"Research opportunities in auditing in the EU", revisited

This article presents a number of research opportunities in auditing in the EU that have come along with changes in the EU regulatory framework for financial reporting and auditing during the past decade. In doing so, we build on Schilder (1996), who raised a number of key research questions, and conclude that some of those questions remain unanswered and are still relevant today. At the same time, new opportunities arise in the changed EU landscape. We identify some important areas where research can help advance our knowledge and provide relevant information for policy makers. These research areas include: public oversight, audit market concentration, audit quality, audit firm ownership structures, audit firm operating structures, audit firm governance, and auditor liability. The research questions that we raise are of global interest, but the EU market provides some unique natural experimental settings to address these questions.