IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/afr111/v11y2022i1p13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Demand for External Audit Quality: The Contribution of Agency Theory in the Context of Cameroon

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Forzeh Fossung
  • Samuel Tanjeh Mukah
  • Kueda Wamba Berthelo
  • Motika Eubert Nsai

Abstract

This study examines the effect of agency theory on the demand for external audit quality in Cameroon. Specifically, it looks at the impact of shareholder/manager agency cost, shareholders/creditors agency cost, and majority/minority shareholders agency cost on external audit quality demand in Cameroon. The focus is on a sample of 171 companies drawn from the regions of Littoral, Centre and North-West using questionnaires. We assess the explanatory power of agency theory on the demand for a better quality of audit in the Cameroonian context by modelling external audit quality as a function of agency costs. The logistic regression analysis allows us to study the nature of any possible interaction. The analysis shows that while an increase in shareholder/creditor agency cost and an increase in shareholder/manager agency cost negatively affect the demand for audit quality, the majority/minority agency cost and the size of the audited client positively and significantly affect the demand for audit quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Forzeh Fossung & Samuel Tanjeh Mukah & Kueda Wamba Berthelo & Motika Eubert Nsai, 2022. "The Demand for External Audit Quality: The Contribution of Agency Theory in the Context of Cameroon," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:13
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/download/21368/13186
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/afr/article/view/21368
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mustafa, Aree Saeed & Che-Ahmad, Ayoib & Chandren, Sitraselvi, 2018. "Board diversity, audit committee characteristics and audit quality: The moderating role of control-ownership wedge," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center (PRADEC), vol. 14(3), May.
    2. Watts, Ross L & Zimmerman, Jerold L, 1983. "Agency Problems, Auditing, and the Theory of the Firm: Some Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 613-633, October.
    3. Joseph P. H. Fan & T. J. Wong, 2005. "Do External Auditors Perform a Corporate Governance Role in Emerging Markets? Evidence from East Asia," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 35-72, March.
    4. Aladdin Dwekat & Zeena Mardawi & Islam Abdeljawad, 2018. "Corporate Governance and Auditor Quality Choice: Evidence from Palestinian Corporations," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 47-53.
    5. Aree Saeed Mustafa & Ayoib Che-Ahmad & Sitraselvi Chandren, 2018. "Board diversity, audit committee characteristics and audit quality: The moderating role of control-ownership wedge," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 14(3), pages 587-614, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Madher E. Hamdallah & Salem Al-N’eimat & Anan F. Srouji & Manaf Al-Okaily & Khaldoon Albitar, 2022. "The Effect of Apparent and Intellectual Sustainability Independence on the Credibility Gap of the Accounting Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-22, November.
    2. Krismiaji & Handayani & Sumayyah, 2023. "Audit Quality, Board Governance and Real Earnings Management – Indonesian Evidence," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 4(8), pages 64-73, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aree Saeed MUSTAFA & Luqman Muhammed SAEED & Nishtiman Hashim MOHAMMED, 2018. "Auditor Selection in Borsa Istanbul," The Audit Financiar journal, Chamber of Financial Auditors of Romania, vol. 16(152), pages 599-599.
    2. Soumaya Ayedi & Azhaar Lajmi & Emna Boumediene, 2019. "The effects of agency conflicts on audit quality demand: Evidence from Tunisia," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(3), pages 2175-2183.
    3. Sarhan, Ahmed A. & Ntim, Collins G. & Al-Najjar, Basil, 2019. "Antecedents of audit quality in MENA countries: The effect of firm- and country-level governance quality," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 85-107.
    4. Iwasaki, Ichiro & 岩﨑, 一郎, 2013. "What Determines Audit Independence and Expertise in Russia? Firm-Level Evidence," RRC Working Paper Series 27_v2, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    5. Knechel, W. Robert & Thomas, Edward & Driskill, Matthew, 2020. "Understanding financial auditing from a service perspective," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    6. Bley, Jorg & Saad, Mohsen & Samet, Anis, 2019. "Auditor choice and bank risk taking," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 37-52.
    7. Habib, Ahsan & Muhammadi, Abdul Haris & Jiang, Haiyan, 2017. "Political connections, related party transactions, and auditor choice: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19.
    8. Liangliang Jiang & Hui Zhou, 2017. "The role of audit verification in debt contracting: evidence from covenant violations," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 469-501, March.
    9. Elliroma Gardiner, 2024. "What’s age got to do with it? The effect of board member age diversity: a systematic review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 65-92, February.
    10. Griffin, Paul A. & Lont, David H. & Sun, Yuan, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Audit Fees: Evidence of Countervailing Relations," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 18-49.
    11. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Víctor Amor-Esteban & Filippo Vitolla, 2023. "Board committees and non-financial information assurance services," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 1-42, March.
    12. Lin, Hsiao-Lun & Yen, Ai-Ru, 2017. "Determinants and market valuation of the decision to audit or review: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 209-224.
    13. D'Agosto, Elena, 2007. "Investor Protection and Corporate Performance: Comparing Auditing Issues across countries," MPRA Paper 50990, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Mahdi Salehi & Grzegorz Zimon & Hayder Adnan Hashim & Ryszard Jędrzejczak & Adam Sadowski, 2022. "Accounting Quality and Audit Attributes on the Stock Price Crashes in an Emerging Market," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-24, October.
    15. Vanessa Carvalho Pereira & Antonio Gualberto Pereira & José Sérgio Casé Oliveira, 2023. "Influence of ownership structure on the choice of Big Four independent auditors," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 316-326, September.
    16. Habib, Ahsan & Ranasinghe, Dinithi & Muhammadi, Abdul Haris & Islam, Ainul, 2018. "Political connections, financial reporting and auditing: Survey of the empirical literature," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 37-51.
    17. Fei Hou & Fangnan Liao & Jie Liu & Hao Xiong, 2019. "Signing Auditors’ Foreign Experience and Debt Financing Costs: Evidence for Sustainability of Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-19, November.
    18. Pinghsun Huang & Yi-Chieh Wen & Yan Zhang, 2020. "Does the monitoring effect of Big 4 audit firms really prevail? Evidence from managerial expropriation of cash assets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 739-768, August.
    19. Sohail Ahmad Javeed & Tze San Ong & Rashid Latief & Haslinah Muhamad & Wei Ni Soh, 2021. "Conceptualizing the Moderating Role of CEO Power and Ownership Concentration in the Relationship between Audit Committee and Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-26, June.
    20. Alrashidi, Rasheed & Baboukardos, Diogenis & Arun, Thankom, 2021. "Audit fees, non-audit fees and access to finance: Evidence from India," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jfr:afr111:v:11:y:2022:i:1:p:13. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sciedu Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.