Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia

Studies examining the relationship between a firm's internal audit (IA) function and its audit fees have produced mixed results with suggestions of possible model mis-specification in these studies. Our analysis reveals that differences in significance for IA with audit fees is driven by the ch...

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Main Authors: Singh, Harj, Woodliff, D., Sultana, Nigar, Newby, R.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34225
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author Singh, Harj
Woodliff, D.
Sultana, Nigar
Newby, R.
author_facet Singh, Harj
Woodliff, D.
Sultana, Nigar
Newby, R.
author_sort Singh, Harj
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Studies examining the relationship between a firm's internal audit (IA) function and its audit fees have produced mixed results with suggestions of possible model mis-specification in these studies. Our analysis reveals that differences in significance for IA with audit fees is driven by the choice of variables proxying for firm size and other firm characteristics, suggesting that prior results are entangled with model specification issues. Specifically, when the sales variable is used as a measure of firm size, IA is insignificant (in explaining variations in audit fees) but subsequently becomes significant when assets and employees are used. To overcome the conflicting results, subsequent factor analysis supported a positive relationship between IA and audit fees. The most significant implication from this study is that previously reported relationships involving audit fees may be the outcome of the model adopted rather than the underlying relationship between the variable of interest and audit fees.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-342252017-09-13T15:08:24Z Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia Singh, Harj Woodliff, D. Sultana, Nigar Newby, R. Model mis-specification and corporate governance Internal audit Audit fees Studies examining the relationship between a firm's internal audit (IA) function and its audit fees have produced mixed results with suggestions of possible model mis-specification in these studies. Our analysis reveals that differences in significance for IA with audit fees is driven by the choice of variables proxying for firm size and other firm characteristics, suggesting that prior results are entangled with model specification issues. Specifically, when the sales variable is used as a measure of firm size, IA is insignificant (in explaining variations in audit fees) but subsequently becomes significant when assets and employees are used. To overcome the conflicting results, subsequent factor analysis supported a positive relationship between IA and audit fees. The most significant implication from this study is that previously reported relationships involving audit fees may be the outcome of the model adopted rather than the underlying relationship between the variable of interest and audit fees. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34225 10.1111/ijau.12009 Wiley-Blackwell restricted
spellingShingle Model mis-specification and corporate governance
Internal audit
Audit fees
Singh, Harj
Woodliff, D.
Sultana, Nigar
Newby, R.
Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title_full Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title_fullStr Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title_full_unstemmed Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title_short Additional Evidence on the Relationship Between an Internal Audit Function and External Audit Fees in Australia
title_sort additional evidence on the relationship between an internal audit function and external audit fees in australia
topic Model mis-specification and corporate governance
Internal audit
Audit fees
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34225