Auditor–Client Relationship and Audit Quality in the Public Sector: The Moderating Effect of Gender

Purpose: This study examines the extent to which auditor–client relationships affect audit quality and how gender moderates this effect from a public sector perspective. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study uses a quantitative survey research design to collect data from about 400 public sector auditors working with Ghana’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), the Audit Service by adopting the interactional factor (i.e. auditor–client relationship) from the IAASB’s framework for Audit Quality (2014) using the PLS-SEM Technique. Findings: The paper finds that auditor–client relationship significantly affects audit quality in the public sector as has been found in prior research studies in the private sector. Additionally, the paper established that gender did not influence audit quality in the public sector however, it was found that gender adversely moderated the effect of auditor–client relationship on audit quality. Implications/Research Limitation: The results of this study significantly extends and contribute to the growing literature on auditor–client relationships, audit quality as well as in the area of public sector auditing. However, the study was limited to only public sector auditors working with Ghana’s Supreme Audit Institution (SAI), the Audit Service. Practical Implication: The outcome of this research offers policy recommendations on the significant role auditor–client relationship plays in contributing to audit quality, especially in the Public Sector. Originality/Value: This paper is one of the first studies that directly analyses the influence of auditor–client relationship on audit quality with gender as the moderating variable from a public sector perspective. Furthermore, the method and context of this study differ from prior research studies.