What Do Industry-Specialist Auditors Know?

Posted: 16 Sep 1999

See all articles by Ira Solomon

Ira Solomon

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Michael D. Shields

Michigan State University - Department of Accounting & Information Systems

O. Ray Whittington

DePaul University

Abstract

Recent shifts in audit practice have dprovided more substantive and pervasive roles for specialized industry knowledge (e.g., see Bell et al. [1997]). Specifically, most of the largest firms now are structured along industry lines and designate most, if not all, of their auditors as industry specialists (Emerson [1993]). This change suggests that a preferred way for auditors to acquire industry knowledge is via specialized indirect experience (e.g., training) coupled with focused direct experience (e.g., working exclusively on audit engagements in a particular industry). Our experimental investigation of what industry-specialist auditors know is intended to probe the knowledge implications of industry specialists? focused training and narrow, but deep, direct experiences.

JEL Classification: M49, L84

Suggested Citation

Solomon, Ira and Shields, Michael D. and Whittington, O. Ray, What Do Industry-Specialist Auditors Know?. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=173484

Ira Solomon

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

1206 South Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
United States
217-333-3808 (Phone)
217-244-0902 (Fax)

Michael D. Shields (Contact Author)

Michigan State University - Department of Accounting & Information Systems ( email )

270 North Business Complex
East Lansing, MI 48824-1034
United States

O. Ray Whittington

DePaul University ( email )

1 East Jackson Blvd.
College of Commerce
Chicago, IL 60604
United States
312-362-6625 (Phone)
312-362-6208 (Fax)

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