The Role of Auditors' Biases and Decision Making on Errorswith a Cognitive Approach in Capital Market (A Case Study: Securities and Exchange's Certified Auditors)

• Published in: Iranian journal of finance Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 59 - 82
• Main Authors: Zahra Kohandel, Ghodrat Allah Talebnia, Hashem Nikoomaram
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iran Finance Association 01.12.1999
• Subjects: auditors’ errors; cognitive bias; decision-making factors
• ISSN: 2676-6337; 2676-6345
• DOI: 10.22034/ijf.2018.88415

Based on the capital market’s nature, accountants and auditors’ information is provided by an effective influence of personal decisions and market results, derived systematically by information structure and market participants’ features. Auditors’ choices are influenced by perception, judgment and decision options processes, which may affect auditing errors. The study purpose is to investigate auditors’ different biases and decision-making factors on errors based on a cognitive approach in the capital market. The model’s objective is practical based on a descriptive-analytical methodology. The statistical population of the study includes all certified auditors of Iran's Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), whom were provided with the researcher-made questionnaires with valid narration and reliability. The collected data were analyzed by AMOS software. The findings indicate that components of the cognitive bias are predictable by auditors’ errors based on the priority level and maximum influences, including mental accounting bias (63%), availability bias (45%), heuristic bias (60%), and ambiguity aversion bias (58%). Also, components of decision-making are predictable by auditors’ errors based on the priority level and maximum influences, including decision case (54%), job experience (57%), decision-making situation (58%) and individual features (45%).