Caesar’s wife must not just be honourable, but must appear to be so: The case of auditor independence in Greece

Abstract

This study examines the perceptions of users of financial statements with regard to the level of auditor independence in Greece, and locates the factors affecting auditor independence in a country exhibiting characteristics including a high corruption index, a fluctuating economic, political and social setting, an inhospitable business environment, while research has been conducted in the midpoint of a prolonged economic crisis. A structured questionnaire was addressed to a random sample of four groups of users of financial statements. Main results indicated that auditor independence in Greece is delimited to a moderate level and that the factors mostly affecting auditor independence are related to "the economic dependence of the auditor on the auditee", "the provision of non-audit services by the auditor", "the financial interest of the auditor" and "the risks for the auditor arising from poor audit quality".