Relationship between Audit Industry Specialization and Audit Report Lag in Companies Listed in Tehran Stock Exchange

Abstract

This research studies the relationship between Audit firm industry specialization and the audit report lag (ARL) from 2002 to 2011, in the firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. ARL is one of the few externally observable audit output variables that allows outsiders to gauge audit efficiency, because it is related to the timeliness of both audit and earnings information. In this research the time between the financial year end and the date of audit report is considered the audit report lag, and auditor specialization is measured by the market share approach. Industry-specialized auditors are able to develop the industry-specific knowledge and expertise and to familiarize themselves quickly with clients’ business operations and, therefore, are likely to complete the audit operation faster than their non-specialized counterparts. Using regression analysis and controlling known determinants of the ARL, results show that the ARL is shorter for the firms audited by the industry specialized auditors.

Keywords

• audit report lag
• auditor industry specialization
• tenure