Jurisdictional differences in contracting out GBE audits: the impact on audit pricing

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/239681

Title: Jurisdictional differences in contracting out GBE audits: the impact on audit pricing
Author(s): Houghton, K. A.; Dolley, C.; Jubb, C. A.; Chong, K. M.
Abstract: This paper examines audit costs for government business enterprises in various Australian jurisdictions, focusing on whether contracting private-sector suppliers induces competitive pricing and hence lower-priced audits. One jurisdiction (New South Wales) is shown to have low levels of contracting-out. It is argued that this lowers price competition and therefore, we predict, audit costs in NSW will be higher than elsewhere in Australia. An empirical comparison shows that, controlling for other factors, NSW is statistically significantly more expensive than other Australian jurisdictions. Alternative explanations relating to variation in audit quality, jurisdiction differences and relative cost are also discussed.
Publication type: Journal article
Source: Australian Accounting Review, Vol. 12, no. 28 (Nov 2002), pp. 50-57
Publication year: 2002
FOR Code(s): 1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability
Keyword(s): Auditing; Audit fees; Outsourcing
Publisher: Blackwell
ISSN: 1835-2561
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1835-2561.2003.tb00211.x
Peer reviewed