The Effect of Auditor Confirmation Bias on Audit Error with Emphasis on the Moderating Role of Client and Auditor Characteristics

The main purpose of this study is to explain the effect of confirmation bias on audit error and also to explain the moderating role of client characteristics (market value and institutional shareholder ownership) and auditor (industry specialist auditor and first-class stock exchange trusted auditor) on the relationship between them. For this purpose, a sample consisting of 1168 firm-year from listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012-2020, is collected and analyzed. The results show that confirmation bias has a positive effect on type I audit error and type II audit error. The results also show that the positive effects of confirmation bias on type I audit error and type II audit error are less for clients with high market value, high institutional ownership percentage, and audits performed by industry specialist auditors and first-class stock exchange trusted auditors. The findings of this research could lead to development of theoretical foundations in auditing field, especially audit judgment and audit risk assessment. Further, the study results suggest additional training targeted at mitigating auditors’ use of heuristics may be beneficial.