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Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts

Received: 5 April 2015     Accepted: 20 April 2015     Published: 9 May 2015
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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of Tunisian financial analysts regarding factors influencing auditor independence. Our study examines the impact of 49 independence enhancing and threatening factors on the perceptions of 54 financial analysts using a questionnaire instrument. The results indicate that the principal threat factors relate to non audit services provision by the incumbent auditor and the existence of personal and financial relationships. The principal enhancement factor is the positive reputation. Exploratory factor analysis reduces the factors to a small number of dimensions. The most important dimension identified is the economic dependence and existence of personal and financial relationships.

Published in Journal of Finance and Accounting (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12
Page(s) 42-49
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Auditor Independence, Financial Analysts, Factors, Perceptions

References
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[17] Hamuda,K., &Sawan, N., (2014), “Perceptions of auditor independence in Libyan Audit Market”, International Business Research, vol.7, N°2,pp.120-128.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Omri Mohamed Ali, Akrimi Nesrine. (2015). Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 3(3), 42-49. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12

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    ACS Style

    Omri Mohamed Ali; Akrimi Nesrine. Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts. J. Finance Account. 2015, 3(3), 42-49. doi: 10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12

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    AMA Style

    Omri Mohamed Ali, Akrimi Nesrine. Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts. J Finance Account. 2015;3(3):42-49. doi: 10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12,
      author = {Omri Mohamed Ali and Akrimi Nesrine},
      title = {Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts},
      journal = {Journal of Finance and Accounting},
      volume = {3},
      number = {3},
      pages = {42-49},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfa.20150303.12},
      abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of Tunisian financial analysts regarding factors influencing auditor independence. Our study examines the impact of 49 independence enhancing and threatening factors on the perceptions of 54 financial analysts using a questionnaire instrument. The results indicate that the principal threat factors relate to non audit services provision by the incumbent auditor and the existence of personal and financial relationships. The principal enhancement factor is the positive reputation. Exploratory factor analysis reduces the factors to a small number of dimensions. The most important dimension identified is the economic dependence and existence of personal and financial relationships.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - Factors Affecting Auditor Independence in Tunisia: The Perceptions of Financial Analysts
    AU  - Omri Mohamed Ali
    AU  - Akrimi Nesrine
    Y1  - 2015/05/09
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12
    T2  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    JF  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    JO  - Journal of Finance and Accounting
    SP  - 42
    EP  - 49
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-7323
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20150303.12
    AB  - The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of Tunisian financial analysts regarding factors influencing auditor independence. Our study examines the impact of 49 independence enhancing and threatening factors on the perceptions of 54 financial analysts using a questionnaire instrument. The results indicate that the principal threat factors relate to non audit services provision by the incumbent auditor and the existence of personal and financial relationships. The principal enhancement factor is the positive reputation. Exploratory factor analysis reduces the factors to a small number of dimensions. The most important dimension identified is the economic dependence and existence of personal and financial relationships.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Accounting Department at College of Business Administration- Northern Border University-Arar, Saudi Arabia

  • Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences - Tunis El Manar University-Tunis, Tunisia

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