Knowledge Spillover Versus Economic Bonding Theories - The Inclinations of the Nigerian Auditing Firms

This paper examines the inclination of the Nigerian auditing firms to the various theories on auditor independence i.e. the Knowledge Spill over (KSo) and Economic Bonding (EB) theories. Researches have been conducted in different countries by different researchers ascertaining which theory their auditors would support. Hence, the aim of this study is to determine the bent of mind of the Nigerian auditing firms. The survey questionnaire was employed to elicit information from the auditors. Four states across the poles of the nation formed the population of the study from which the sample was drawn. One hundred and one questionnaires were distributed and sixty-two were retrieved, representing sixty-one percent. The mean scores were used to analyze the data and the t-test and z-test statistics were employed to test the hypothesis using stata 9 software. The study finds that Nigerian auditing firms are in support of the KSo theory. This finding was only supported by the variable size while the other two variables (experience and regulating institution) did not support the theory. We therefore recommend strict regulatory follow ups to ensure adherence to the Nigeria’s corporate governance requirements.