Auditors’ experience with corporate psychopaths

Auditors ’ Reliance

The purpose of the current study is to examine the degree of reliance external auditors are willing to place on the work of the internal audit function (IAF) when the IAF's objectivity might be compromised. Experienced external auditors (N = 142) participated in a 2 (reporting relationship: audit committee of the board of directors [ACBOD] or chief finance officer [CFO]) by 2 (IAF involvement i...

The Proposed Goodwill Impairment Test – Implications for Preparers, Auditors and Corporate Governance

Accounting for goodwill is again controversial as Australia adopts international accounting standards from 1 January 2005. The current method of accounting for goodwill will change dramatically as detailed in the AASB’s ED109 and IASB’s ED3. Goodwill acquired in a business combination will no longer be amortised but rather goodwill will be tested for impairment annually (ED3, para 54). This pap...

Are large auditors more accurate than small auditors ?

.•\bstract—Theoretical research suggests that large auditors have more incentive to issue accurate reports compared to small auditors (DeAngelo. 1981; Dye, 1993). Controiling for the client characteristics of large and small auditors, this paper shows that large auditors issue reports that are more accurate and more informative signals of financial distress. These findings are consistent with t...

Responsible psychopaths

Psychopaths are agents who lack the normal capacity to feel moral emotions (e.g. guilt based on empathy with the victims of their actions). Evidence for attributing psychopathy at least in some cases to genetic or early childhood causes suggests that psychopaths lack free will. However, the paper defends a sense in which psychopaths still may be construed as responsible for their actions, even ...

Psychopaths and Moral Knowledge