An Empirical Study of the Conflicting Pressures on Auditor Decision-Making, and Implications for Auditor Independence

对审计师决策的相互冲突压力的复杂相互作用的实证研究，以及对审计师独立性的影响背景最近备受瞩目的公司倒闭引发了对英国财务审计模式及其监管的几条调查线。学术研究集中在旨在确保审计师独立性的各种法规对审计质量的影响上。然而，这些都使用了较差的审计质量代理，也没有区分审计师独立性的影响。文献中提到了审计师独立性面临的主要风险。然而，虽然实证研究通过研究公司文化证实了这些风险的存在，但他们并没有收集证据，证明这些风险对实际背景审计师决策的影响，以及在存在旨在对抗此类商业压力影响的法规和道德行为准则的情况下。因此，本研究的目的是从英国审计师那里收集经验证据，说明在审计师面临相互冲突的压力时，如何做出关键的审计决策。研究结果旨在发展审计师独立性理论，为定量研究奠定基础，并最终指导英国审计监管的未来政策。主要研究问题：各种相互冲突的因素如何影响审计师的决策，从而影响审计的严谨性？设计概述：将采用基于半结构化访谈的定性方法。

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE COMPLEX INTERPLAY OF CONFLICTING PRESSURES ON AUDITOR DECISIONMAKING,AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR AUDITOR INDEPENDENCEBACKGROUNDRecent high profile corporate collapses have precipitated several lines of inquiry into the financial auditmodel and the regulation surrounding it in the UK.Academic studies have focused on the audit quality impact of various regulations aimed at ensuringauditor independence. However, these have used poor proxies of audit quality, which also do notseparate the impact of auditor independence.The literature refers to the main risks to auditor independence. However, while empirical studies haveconfirmed the existence of these risks from studying firm cultures, they have not gathered evidence onthe impact of these on actual contextual auditor decision-making, and in the presence of regulations andethical codes of conduct aimed at countering the effect of such commercial pressures.PURPOSE STATEMENTThe aim of the study, therefore, is to gather empirical evidence from UK auditors on how key auditdecisions are made in the presence of conflicting pressures on the auditor.The results of the study are intended to develop the theory on auditor independence, to set thegroundwork for quantitative studies, and ultimately, to guide future policy on UK audit regulation.14 / 26MAIN RESEARCH QUESTIONv How do various conflicting factors impact auditor decision-making and therefore audit rigour?DESIGN OVERVIEWA qualitative approach will be used based on semi-structured interviews.