Analytical Auditing Research: New Directions from Several Disciplines

Abstract

The economic paradigm has been the dominant paradigm in analytical auditing research. While the traditional modeling approach has made important contributions, it does not adequately represent the auditor's role. Acknowledging the methodological problems associated with arbitrarily tinkering with the traditional approach, I examine how economic theory has benefited from recent developments in sociology, psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and jurisprudence, and how research from these fields is closely related to better describing the auditor's role. Further integration of these fields into the analytical paradigm is imminent making it necessary for auditing academics to familiarize themselves with these issues in order to better inform experimental and archival efforts, and perhaps even take part in the analytic work itself.

Keywords: Auditing, accounting

JEL Classification: M49, K10, D23