| For ensuring high audit quality, auditors must handle committed errors effectively. Moreover, auditors frequently deal with detected clients’ errors. The way of handling these errors is an important aspect of the auditor-client interaction, which may affect the client’s cooperativeness and acceptance of recommendations. Psychological research suggests that organizational error culture is an important prerequisite for effective error handling behaviors. We develop a research instrument for measuring auditors’ handling of own and clients’ errors, and audit entities’ error culture. Our empirical investigation with 244 external, internal, and public sector auditors highlights the importance of a “constructive” error culture that encourages auditors to handle own errors openly instead of suppressing or concealing them. Initial evidence also suggests that external auditors are more satisfied with their job when they handle their clients’ errors constructively rather than strictly. This could indicate that constructive error handling is beneficial for a productive auditor-client interaction. |
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| Contact information: |
| Paolo Perego | Anna Nöteberg | | Email | Email |
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