{"title":"Loan Loss Provisions in Large Publicly Quoted European Banks and Auditor Independence","authors":"Domenico Campa, R. Donnelly","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12158","url":null,"abstract":"The European Commission, citing deficiencies in the financial statements of banks during the financial crisis, has questioned the independence of the auditors of European banks at the onset of the crisis. We test for evidence of impaired auditor independence by examining if the economic bond between auditors and clients is associated with the audit quality of banks, controlling for the strength of banking regulation of the country in which a bank operates. We find no evidence of income‐increasing loan loss provisions being positively associated with the auditor–client economic bond. There is no indication that auditor independence is impaired in EU banks. Stronger country regulation is associated with more conservative provisioning before and after the formation of the European Banking Authority. We also find that the strength of banking regulation mitigates any tendency of auditors' independence to be compromised by the auditor–client economic bond.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130267562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Fool's Gold or Value for Money? The Link between Abnormal Audit Fees, Audit Firm Type, Fair‐Value Disclosures, and Market Valuation","authors":"Ulf Mohrmann, J. Riepe, U. Stefani","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12155","url":null,"abstract":"We analyze whether the type of the audit firm (Big 4 and industry specialist) and the abnormal audit fees are associated with the market valuation of a bank’s fair value assets. Our results indicate that different auditor types use different strategies when auditing fair value portfolios: First, we show that the Big 4 audit firms restrict the Level 3 valuations to the most illiquid assets. Thus, the banks audited by a Big 4 have a lower proportion of Level 3 assets than the banks audited by a non-Big 4. Second, the discount on the Level 3 assets is higher for the banks audited by a Big 4 than for the banks audited by a non-Big 4. Third, the discount on the Level 3 portfolios of banks with non-Big 4 auditors is higher if the unexpected audit fees are high. Because the non-Big 4 allow the usage of the Level 3 valuations for larger portions of assets, the abnormal fees seem to reflect the auditor’s perception regarding the portfolio’s valuation risk. In contrast, for the banks audited by a Big 4, the abnormal fees are not associated with the bank’s market value. We find similar effects for industry specialist auditors.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134448445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deciding Factors in Cooperation and Trust between Internal and External Auditors in Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis","authors":"Georgina Morais, Mário Franco","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12160","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12160","url":null,"abstract":"The general aim of this study is to assess the relationships between external and internal auditors concerning cooperation and trust as resources integrated in organizations' lines of defense, to favor solid, opportune, and transparent decision‐making in organs of governance. More precisely, the specific aims are: (1) to analyze the relationship between trust and cooperation; (2) to explore and analyze the categories of the mutually important factors for trust and cooperation; and (3) to analyze the differences between internal and external auditors. To achieve these goals, quantitative and exploratory research was undertaken, with data collection through surveys directed to the two auditor groups (internal and external) in Portugal. In order to analyze if there were relations between trust and cooperation, logistic regression was performed. Based on exploratory factor analysis of principal components, it was possible to extract three factors for cooperation and trust: (1) work performance, (2) coordination/collaboration, and (3) competence. A multiple linear regression was also used to check the differences between internal and external auditors for the three factors identified. From the two groups involved in this study, it was possible to gain each group's perception of the professional relationship concerning cooperation and trust as determinant variables in auditing. It was found that there is still a long way to go and that each group has slightly different perceptions. This study contributes to the scientific and professional community regarding the perception of cooperation and trust between these professionals.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"108 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122900268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ahmed Al-Hadi, Ahsan Habib, K. Al-Yahyaee, Baban Eulaiwi
{"title":"Joint Audit, Political Connections and Cost of Debt Capital","authors":"Ahmed Al-Hadi, Ahsan Habib, K. Al-Yahyaee, Baban Eulaiwi","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12092","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12092","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate the association between joint audit and cost of debt for a sample of non-financial, publicly listed firms from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Although the conventional wisdom suggests that “two heads are better than one”, empirical evidence on the beneficial impact of joint audit has not been convincingly documented. We attempt to shed further insights into this debate, using data from the GCC countries. We document a significantly negative effect of joint audit on cost of debt in the GCC countries. This effect is more pronounced in cases where at least one of the joint audit firms is a Big 4 auditor. We then investigate whether political connections with royal families moderate the association between joint audit and cost of debt. Our results suggest that the beneficial effects of joint audits, in terms of a lower cost of debt, are greater in firms with such political connections.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"283 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116095001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Performance Evaluations in Audit Firms: Evaluation Foci and Dysfunctional Behaviour","authors":"T. Johansen, Jeppe Christoffersen","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12079","url":null,"abstract":"Previous research has only minimally examined the association between the behaviour and performance evaluations of individual auditors beyond the use of efficiency-focused evaluations. We examine the association between dysfunctional auditor behaviour and three evaluation foci: an efficiency focus, a client focus and a quality focus. Our results, which are based on questionnaire responses from 196 auditors, demonstrate that an efficiency focus is not associated with dysfunctional behaviour. A client focus is found to be associated with dysfunctional behaviour. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, our results show that it seems possible to limit dysfunctional behaviours through a quality focus in performance evaluations. Our results provide insights of use to practitioners and regulators on how performance evaluations may not only induce but also reduce dysfunctional auditor behaviours.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"255 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123695157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John L. Abernathy, Michael Barnes, Chad M. Stefaniak, Alexandria Weisbarth
