An empirical investigation of auditor judgment : factors affecting perceived audit risk

Abstract

Much previous research exists concerning auditor judgment in a variety of judgment settings. However, the research reported in this dissertation investigates the judgments made by auditors concerning the perceived level of risk present in a simulated audit environment by requesting auditor-subjects to provide an estimation of the degree of risk present and budgeted man-hours necessary to complete a series of hypothetical audit assignments (cases). Variables which affect the perceived level of audit risk were identified from the audit risk models advanced by SAS Nos. 39 and 47 as well as the literature related to audit risk. An initial investigation identified variables critical to the auditor-subjects in their estimation of the perceived level of audit risk present and budgeted man-hours necessary to complete the audit assignment. Next, three measures of auditor judgment consistency were examined: (1) the degree of judgment consensus; (2) the degree of auditor self-insight; and, (3) the degree of auditor stability (intra-auditor consistency). The results of this research show that there are substantial differences in the methods used by auditors in the assessment of the perceived audit risk present in an audit situation. This research also indicates that the audit risk models advanced by SAS Nos. 39 and 47 are considered by auditors during the assessment of audit risk.