The microfoundations of audit quality

The three essays collected in this dissertation relate to the microfoundations of audit quality. The first essay shows how auditors prioritize easy tasks and how this affects their judgment performance, and by extension audit quality. The second essay deals with how auditors learn in the workplace. The third essay investigates how auditors’ usage of automated tools and techniques affects their professional skepticism. Together, these essays shed light on how individual auditor behaviors, judgments, and decision-making can impact audit quality. By examining auditing from an operational perspective, these findings provide a more realistic understanding of the complexities of modern audit engagements and shed light on the microfoundations of audit quality. As regulators and policymakers continue to express concerns about audit quality, these studies offer actionable interventions that can help improve audit quality.