Audit Partner Narcissism and Audit Quality; A Political Economy Perspective with Moderating Effects of Industry Expertise and Audit Fees

Talezari, Maryam; Ashrafi, Majid; Gorganli Davaji, Jamadverdi

doi:10.48308/jep.2026.241173.1247

Audit Partner Narcissism and Audit Quality; A Political Economy Perspective with Moderating Effects of Industry Expertise and Audit Fees

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Accounting, Ali, C., Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran.

² Department of Accounting, Ali. C., Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran.

10.48308/jep.2026.241173.1247

Abstract

In today's complex and changing business world, audit quality is recognized as one of the fundamental pillars in ensuring the accuracy and transparency of companies' financial information. Narcissism, as a personality trait, can affect the decision-making and professional behavior of auditors. This trait may cause auditors to be less careful in assessing risks and identifying weaknesses in financial reports. On the other hand, auditor's industry expertise and audit fees can also act as moderating factors in this regard. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of partner narcissism on audit quality with regard to the moderating role of auditor's industry expertise and auditor fees. A total of 104 companies were selected as a statistical sample using a systematic exclusion method. The time period of this study is a 7-year period from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2022. The website of the Stock Exchange and the new Rahavard software were used to collect data, and then the collected data were analyzed using the Eviews software, and the results showed that the narcissism of the audit partner does not have a significant effect on the quality of the company's audit. The auditor's expertise in the industry positively moderates the effect of the narcissism of the audit partner on the quality of the company's audit. However, the auditor's fee does not moderate the effect of the narcissism of the audit partner on the quality of the company's audit. Given the importance of this issue in improving audit processes and increasing the credibility of financial reports, this research can help managers, auditors, and policymakers to have a better understanding of the factors affecting audit quality and provide appropriate solutions to improve it.

Keywords

References

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