Audit Quality in Kazakhstan： Does Big 4 Provide High-Quality Audits？

作     者：Yoon Shik Han 

作者机构：KIMEP University Almaty Kazakhstan 

出 版 物：《Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing》 (现代会计与审计（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2012年第8卷第12期

页      面：1789-1797页

学科分类：120201[管理学-会计学] 12[管理学] 1202[管理学-工商管理] 08[工学] 081402[工学-结构工程] 081304[工学-建筑技术科学] 0813[工学-建筑学] 0814[工学-土木工程] 

主　　题：audit quality audit institution audit tenure auditor switch audit opinions Big 4 audit firms 

摘      要：This paper provides empirical evidence on audit quality in Kazakhstan as measured by audit tenure and the frequency of issuing modified opinions. In addition, an overview of audit institutions of Kazakhstan and an analysis of the current audit market for public companies are offered. This paper also sheds light upon the potential independence problems resulting in low audit quality and current barriers to audit researches in Kazakhstan. Consistent with the findings of extant researches on audit quality and the general perceptions of investors, two hypotheses were developed, i.e., the audits performed by Big 4 audit firms in Kazakhstan also have higher quality than non-Big 4 audit firms in terms of audit tenure and the frequency of issuing modified opinions. The result confirms the hypothesis that Big 4 audit firms provide higher audit quality than smaller local firms in association with audit tenure instead of in relation to the frequency of issuing modified opinions. The result indicates that Big 4 audit firms may not be as independent as they will be in a highly litigious market. Therefore, an independent inspection should be regularly implemented according to the audit law, and the inspection report should be publicized by Chamber of Auditors （COA）1. If this is not practical due to the lack of qualified inspectors, a peer review may be an altemative to implement the quality control policy immediately. To the author＇s best knowledge, this is the first audit quality research in countries of the Commonwealth of Independence States （CIS）.