Auditor Industry Specialization and Audit Quality: The Role of Client Strategy

This study examines the effects of client strategy on the relation between the audit quality and audit industry specialization. This study measures the audit industry specialization in the two levels of partner and firm by using Carswell et al (1995) and measures the audit quality using discretionary accruals (adjusted Jones model). According to Yuan et al (2016), this study uses four indexes: capital intensity; tangible fixed assets renovation; financial leverage; and overhead efficiency in order to measure client strategy. This research is an inductive and post-event (using past information) as well as a correlation and descriptive study. The sample consists of 101 firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange for the period from 2008 to 2015. Data analysis results show that there is a direct relationship between audit industry specialization and audit quality. Also the results show that the direct relationship between audit industry specialization and audit quality is more pronounced when the client strategy has lower deviation from the industry-normal strategies (and Reverse). Also findings show that client strategy deviation has a negative effect on audit quality.