Do European auditors\u27 decisions reflect harmony? the impact of country and culture

The central takeaway of this summary paper is that, even though auditing standards may be the same or harmonised such as in the European Union, there can be significant differences in the application of these standards across countries caused by each country\u27s culture. The paper is especially cogent to stakeholders such as board members, executives and regulators who would otherwise expect consistent application of auditing standards on issues of auditor independence, confidentiality, materiality, and the underreporting of audit time andor premature sign-off of audit procedures. Stakeholders from different countries should be cognizant of the potential for culture to influence the direction and outcome of audit results they might be called on to evaluate. Our research summarises the results of seven published articles that were based on a Western Europe sample of approximately 300 auditors from Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan