The Effect of Joint Audit on Audit Quality: Empirical Evidence from Companies Listed On the Egyptian Stock Exchange

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of joint audit on earnings conservatism, our proxy for audit quality, of companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange, by examining whether companies audited by two independent auditors are more conservative than companies audited by a single auditor. In addition, we investigate whether this relationship is affected by the type of joint audit regimes (i.e., voluntary versus mandatory), and the mix of joint auditors appointed (i.e., two big 4 auditors, or two non-big 4 auditors, or one Big 4 auditor paired with one non-big 4 auditor). To test our hypotheses, we use a sample of 32 companies listed on the Egyptian stock exchange during the period 2009 through 2013. The results of our multiple regression analyses show that companies audited by joint auditors are more conservative than companies audited by single auditors. However, we find no significant difference in levels of earnings conservatism between companies audited by joint auditors mandatorily and companies audited by joint auditors voluntarily. We also find no significant difference in levels of earnings conservatism between companies audited by two big4 auditors and companies audited by two non-big4 auditors, or by one big4 auditor paired with one non-big4 auditor.