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Audit Fees: A Meta‐analysis of the Effect of Supply and Demand Attributes *
Author(s) -
Hay David C.,
Knechel W. Robert,
Wong Norman
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
contemporary accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.769
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 1911-3846
pISSN - 0823-9150
DOI - 10.1506/4xr4-kt5v-e8cn-91gx
Subject(s) - leverage (statistics) , audit , accounting , variables , corporate governance , business , auditor's report , meta analysis , perspective (graphical) , economics , statistics , finance , computer science , mathematics , medicine , artificial intelligence
We evaluate and summarize the large body of audit fee research and use meta‐analysis to test the combined effect of the most commonly used independent variables. The perspective provided by the meta‐analysis allows us to reconsider the anomalies, mixed results, and gaps in audit fee research. We find that, although many independent variables have consistent results, several show no clear pattern to the results and others only show significant results in certain periods or particular countries. These variables include a loss by the client and leverage, which have become significant in comparatively recent studies; internal auditing and governance, both of which have mixed results; auditor specialization, regarding which there is still some uncertainty; and the audit opinion, which was a significant variable before 1990 but not in more recent studies.