Demand for Voluntary Audit

The agency problems introduced by the separation of ownership and control may be resolved to some extent by independent, external audit. This is now a general requirement for listed firms all over the world. As both firms and managers have incentives to agree to such an audit, researchers have been interested in what happens when audit is not an obligation but a choice. The few empirical studies that have examined the demand for voluntary audit provide evidence that regulatory intervention is not necessary, though some argue that regulators are protecting society from market failure by demanding statutory audit.