Trust in auditing – The effects of trust on the auditor-client relationship
The assurance provided by auditing services is an important contribution to capital market stability and to the successful interaction between finance and the real economy. In spite of increasingly strict regulations, the accounting sector has recently come under widespread attack for not sufficiently fulfilling its investigatory function, according to critics. To better understand this conflict, WU’s Research Institute for Liberal Professions conducts a study on the role of trust in the auditor-client relationship.
The project
Trust is often implied to have a negative effect on the auditing process, mainly due to a perceived loss of auditor independence. Recent studies in trust research have shown that trust can have very positive effects on the efficiency and efficacy of exchange relationships, but before now, these results have only rarely been applied to research on auditor-client relations.
This project aims to close this gap by applying concepts already well established in trust research to current questions in auditing. An empirical survey of auditor/client pairs will investigate the influence of trust in the relationship on the individual success of the auditor, the individual success of the audited company, and the joint success of the auditing relationship.
On a theoretical level, the economic implications of trust in the relationship between auditor and auditee are a valuable contribution to the recent scientific discourse on the auditing profession, and the study’s results will offer interesting conclusions which can be used in future policy-making decisions. On a practical level, these results provide insights on how to use relationship management techniques for a more efficient and effective auditing process.
The project team
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Scientific supervisors: |
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Dr. Ewald Aschauer is assistant professor at the Institute for Financial Accounting and Auditing at WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business. He specialises in business matters in a legal context. His research areas are national and international financial accounting and company valuation. His doctoral dissertation was written on company evaluation in a squeeze-out. For his doctoral dissertation Ewald Aschauer was awarded the Deloitte Award 2009. Ewald Aschauer is also active as an advisory member of the professional organisation of business trustees. He is a member of the expert senate for business and organisation and the working group for company valuation at the Chamber of Business Trustees. |
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Dr. Katharina van Bakel-Auer is assistant professor at the Institute for Financial Accounting and Auditing at WU, Vienna University of Economics and Business and General Secretary of the Austrian Financial Reporting and Auditing Committee (AFRAC). Her research areas are national and international financial accounting, business reporting, corporate governance, as well as European developments in connection with the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 8th EU guideline. Her doctoral dissertation was written on “Dimensioning the payout of dividends at capital-market oriented companies in the light of changing accounting practices and the preservation of capital – from the point of view of creditor protection“. Ms. van Bakel-Auer gathered practical experience as an assistant auditor at Ernst & Young before returning to WU as an assistant professor. |
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Prof. Dr. Matthias Fink is head of the Research Institute for Liberal Professions and an Associate Professor at the Department for Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship at the WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, where he received his venia docendi (Habilitation) in June 2010. He has been a habilitation scholar (APART) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, a visiting professor at Vaasa University (Finland), and an EECPCL participating professor at Harvard Business School (USA). Furthermore, Matthias Fink is a senior researcher at the RiCC (Research Institute for Co-operation and Co-operatives), visiting professor at the Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona (Spain) and the University of Twente (NL), vice chairman of the Institut fuer Managementforschung Koeln e.V. (IMFK), and country vice president of the European Council of Small Business (ECSB). Matthias
Fink received the Erste Bank Prize for Research on CEE and the Rudolf Sallinger
Award. A number of his research projects and publications were honored by the
WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. He has published over 30
contributions in peer-reviewed journals, e.g. British Journal of Management,
Zeitschrift fuer Betriebswirtschaft und Schmalenbachs Business Review. |
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Project coordinator: |
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Elisabeth Reiner (LLM) is researcher at the Institute for Small Business Management and Entrepreneurship at WU – Vienna University of Economics and Business. Presently, she works on the project „Understanding Entrepreneurship Policy in Europe“. Moreover, she is researcher at the RiCC – Research Institute for Co-operation and Co-operatives. Elisabeth Reiner studied law at the Vienna University. In 2008 she finished the court year in Vienna. During 2010, she has worked on the SCE study of Austria together with Prof. Dietmar Roessl. |
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Junior
researchers: |
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Ausweger Christina |
Dominkus Nikolaus |
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Hauenschild Alexander |
Haring Hannes |
Hüttner Julia |
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Hnup Sylvia |
Inanc Ayvaz |
Nahajowski Matthäus |
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Poier Gisela |
Pour Joubin |
Reininger Klaus-Jürgen |
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Schober Sandra |
Steiner Matthias |
Tiefengraber Renate |
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Viertl David |
Windisch Anna |
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