Independent oversight of the auditing profession: A review of the literature

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on the independent oversight of auditing from 2003 to 2018 and provides several research opportunities for filling the identified gaps in that literature. Our review classifies the literature into three themes: (1) the development of independent audit oversight, (2) the effects of independent audit oversight and (3) the interface between the independent audit oversight authorities and the global audit networks. The paper finds different effects of the independent audit oversight. Positively, it enhances the capital markets by adding more credibility to the published information. Auditors become more conservative about accepting or continuing to work with high‐risk clients. At the same time, while audit fees have increased as a result of the additional requirements of independent audit regulation, non‐audit fees from audit clients have decreased significantly. Negatively, independent oversight has increased audit concentration and resulted in insufficient choice of auditors in most audit markets.