Risk behaviour and the financial auditor - A study of gender differences

The importance of risk in business cannot be underestimated but it is of particular importance in the process of financial audits and the decisions made during an audit mission. The numerous recent and not so recent accounting scandals have involved auditors giving a debatable opinion with regards to the financial statements of entities which, soon after the issue of the audit opinion, have been at the centre of investigation in accounting irregularities and even bankruptcy. The auditors are decision makers and researching the factors that might influence their risk behaviour will bring more light into the decision making process. Although previous studies have brought arguments in favour of different factors considered to have an influence on the decision makers' risk behaviour, what is not fully understood is whether gender has an influence on risk behaviour. This article advances the hypothesis that the auditor's attitude towards risk is influenced by the auditor's gender. After the analysis of data collected from a representative sample of financial auditors, I have found that there is a difference between the financial auditor's risk behaviour according to the financial auditor's gender, confirming the research hypothesis as well as setting a starting point for future research.