018). AIS was gauged with respect to audit firms and individual auditors, and measured by market share in number and scale of clients. Linear regression is adopted to test hypotheses. Moreover, two-stage least square model (2SLS) is used to eliminate the concern of possible endogeneity.
Findings
When gauged with respect to client scale, the scale-based AIS constrained the level of derivatives use for earnings management in the first period (2005–2013) while increased the level in the second period (2014–2018). The findings sustain for the analysis of audit firms and that of individual auditors, and for different definitions of AIS.
Research limitations/implications
The positive AIS-IN relation after the adoption of IFRS 9 implies the sacrifice audit independence. This could be indebted to the government policy that favors local audit firms to be comparable to international Big 4 audit firms, and therefore results in competition among local auditors/audit firms in securing number rather than quality of clients.
Originality/value
The data of AIS in China are collected using a Python web crawler.
Details
Keywords
Abbas Ali Daryaei, Afshin Balani and Yasin Fattahi
The literature on the influence of audit committees (AC) and cosmetic accounting (CA) is scarce. AC plays a unique and vital role in boosting earnings reliability in countries…
Abstract
Purpose
The literature on the influence of audit committees (AC) and cosmetic accounting (CA) is scarce. AC plays a unique and vital role in boosting earnings reliability in countries with weaker application of accounting standards or weaker legal protection for investors. AC, therefore, are considered to be one of the essential tools available to directors in supervising management decisions regarding financial reporting. This paper aims to examine the influence of AC characteristics (ACC) on CA and how this relationship is moderated by the audit fee.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used probit regression to analyze 1,218 firm-year observations of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2020.
Findings
The results show that AC financial accounting expertise, AC independence, female AC membership and AC tenure were negatively related to CA. The negative relationship is highly pronounced when a firm incurs higher audit fees, and audit fees moderate the relationship between ACC and CA. Results for the robustness checks show that only AC independence was significant, and the results of other characteristics were not significant.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted in an Iranian setting where the formation of ACs is on the verge of regulation; therefore, the data used for the study only contains the seven-year period of ACs’ statutory activity. In addition, a lack of consensus on the precise measures of an AC’s effectiveness could be considered as a restrictive factor.
Originality/value
The findings provide an initial insight into the effect AC on CA and moderating effect of audit fee on the relationship between ACC and CA.
Details
Keywords
Audit consortium of joint and dual audits is one of the most controversial mechanisms aimed at improving audit quality and resolving several related debatable issues. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
Audit consortium of joint and dual audits is one of the most controversial mechanisms aimed at improving audit quality and resolving several related debatable issues. This study aims to empirically investigate the impact of audit consortium on audit quality assessment in Egypt. It specifically examines whether audit opinion modification level is triggered by joint and dual audits existence and whether it is influenced by the relative importance of the auditor pair combination types.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of companies listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange constituting the EGX 30 index is examined over a period of five years, from 2016 to 2020. A quantitative research methodology is used, using content analysis of companies’ audit reports and carrying out longitudinal panel ordinary least squares multiple regression tests.
Findings
Results show that audit quality is significantly enhanced by conducting joint and dual audits of Egyptian companies’ financial statements. Findings indicate that both joint and dual audits significantly increase auditors’ propensity to modify audit opinions as compared to companies that engage in single audits. However, this increase in audit quality is not supported by the presence of Big 4 joint auditors or affiliated joint auditors, while the impact of Big 4 dual auditors cannot be confirmed. Nevertheless, such a potential increase in audit opinion modification is boosted by the presence of affiliated dual auditors, which appears to translate into higher quality.
Research limitations/implications
The study has important implications for researchers, corporates, those charged with governance, financial statement users, auditors, regulators and standard setters, who might be interested in whether an audit consortium and a particular auditor pair combination are associated with superior audit quality. It provides empirical evidence that might contribute to the continuous challenge of promoting the quality and effectiveness of the external audit.
Originality/value
This study adds to the relatively limited and challenging literature on the potential contribution of audit consortium, using audit opinion modification level as a direct assessment of audit quality. It extends the scope of prior research by examining the existence of joint and dual audits and the relative importance of joint and dual auditor pair combination types. The study provides key insights from a distinctive and complex emerging audit market.
