The Economic Value Added by Specialist Auditors

Revision with unchanged content. Prior literature has conjectured that auditor industry specialization is an important dimension of audit quality. This book addresses the economic benefits that companies may achieve by employing auditors with industry expertise. It examines the link between the employment of industry specialist auditors, and the degree of information asymmetry and the cost of debt of a client company. More specifically, the analysis should answer the following questions: Is there a relation between the employment of an industry specialist auditor and the level of information asymmetry of client companies? Is there a relation between the employment of an industry specialist auditor and the cost of debt of client companies? Is the economic impact of the employment of an industry specialist auditor on the cost of debt larger for financially troubled client companies? The book is directed towards researchers in business, regulators, auditors, credit agencies, and investors.