Prof. Mark Peecher

Professor

Mark is Executive Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at Gies College of Business of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the inaugural holder of Arthur R. Wyatt Endowed Chair in Accountancy. He is also academic board member for the FAR. Previously, he served for many years as their Deloitte Professor of Accountancy. He holds a Ph.D. in accountancy and has a distinguished career and impressive track record in auditing research.

Deception Detection in Auditing and Auditors’ Assessment of Risk of Material Misstatement Due to Fraud
The investing public has long looked to the independent financial-statement auditor to help prevent and detect instances of material financial-statement fraud. Yet, it has only been in recent decades that audit standards recognize explicitly that auditors are responsible for providing high assurance that the financial statements are not materially misstated due to fraud. Although once generally believed to be an exceedingly rare event, recent research suggests base rates of financial statement fraud may be as high or higher than ten percent of public companies. Cases of fraud that go undetected for years exacts a substantial toll on the confidence of the investing public in capital markets. At the same time, actually providing high assurance that a set of financial statements are not materially misstated due to fraud is difficult for individual auditors due to a combination of questionable economic incentives for individual audit teams to detect fraud as well as psychological preference to avoid believing that one’s own client – a socially close affiliate – has been engaging in deception of the investing public as well as the auditors themselves.
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Cultivating Auditors Who Are More Committed to and Better at Ensuring Audit Quality
Using a multi-method approach, we first introduce the construct of well-calibrated professional skepticism and identify how it facilitates auditors’ response to heightened risk of material misstatement without also raising costly false alarms. We then draw on the management and management accounting literatures to identify several audit firm “soft” culture controls and auditor-specific characteristics that we predict, and find evidence consistent with being, antecedents of well-calibrated professional skepticism. We position well-calibrated professional skepticism as an internalized value and connect it to the psychology literature on calibration. We discuss how audit firms can improve the portion of their audit professionals who are well-calibrated professional skeptics by improved selection during recruitment of human talent and by investment in culture controls that credibly reveal a commitment to “walking the talk” when it comes to audit quality.
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The Effect of Audit Culture on Audit Quality
In this research note, we discuss why designing a management control system that directs effort towards audit quality is so tricky. We discuss the different ways that audit firms motivate effort and highlight “culture controls” where, through selection and socialization, audit firms create a workforce of auditors that value and, therefore, work hard to ensure audit quality. We also discuss the importance of directing auditors’ efforts towards audit quality and distinguish three critical elements. Auditors must: (1) understand the importance of audit quality, (2) possess the right tools and capabilities, and (3) prefer those tasks that lead to audit quality. We share some preliminary results of our research that examines how successful five Dutch audit firms are at this non-trivial task. This provides firms with the knowledge to critically examine and improve their own current management control system. Our study is relevant for Dutch audit firms as well as for auditors all over the world.
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Well‑calibrated professional skepticism: how culture and auditor values drive better audit judgments
This study introduces the concept of well-calibrated professional skepticism, auditors’ ability to respond critically when misstatement risk is high without overreacting when risk is low. Using interviews, experiments, and surveys with 399 auditors, the research shows that well-calibrated skeptics make better judgments and plan appropriate actions, improving audit quality.
Auditor pride, however, does not significantly influence judgment. Key drivers of calibrated skepticism include supportive leadership, sufficient resources, and personal values such as truth-seeking and contributing to society.
The findings suggest that audit firms can strengthen skepticism through cultural controls and by hiring auditors who value integrity and societal impact.
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The Effect of Audit Culture on Audit Quality
In 2014, the professional body for accountants in the Netherlands (NBA) indicated that audit quality did not live up to the public’s expectations. One of the main corrective measures suggested by the NBA was an improvement in audit culture (NBA, 2014). Although audit culture can be an important determinant of audit quality, the extant academic literature has not payed much attention to audit culture. This paper provides an overview of the literature on audit quality and audit culture as a determinant of audit quality
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January 20, 2026

New Academic Board Member: Mark Peecher

We are happy to announce that Mark Peecher will succeed Robert Knechel as an Academic Member of the FAR Board, as of March 27, 2026. Mark is Executive Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at Gies College of Business of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the inaugural holder of Arthur R. Wyatt Endowed Chair in Accountancy. Previously, he served for many years as their Deloitte Professor of Accountancy. He holds a Ph.D. in accountancy and has a distinguished career and impressive track record in auditing research. Mark has contributed to FAR through his involvement in two of the research projects and he has demonstrated engagement with the organization’s mission and community. We are grateful that Mark has accepted this position and look forward to his contributions. As we welcome Mark, we also extend our deep appreciation to Robert Knechel, who will end his term after many years of dedicated service. We express our sincere gratitude to him for his longstanding commitment and valuable contributions to FAR.

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