Attributes of audit quality and weak fiscal sustainability countries

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the effect that audit quality has on audit opinion expression in the context of the recessive Eurozone environment. Based on a sample consisting of all the European Monetary Union countries for a period of nine years (2005-2013) our findings suggest that the size of the auditing firm and auditor's expertise in an industry continues to be a proxy for audit quality and impacts audit opinion during the recession. However, this finding does not persist for audit tenure. These findings provide evidence with respect to audit quality differentiation in a monetary union, with a common currency and accounting standards in the presence of an economic recession. It attempts to provide useful insights for auditors, accountants and regulators concerning the regulatory framework and the efficiency of various audit policy changes especially in periods of fiscal distress.