<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This article examines whether and how several audit-specific attributes influence auditor’s motivation. Following the literature, the research project focuses mainly on the impact of risk preference, task complexity and the liability situation in this issue. A 2x2 mixed-subjects case-based experiment was conducted to gain data for in-depth insights. In sum 209 master students with a major in accounting and auditing participated in the experiment. The results indicate that increased risk aversion leads to a higher observed task motivation. Regarding the task complexity, data analysis shows that increasing task complexity lowers auditor’s motivation. This study contributes to the stream of judgment and decision making literature and offers new insights in to the relationship and dependence of inherent auditor-specific factors.</p></abstract>

This article examines whether and how several audit-specific attributes influence auditor’s motivation. Following the literature, the research project focuses mainly on the impact of risk preference, task complexity and the liability situation in this issue. A 2x2 mixed-subjects case-based experiment was conducted to gain data for in-depth insights. In sum 209 master students with a major in accounting and auditing participated in the experiment. The results indicate that increased risk aversion leads to a higher observed task motivation. Regarding the task complexity, data analysis shows that increasing task complexity lowers auditor’s motivation. This study contributes to the stream of judgment and decision making literature and offers new insights in to the relationship and dependence of inherent auditor-specific factors.

A matter of Motivation - The Effects of Risk Preference and Task Complexity on the Auditor’s Motivation

Division for Management in Health and Sport Tourism

Department of Accounting, Auditing, and Taxation

WSB Journal of Business and Finance

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

This article examines whether and how several audit-specific attributes influence auditor’s motivation. Following the literature, the research project focuses...

A matter of Motivation - The Effects of Risk Preference and Task Complexity on the Auditor’s Motivation

Published Online: Nov 15, 2019

Page range: 1 - 14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wsbjbf-2019-0017

Keywords
motivation, risk attitude, task complexity, information quality, liability limitation

© 2019 Marco Haid et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A matter of Motivation - The Effects of Risk Preference and Task Complexity on the Auditor’s Motivation

Published Online: Nov 15, 2019

Page range: 1 - 14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wsbjbf-2019-0017

Keywordsmotivation, risk attitude, task complexity, information quality, liability limitation

© 2019 Marco Haid et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
motivation, risk attitude, task complexity, information quality, liability limitation