| Summary: | The recent spate of corporate failures around the world has attracted
considerable attention from corporate regulators and professional bodies.
Although corporate failures are not new, what is of increasing concern to
stakeholders is the unexpected collapse of many apparently financially robust
companies. One of the many victims of these collapses has been the reputation
of audit firms, the audit process, and the accounting profession generally. The
purpose of this paper is to first, outline the importance of audit quality in the
operation of capital markets. Second, to place the issue of audit quality in
context. Third, outline and synthesize prior research on audit quality and
finally, to consider the responses that regulators and the profession can and
should consider based on the available empirical evidence.
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