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Implications of accounting and audit regulations

Joseph Akadeagre Agana of the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder has submitted his thesis entitled «Essays on Implications of accounting and audit regulations» and will defend the thesis for the PhD-degree Thursday 24 June 2021. (Photo: Private)

In this dissertation, I examined questions relating to the impact of accounting and audit regulations on audit fees, accounting quality and auditors use of experts.

Joseph Akadeagre Agana

PhD Candidate

The disputation will be held digitally, because of the Corona covid-19-situation. Spectators may follow the disputation digitally – link is available below.

 

Joseph Akadeagre Agana of the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder has submitted his thesis entitled «Essays on Implications of accounting and audit regulations» and will defend the thesis for the PhD-degree Thursday 24 June 2021. 

He has followed the PhD-programme at the School of Business and Law at the University of Agder,

Summary of the thesis by Joseph Akadeagre Agana:

Implications of accounting and audit regulations

Regulations in all forms are often thought to be in the public interest and thus the associated benefits and costs are often not properly scrutinized.

In this dissertation, I examined questions relating to the impact of accounting and audit regulations on audit fees, accounting quality and auditors use of experts. The results show the following:

  • There are disadvantages of regulation like increased audit costs which are often borne by companies and passed along to their owners.
  • Regulations impact the relative importance of the auditor and company characteristics underlying audit pricing such that client attributes including governance, and the structure of audit engagements are noted to be increasingly more important than auditor characteristics in the pricing of external audit.
  • Although the requirement for companies to use international accounting standards is intended to enhance accounting quality, the results show the contrary.
  • Notwithstanding the above, companies operating in countries where international accounting standards are not modified produced relatively good accounting numbers and reported losses on a timely basis without delay. 
  •  Modification of international accounting standards to fit national context leads to better association between accounting numbers and market values. 
  • Auditors demonstrate greater diligence in audit areas typically associated with high risk and complex judgment by consulting experts. They are more likely to do so if they are perceived to be leaders in the industry, if audit fees are high and if the audit is very risky.

Overall, while accounting and audit regulations are generally vital due to their focus on enhancing transparency and reporting quality, evidence of the unintended consequences and the marginal benefits arising from these regulations imply a more nuanced approach is required in the implementation of accounting and audit regulations.

Disputation facts

The trial lecture and the public defence will take place online, via the Zoom conferencing app (link below). 

Head of department Bjørn-Tore Flåten, Department of Management, School of Business and Law at the University of Agder, will chair the disputation.

The trial lecture Thursday 24 June at 11:00 hours

Public defence Thursday 24 June at 12:00 hours

Given topic for trial lecture«On the migration of international accounting standards into developing economies»

Thesis Title«Essays on Implications of accounting and audit regulations»

Search for the thesis in AURA - Agder University Research Archive, a digital archive of scientific papers, theses and dissertations from the academic staff and students at the University of Agder.

The thesis is available here:

https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2758979

Papers I-III were excluded from the dissertation until they will be published.

Full text:

 

The CandidateJoseph Akadeagre Agana (1987, Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, Ghana). Bachelor degree and Masters degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana. Present position: Lecturer, Department of accounting and finance, KNUST-Ghana.

Opponents:

First opponent: Professor Minna Martikainen, University of Vaasa, Finland

Second opponent: Associate Professor Cardamine Carmen Estrella Olsen, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Professor Lars Oxelheim, Universitety of Agder, is appointed as the administrator for the assessment commitee.

Supervisor were Professor Anna Alon, Department of Economics and Finance, UiA

What to do as an audience member:

The disputation is open to the public, but to follow the trial lecture and the public defence, which is transmitted via the Zoom conferencing app, you have to register as an audience member.

We ask audience members to join the virtual trial lecture at 10:50 at the earliest and the public defense at 11:50 at the earliest. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time. Further, we ask audience members to turn off their microphone and camera and keep them turned off throughout the event. You do this at the bottom left of the image when in Zoom. We recommend you use ‘Speaker view’. You select that at the top right corner of the video window when in Zoom.

Opponent ex auditorio:

The chair invites members of the public to pose questions ex auditorio in the introduction to the public defense, with deadlines. It is a prerequisite that the opponent has read the thesis. Questions can be submitted to the chair Bjørn-Tore Flåtenon e-mail bjorn-tore.flaten@uia.no