Doctoral thesis of Philosophy: The auditor’s response to fraud in the client organisation: The impact of corporate governance, internal controls and auditor industry specialisation on audit pricing

The primary aim of this study is to determine the extent to which external auditors, in exercising their responsibilities under the Australian Auditing Standards, conduct additional audit work (proxied by audit fees) when audit clients have experienced known misappropriation of assets (MOA) fraud. The research is motivated by three key factors. The first being the mounting concerns by the Australian government and others in relation to audit quality. The second being the significant public concern related to fraud within organisations, and the increasingly sophisticated methods used to commit such crimes. Third being the potential to investigate the link, if any, between audit pricing and MOA fraud.