Dysfunctional audit behaviour: an exploratory study in Malaysia

Halil Paino, Zubaidah Ismail and Malcolm Smith

Asian Review of Accounting, 2010, vol. 18, issue 2, pages 162-173

Abstract: Purpose – The quality of the opinion provided by audit firms is an important determinant of their long-term survival, but audit quality is difficult to gauge, which makes it particularly sensitive to the behaviour of the individuals who carry on audit work. This paper seeks to identify the incidence of dysfunctional audit behaviours and audit quality reduction behaviours, actions taken by an auditor during engagement that reduce evidence-gathering effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a survey of 244 auditors working in small/medium and big audit firms in Malaysia. Findings – The paper identifies key variables leading to dysfunctional audit behaviour. Research limitations/implications – The paper is subject to the normal limitations associated with survey research. Practical implications – The paper provides basic empirical evidence of a potentially serious risk of dysfunctional behaviours that may impair audit quality. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical evidence to address the concerns of the Malaysian regulatory authorities regarding audit quality

Keywords: Auditing; Behaviour; Malaysia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations View citations in EconPapers (1) Track citations by RSS feed

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=13 ... 865353&show=abstract (text/html)
Cannot be freely downloaded

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:arapps:v:18:y:2010:i:2:p:162-173

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
Emerald Group Publishing, Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley, BD16 1WA, UK
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/ara.htm

Access Statistics for this article

Asian Review of Accounting is edited by Jeffrey Faux

More articles in Asian Review of Accounting from Emerald Group Publishing
Series data maintained by Chris Harris ().