Some Reflections Regarding the Expectation Gap and the Public Trust Towards the Auditors
Author:
Alexandra ARDELEAN, Ph. D. Student
JEL:
M 42, M 14, M 59, G 01
DOI:
Keywords:
expectation gap, social responsibility, public interest, auditors` independence, trusting agent
Abstract:
The financial scandals which strongly impacted the auditors` profession directed the public`s attention towards the role and responsibilities of auditors. Due to their privileged position, it was alleged that the auditors could and should have given the alarm so that investors and creditors could have made adequate decisions. The different outcomes that the public and the auditors derive from an audit, as well as the divergent opinions regarding the auditors` responsibilities, led to an expectation gap. Thus, it appeared necessary to better educate the public with respect to the limits of an audit, so that its expectations to be realistic. On the other hand, the public expressed an obvious mistrust with regards to the auditors` ability to fulfill their role as agents of trust for society and to protect the wide public interests and not only those of the direct beneficiary of an audit. The mistrust towards the auditors has an obvious impact on the expectation gap. The methodology employed within this study is constructivist in nature and, by proceeding as starting point from the academic literature in the field, through deductive methods, the author established the causal link between the two notions. The result of the analysis within the current study revealed an existing bond between the trust the public puts in the auditor profession and the expectation gap which needs to be bridged and conciliated. Therefore, since the objective of auditors and of other involved parties is to reduce the expectation gap and to restore the public trust, their efforts are encouraged to focus on this direction. \r\n