{"title":"An International Perspective on Audit Report Lag: A Synthesis of the Literature and Opportunities for Future Research","authors":"John L. Abernathy, Michael Barnes, Chad M. Stefaniak, Alexandria Weisbarth","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12083","url":null,"abstract":"Audit report lag (ARL) is the length of time from a company's fiscal year-end to the audit report date, and is often viewed as the most important financial reporting timeliness determinant. Given that timeliness is an area of interest to investors, managers, regulators, auditors and academics, an understanding of ARL determinants is extremely important. As financial markets become more globally oriented, an international understanding of ARL determinants becomes even more important. This paper summarizes the extant literature on ARL and its determinants with an emphasis on international literature. Our review categorizes prior research based on company-specific and audit-related factors, and explores the associations that have been identified with respect to ARL. Finally, we identify possible areas of interest not currently present in the literature and speculate on several opportunities for future research.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130686932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adoption of International Standards on Auditing (Isa): Do Institutional Factors Matter?","authors":"Pran Boolaky, T. Soobaroyen","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12081","url":null,"abstract":"Informed by the neo-institutional perspective, this study seeks for the first time to investigate empirically the determinants of ISA adoption and commitment to harmonisation on a cross-national basis (89 countries). The findings show that the protection of minority interests, regulatory enforcement, lenders/borrowers rights, foreign aid, prevalence of foreign ownership, educational attainment and particular forms of political system (level of democracy) prevailing in a country, are observed to be significant predictors of the extent of commitment to the adoption and harmonisation of ISAs. Our statistical analysis therefore suggests that coercive, mimetic and normative pressure have a significant impact on ISA adoption relative to economic (efficiency-led) factors. Our findings imply that current efforts by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and other international agencies to implement ISAs need to recognise that a broad set of institutional factors, rather than narrow economic ones, are of relevance in the development of audit policymaking, practice and regulation worldwide.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125138427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amir Allam, N. Ghattas, Amr Kotb, Mohamed Khaled Eldaly
{"title":"Audit Tendering in the UK: A Review of Stakeholders' Views","authors":"Amir Allam, N. Ghattas, Amr Kotb, Mohamed Khaled Eldaly","doi":"10.1111/ijau.12076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12076","url":null,"abstract":"This study reports the results of a content analysis of the comment letters sent to the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC), in response to its consultation document on the 2012 revisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code, concerning the proposal for mandatory audit tendering. The results indicate a general support for the FRC’s proposals with a number of key concerns related to audit quality, auditor independence and audit cost. There is also clear conflict of interests among some stakeholder groups such as audit firms and companies on one side and institutional investors on the other side. There is evidence of conflict of interest between Big 4 and non-Big 4 audit firms. Implications for future consultations and legislations are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"69 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134326822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of E‐Business on the Audit Process: An Investigation of the Factors Leading to Change","authors":"Amr Kotb","doi":"10.1111/j.1099-1123.2011.00427.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-1123.2011.00427.x","url":null,"abstract":"This study seeks to further understand the implications of e‐business for financial audit practice by exploring: the pressures leading to the adoption of new or different audit practices; the specific features of e‐business that affect the appropriateness of traditional auditing practices and techniques; and how technical audit work is changing in response to the increasing adoption of e‐business models. By using semi‐structured interviews and a postal questionnaire survey, the perceptions of financial auditors and information technology (IT) audit practitioners were sought. The findings identify factors affecting, and pressures leading to, audit change in response to e‐business as perceived by these auditors. Overall, the most obvious aspect of e‐business audit change was felt to be the extensive use of IT‐driven practices and techniques, and this change could not only be attributed to technical factors, but they also thought that competitive and professional factors were also important drivers of audit change.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116125105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Impact of Competing Goals, Experience, and Litigation Consciousness on Auditors' Judgments","authors":"S. Asare, Anna M. Cianci, G. Tsakumis","doi":"10.1111/j.1099-1123.2009.00389.x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1099-1123.2009.00389.x","url":null,"abstract":"This study uses an experiment to examine the interactive effect of goals and experience on auditors' inventory write-off assessments and the role of litigation consciousness in mediating this effect. We find that when presented with a competing compliance and client relations goal, more experienced auditors were more likely to recommend an inventory write-off than less experienced auditors. However, when presented with only a compliance goal, auditors were equally likely to recommend an inventory write-off. The finding that less experienced auditors are more influenced by client relations goals suggests that the early socialization into the profession may be dominated by client relations concerns rather than litigation concerns. Mediation results suggest that auditors' litigation consciousness is a significant mechanism which helps drive the interactive effect of goals and experience on auditors' inventory write-off assessments. Implications for research, practice, and regulation are discussed.","PeriodicalId":172735,"journal":{"name":"Wiley-Blackwell: International Journal of Auditing","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2009-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123773018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}