The Modern History and the Changing Nature of Audit Regulation—The Case of Sweden

Abstract

The aim of this article is to describe and explain how developments from the 1980s to 2024 have changed the nature of audit regulation. To this end, the article draws on central concepts from regulatory literature. The Swedish case is used as an example, with a historical review based on data from parliamentary documents and articles published in the Swedish trade magazine Balans. The empirical findings show that the regulatory developments since the 1980s can be divided into three different eras, each spanning 15 years. The first era is characterised by professional self-regulation supplemented by some conventional regulation. The second era is marked by meta-regulation following Sweden's membership in the EU. In the third era, self-regulation is largely replaced by alternative regulatory approaches. The conclusion is that parallel regulatory approaches coexist and shape various forms of regulation and that regulative change can be explained by institutional developments, internationalisation and normative expectations.