Audit Opinion Improvement and Firm Ownership: Evidence from Iranian Private Audit Market

摘要

This study aimed to identify the role of ownership type and concentration on decreasingof qualification paragraphs in audit report of the private sector audit firms. Researchperiod is from 2006 to 2012 and research sample consists of 73 firms that are listed atTehran Stock Exchange. These firms were audited by 48 private audit firms that aremember of the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants. Hypotheses weretested by binary Logistic regression method. The results indicate that for the firm withthe larger major stockholder, the more likely to receive less qualification paragraphs.Also for the firm that the major stockholder is an individual, the likelihood of receivingan audit report with more qualification paragraphs before opinion paragraph willincrease.