Review Audit Fee Stickiness

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Ph.D. Candidate in Accounting, Faculty of Economic and Social Science, University of Shahid Chamran, Iran

Abstract

Agency problems were created between managers and shareholders as a result of conflict of interest. Auditing is an efficient way to limit the authority of the directors in contractual relationship. In this paper, we investigate fluctuations and changes of short term and long term audit fees. For this purpose, the data of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange for the periods 2007 to 2012 were extracted. To test the hypotheses, the cross-sectional regression of the combined data was used. The results show that the stickiness of audit fees not follow a clear trend. In other words, it will be changed in a multi-year period and in short periods of time (usually annually) changes in the fee will not be visible. Also, the results show that the audit firm will not change their fee in the early year but, in subsequent years, adjust their fees according to the understanding of the client. Finally, the results indicate that auditor change resulted in audit fees closer to the standard model.

Keywords


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