What Do Industry-Specialist Auditors Know?
Posted: 16 Sep 1999
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: Suggested Citation