The Impact of Fair Value Measurement on Audit Fees : Evidence from Financial Institutions in 24 European Countries

• The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between fair value measurement and audit fees. Using a sample of 177 banks from 24 European countries over the period 2008–13, we find that high uncertainty fair value assets are positively related to audit fees. The result is consistent with the suggestion that more complex estimates require greater audit effort. To provide more insight into the impact of fair value measurement on audit fees, we examine this relation under institutional settings with different strength of regulations. The results suggest that the strength of a country's institutional setting is positively related to effort spent on evaluation of higher uncertainty fair value inputs. The finding is consistent with the prediction that auditors expend more effort in more strongly regulated settings due to higher potential litigation costs. Finally, we find that the total proportion of fair-valued assets does not affect audit fees. The result can be attributed to the composition of the total proportion of fair-valued assets which is dominated by low uncertainty (Level 1) inputs.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Audit fees

banking industry

fair value measurement

IFRS 7V

företagsekonomi

Business Studies

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)