The enigma of the Greek auditing profession: some preliminary results concerning the impact of liberalization on auditor behaviour

Abstract

The paper reports the results of a survey of the perceptions of individual auditors and corporate financial executives in Greece, regarding changes in emphases which auditors gave to various audit functions following the liberalization of the Greek auditing profession in 1992. The term ‘liberalization’ is used here to denote the introduction of competition in the market for statutory audits and the concomitant economic dependence of auditors on audited companies. The liberalization was effected through legislation and was the result of a long and intense intra-professional conflict between a group of indigenous auditors who until then enjoyed legal monopoly of practice and local branches of international accounting firms who wanted to enter the market for statutory audit services. The survey results suggest that following the liberalization, significantly more emphasis was placed by auditors on the provision of Management Advisory Services to audited companies. In relation to functions which are typically performed by auditors in order to form a professional opinion on corporate financial statements the survey revealed a large divergence in the perceptions of respondent groups.