2018F03 - Audit committee involvement and audit inspection regimes (PhD program: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

What?

This PhD study aims to contribute to knowledge about underlying drivers of auditors’ behaviour and decision making, by examining enabling effects of audit committee interactions (theme 1) and adverse effects on audit quality of regulation developments, as well as how these can be mitigated at the firm, office, or team level (theme 2).

Why?

While extant research has examined (1) the direct relationship between audit committee effectiveness and financial reporting quality and (2) the effect of audit committee attributes on audit quality, there is limited evidence on the actual interactions between auditors and audit committees. Secondly, increased focus on inspections of audits may lead to a slippery slope of regulation, where regulators’ inspections can have unintended consequences that do not necessarily improve audit quality.