Title: Quality of the external auditor and value relevance of accounting information: case of the listed Tunisian companies

Authors: Ines Hbaieb Hakim; Mohamed Ali Omri

Addresses: Unité de recherche Finance et Stratéde Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Campus Universitaire El Manar II, BP 248, 2092 El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia ' Unitéé de recherche Finance et Stratégie des Affaires (Fiesta), Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Campus Universitaire El Manar II, BP 248, 2092 El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia

Abstract: The recent several audit failures have raised the question of whether external auditors have effective role in governance of firms. This study examines how the value relevance of annual accounting earnings varies according to the quality of the external auditors (i.e. competence and independence) of publicly listed companies within the Tunisian capital market. Data analysis over a period of six years (2000-2005) revealed that the value relevance of accounting information is positively related to the reputation, the specialisation and the experience of the external auditors. However, no relation was able to be identified between the auditor's tenure and the relevance of the accounting. We also find that the value relevance of earning accounting is increasing in tenure for clients of Big and specialist auditors.

Keywords: external auditors; competence; independence; value relevance; Tunisia; listed company; accounting information; audit quality; auditing; corporate governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2012.044970

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2012 Vol.12 No.1, pp.79 - 97

Published online: 31 Dec 2014 *

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