The Effect of Audit Partner Digitalization Expertise on Audit Fees

Arpine Maghakyan, Henry Jarva, Lasse Niemi and Jukka Sihvonen

European Accounting Review, 2025, vol. 34, issue 2, 519-540

Abstract: This study focuses on the effects of digitalization on the auditing industry and the impact of audit partner expertise in digitalization on audit fees. Using data from listed U.S. companies between 2016 and 2021, we document a statistically and economically significant audit fee premium for audit partners who specialize in digitalization. This premium is separate from the partner’s industry specialization and is strongest in industries with a high level of digitalization, especially during the first half of the sample period. Our subsample analysis shows that, while the premium appears to be diminishing in less digitalized industries, it remains significant in highly digitalized industries. This change may be due to the general increase in digitalization expertise among audit partners, leading to diminishing returns to specialization for less digitalized audits.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09638180.2023.2298433 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:euract:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:519-540

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/REAR20

DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2023.2298433

Access Statistics for this article

European Accounting Review is currently edited by Laurence van Lent

More articles in European Accounting Review from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().