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Are Joint Audits Associated with Higher Audit Fees?

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  • Paul André
  • GéRaldine Broye
  • Christopher Pong
  • Alain Schatt

Abstract

In its October 2010 Green Paper on audit policy, the European Commission suggested that joint audits might be a way of improving the audit market in Europe. However, some parties consider that a joint audit system is not an efficient solution because the perceived improvements in audit quality, if any, are not commensurate with the significant increase in audit fees. We compare audit fees paid during the years 2007--2011 by listed companies in France, where joint audits are mandatory, with those paid by British and Italian companies. Theory suggests that audit fees in countries with high investor protection, such as the UK, are likely to be greater than those in countries with lower investor protection, such as France and Italy, ceteris paribus. However, we find significantly higher audit fees in France after controlling for well-documented auditor, client, and engagement attributes, which vary across countries. Furthermore, since we do not find statistically significant differences in the magnitude of abnormal accruals, the higher audit fees observed in France do not appear to be associated with higher audit quality.

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  • Paul André & GéRaldine Broye & Christopher Pong & Alain Schatt, 2016. "Are Joint Audits Associated with Higher Audit Fees?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 245-274, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:245-274
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2014.998016
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    2. Linus Axén & Torbjörn Tagesson & Denis Shcherbinin & Azra Custovic & Anna Ojdanic, 2019. "Does municipal ownership affect audit fees?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(3), pages 693-713, September.
    3. Quick, Reiner & Schmidt, Florian, 2018. "Do audit firm rotation, auditor retention, and joint audits matter? – An experimental investigation of bank directors' and institutional investors' perceptions," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-21.
    4. Claus Holm & Frank Thinggaard, 2018. "From joint to single audits – audit quality differences and auditor pairings," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 321-344, April.
    5. Murad Harasheh & Roberta Provasi, 2023. "A need for assurance: Do internal control systems integrate environmental, social, and governance factors?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 384-401, January.
    6. Marcel Haak & Michelle Muraz & Roland Zieseniß, 2018. "Joint Audits: Does the Allocation of Audit Work Affect Audit Quality and Audit Fees?," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 55-80, January.
    7. Nicole V. S. Ratzinger-Sakel & Sophie Audousset-Coulier & Jaana Kettunen & Cédric Lesage, 2013. "Joint Audit: Issues and Challenges for Researchers and Policy-Makers," Accounting in Europe, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 175-199, November.
    8. Lassaad Abdelmoula & Habib Affes, 2019. "Determining Factors of the Quality of Joint Audit: Tunisian Context," Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, Faculty of Accounting and Management Information Systems, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 559-587, December.
    9. Florian Hoos & Jorien Louise Pruijssers & Michel W. Lander, 2019. "Who’s Watching? Accountability in Different Audit Regimes and the Effects on Auditors’ Professional Skepticism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 563-575, May.
    10. Zhu, Jingqi & Spence, Crawford & Ezzamel, Mahmoud, 2021. "Thinking like the state: Doxa and symbolic power in the accounting field in China," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. Qiang Guo & Christopher Koch & Aiyong Zhu, 2017. "Joint audit, audit market structure, and consumer surplus," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1595-1627, December.
    12. Sierra-García, Laura & Gambetta, Nicolás & García-Benau, María A. & Orta-Pérez, Manuel, 2019. "Understanding the determinants of the magnitude of entity-level risk and account-level risk key audit matters: The case of the United Kingdom," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 227-240.
    13. Gérald Lobo & Luc Paugam & Lana Zhang & Jean-François Casta, 2013. "Effect Of Joint Auditor Pair On Conserv A Tism: Evidence From Impairment Tests," Post-Print hal-00993007, HAL.

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