Examining the relationship between corruption perceptions index and auditors' behavior with emphasis on the role of industry type

Barzegar, Ghodratollah; Sharifzadeh, Ghafour; Haghighat, Tooba

doi:10.22034/necsbm.2023.399195.1007

Examining the relationship between corruption perceptions index and auditors' behavior with emphasis on the role of industry type

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Ghodratollah Barzegar ¹

Ghafour Sharifzadeh ²

Tooba Haghighat ³

¹ Assistant Professor, Accounting department, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

² Ph.D in Accounting, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran

³ Ph.D candidate in Accounting, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/necsbm.2023.399195.1007

Abstract

This research examines the impact of perceived corruption on auditor behavior during the period of 2015 to 2021. The Transparency international annual reports were used to measure perceived corruption. Three indicators, namely audit costs, audit report lag, and auditor turnover, were employed to measure auditor behavior. The relevant data was extracted from the financial statements of companies and analyzed using multiple regression analysis with the EViews software. The results demonstrate that perceived corruption has a positive and significant impact on audit costs and audit report lag. However, its effect on auditor turnover is statistically insignificant. Furthermore, these findings indicate that the influence of perceived corruption on auditor behavior does not differ significantly across different industries. Therefore, perceived corruption serves as an important determinant affecting auditor behavior in financial statement audits. Auditors must exercise utmost caution when dealing with companies perceived as corrupt, leading to the need for more work and additional time to provide the report and gather supporting documentation. As a result, audit costs increase for the company and more time is allocated for issuing the audit report.

Keywords

Perceived corruption

Auditor behavior

Transparency ranking

Audit fees

industry type

Audit report lag

going concern opinion