Details
Keywords
Amon Bagonza, Chen Yan and Frederik Rech
This paper aims to examine whether the audit committee moderates the relationship between audit quality and market reactions.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine whether the audit committee moderates the relationship between audit quality and market reactions.
Design/methodology/approach
Using fixed effects and the GMM model for robustness, the study used 472 publicly listed firms on South Africa’s Johannesburg stock exchange spanning a period of six years from 2014 to 2019.
Findings
Results obtained show that audit quality impacts market reactions through share price and adjusted market returns. And, that the audit committee moderates the relationship between audit quality and market reactions in South Africa’s publicly listed firms. An effective audit committee is expected to play a crucial role in overseeing the audit process, ensuring the independence of auditors and promoting transparency and accountability which in turn impacts asset prices.
Research limitations/implications
The study implies that governments and regulatory bodies in other developing economies could strengthen regulations about companies’ Acts, how firms regulate themselves and more so audit committees. Firms can also strive to make sure that audit committees are staffed with experts to promote higher audit quality and investor attention to get access to the much-alluded capital.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study adds value by being the first to explore the subject matter of the importance of audit committees in defining audit quality and market reactions in publicly listed firms. The research adds to the body of knowledge on corporate governance and audit quality. It provides a case study specific to the South African context, contributing to the global literature on these topics.
Details
Keywords
Domenico Campa, Alberto Quagli and Paola Ramassa
This study reviews and discusses the accounting literature that analyzes the role of auditors and enforcers in the context of fraud.
Abstract
Purpose
This study reviews and discusses the accounting literature that analyzes the role of auditors and enforcers in the context of fraud.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review includes both qualitative and quantitative studies, based on the idea that the findings from different research paradigms can shed light on the complex interactions between different financial reporting controls. The authors use a mixed-methods research synthesis and select 64 accounting journal articles to analyze the main proxies for fraud, the stages of the fraud process under investigation and the roles played by auditors and enforcers.
Findings
The study highlights heterogeneity with respect to the terms and concepts used to capture the fraud phenomenon, a fragmentation in terms of the measures used in quantitative studies and a low level of detail in the fraud analysis. The review also shows a limited number of case studies and a lack of focus on the interaction and interplay between enforcers and auditors.
Research limitations/implications
This study outlines directions for future accounting research on fraud.
Practical implications
The analysis underscores the need for the academic community, policymakers and practitioners to work together to prevent the destructive economic and social consequences of fraud in an increasingly complex and interconnected environment.
Originality/value
This study differs from previous literature reviews that focus on a single monitoring mechanism or deal with fraud in a broadly manner by discussing how the accounting literature addresses the roles and the complex interplay between enforcers and auditors in the context of accounting fraud.
Details
Keywords
Md Jahidur Rahman, Hongtao Zhu, Yiling Zhang and Md Moazzem Hossain
This study aims to investigate whether gender diversity in audit committees affects the purchase of nonaudit services in China. Results from family and nonfamily firms are…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate whether gender diversity in audit committees affects the purchase of nonaudit services in China. Results from family and nonfamily firms are compared and the critical mass participation of females are further examined.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample comprises 1,834 Chinese listed companies from 2012 to 2021, among which 910 are family firms. The Heckman (1979) two-stage model is used to mitigate the potential endogeneity issue in the selection of gender diversity. Propensity score matching is also used to further alleviate the endogeneity problem in relation to family firms.
Findings
Results show a significant and negative correlation between the gender diversity in audit committees and nonaudit service fees. This association is more apparent in nonfamily than in family firms. Findings are consistent and robust to endogeneity tests and sensitivity analyses. The analysis of critical mass and symbolic participation shows that three female directors can more significantly restrain nonaudit fees than one to two females on the board.
Practical implications
This study contributes to literature on resource dependence theory, which posits that audit committees help enterprises establish contact with auditors, improve the company legitimacy, assist in communication and provide relevant expertise. This study also relates to agency theory, which holds that differences in the severity of types I and II agency problems between family and nonfamily firms lead to differences in auditor selection and related costs.
Originality/value
Extending from previous research on the relation between the gender diversity in audit committees and nonaudit fees, the present study delves into this connection within the context of China, an emerging economy. As a result, this investigation offers novel insights and expands upon current knowledge. In addition, the correlation between the gender diversity of audit committees and nonaudit fees is explored for family and nonfamily firms.
Details