Year: 2021
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: We examine the implications of auditor education for audit quality and audit pricing. We exploit a novel institutional setting in the UK, where auditors major in many different degrees at university and signing auditors are identifiable. Using hand-collected data for a large sample of signing auditors, we establish two main findings. First, auditors whose degrees have a quantitative orientation are associated with higher accruals quality and higher audit fees than those with more qualitative degrees. Second, auditors with degrees directly relevant to accounting are also associated with higher accruals quality and increased audit fees relative to auditors with unrelated university degrees in qualitative subjects. Overall, our study provides evidence that heterogeneity in auditor education is associated with divergent audit outcomes.
Source: European Accounting Review
Authors: Jenny Chu, Annita Florou, Peter F. Pope
Institutions: University of Cambridge, Bocconi University
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3124496159