This study attempts to examine the effects of task characteristics and accountability on audit judgment. We found that when the audit task is less structured, such as in analytical reviews, auditors will manifest an attitudinal shift toward the preference of the agent to whom they are accountable. When the audit task is structured such as in internal control evaluations, an attitudinal shift wi...

This paper presents a state-of-the-art survey of the operations research models developed for internal audit planning. Two alternative approaches have been followed in the literature for audit planning: (1) identifying the optimal audit frequency; and (2) determining the optimal audit resource allocation. The first approach identifies the elapsed time between two successive audits, which can be...

The present study aims at investigating the impact of the presence of audit committee and its characteristics on the corporate information environment. These characteristics include independence, financial expertise, size, and the gender of the audit committee. Although several methods have been discussed for measuring information environment in the accounting and finance literature, this resea...

AIM To set up a programme of internal laboratory audit in a medical microbiology laboratory. METHODS A model of laboratory based process audit is described. Laboratory activities were examined in turn by specimen type. Standards were set using laboratory standard operating procedures; practice was observed using a purpose designed questionnaire and the data were analysed by computer; performa...

QUALITY PROBLEM OR ISSUE Governing bodies of health services need assurance that major risks to achieving the health service objectives are being controlled. Currently, the main assurance mechanisms generated within the organization are through the review of implementation of policies and procedures and review of clinical audits and quality data. INITIAL ASSESSMENT The governing bodies of hea...

We investigate the agency costs of corporate ownership structure and the role of audit committees in mitigating their effect. Using China as a laboratory, where audit committees are voluntary, we study the demand for and value relevance of audit committees conditional on the various agency costs of corporate ownership. Audit committees complement existing internal governance systems by reducing...