Auditors’ Trust in Audit Committees and Audit Quality

ABSTRACT In light of global advancements in corporate governance, it is imperative for external auditors and audit committees to engage in communication and interactions to ensure that external audits are conducted to a high standard and quality. While many studies report that audit committee expertise, diligence, and independence are associated with monitoring, often they do not provide explanation of the mechanisms through which these happen. There is limited research on how external auditors’ trust in audit committees affects their interactions and therefore audit quality. This paper examines external auditors’ trust and their interactions with audit committees. We find that external auditors’ perceptions of audit committee members’ competence, goodwill, and integrity shape their trust in audit committees. Overall, our findings suggest that auditors’ trust in audit committees enhances their perception of the quality of their interactions, affects information sharing and the conduct of the audit, and thus helps to improve the quality of auditing.