Title:
Auditors’ Reliance on Decision
Aids Revisited: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
Abstract: The number and volume of global mergers
and acquisitions as well as the amount of direct foreign investments has
been surging over the last decade (World Development Report 2005). A subsequent
need for this new wave of globalization is an increased demand on the services
of multinational accounting firms. Thus, the decision aids used by these
accounting firms and the choices made by those who design and develop these
decisions aid used globally are crucial to assure auditors’ reliance on these
decision aids. Two experiments are conducted to investigate two behavioral
factors that influence auditors’ reliance on decision aids: uncertainty avoidance
and disposition toward logical thinking (Hofstede 1991). Staff auditors from
the US, France and Japan analyzed a case of management fraud. Their reliance
on a computerized decision aid was captured and measured along the two previously
mentioned variants.