A belief-function model for the representation and the combination of uncertain audit evidence

Abstract

This paper describes a belief-function framework for representing and combining evidence in financial statement auditing. The use of belief-function theory for these purposes is not new. A considerable amount of important research in this respect has been performed mainly by Srivastava and is described in numerous publications. One of his major achievements is the construction of a complete framework like the one described in this paper. The framework that we propose in this text takes a different point of view and addresses a number of limitations of Srivastava’s framework. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.