Audit Partner Characteristics and Audit Fees: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of audit fees at the individual auditor level. Although there are various studies on audit fees and audit partner characteristics, there is no literature using systematic literature review to provide an overview of audit fees and audit partner characteristics. This paper uses a systematic literature review approach by searching the available studies listed in Scopus-indexed journals rated Q1 and Q2 with the keywords “audit partner characteristic” and “audit fees”. Audit partner characteristics (i.e., gender, experience, education, industry specialization, busyness) are all associated with audit fees. It also documented an interesting finding that gender and industry specialization are the most influential characteristics. The findings provide insight for researchers, audit clients, and the management of audit firms to understand the auditor pricing. This is the first study to summarize the impact of audit partner characteristics on audit fees. The previous study only summarized the determinants of audit fees in general.
Keywords: audit fees, audit partner, individual auditor, audit quality, audit partner characteristics.
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