Audit Quality in Swedish Audit Firms : The Significance of Ethical Firm Culture from a Behavioral Perspective

Abstract: Dysfunctional auditor behavior has transformed into one of the biggest challenges for audit quality. The purpose of this study is to analyze the culture to the ethical decision process in the Swedish context. The study uses a self- administered questioner with 75 junior and senior auditors employed in Mid-East Sweden including Stockholm. The study finds that ethical firm culture has an important relationship to the decision-making process. Furthermore, the study shows that the components of the decision-making model; recognition, judgment, intention and RAQA reacts differently to ethical firm culture. Finally, the study finds a relationship when the data is grouped separately as big 4 and non-big 4 auditing firms. Big 4 firms show a negative relationship between ethical firm culture and RAQA, while non-big 4 firms show a positive relationship between ethical firm culture, intention and, recognition.