L’incursion du néolibéralisme dans les arènes de la normalisation en audit : une influence démesurée ?

Neoliberalization is commonly viewed as a basic trend in contemporary society. Our study aims to better understand one aspect of this phenomenon, namely, how neoliberalism succeeds in making its mark on standard-setting processes in the field of auditing. We examine the responses received from participants in a consultation process initiated by the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to gather the views of stakeholders concerned by the possible adoption of mandatory audit firm rotation. The vast majority of respondents were against the proposal. Our analytical approach was guided by three ?classical? dimensions of neo-liberal thinking: the need to perform a cost-benefit analysis before adopting any new standard, the desire to leave the process of capital accumulation unobstructed, and finally, the promotion of market-based competition. We found that these three dimensions are often alluded to in the comments made by opponents to the firm rotation proposal. We argue that this high degree of concordance reflects their strong adherence to the neoliberal logic. Ultimately, our study shows the disproportionate influence of neoliberalism in the field of audit. The professional logic does not seem to carry much weight when it comes to debating and taking a stance on a standardization proposal that aims to strengthen auditor independence. This is reason for concern. Accordingly, we conclude this article by mobilizing certain aspects of phronetic questioning, as elaborated by Flyvbjerg (2001), to reflect further on the scope and implications of our results.