Investigating the Moderating Effect of Client Diversity on the Relationship Between Institutional Pressures and Audit Quality with Respect to the Identity of Auditors

The purpose of this study is investigating the moderating effect of client diversity on the relationship between institutional pressures and audit quality with respect to the identity of auditors. The statistical population of this study included (auditors of Iranian audit firm’s colleague with foreign firms And auditors of trusted audit firms- Grade A - of the Stock Exchange) and (auditors of non- colleague audit firms with foreign agencies and auditors of other auditing firm’s member of the Iranian Society of Certified Accountants in 2019. The research is applied in terms of purpose and it is descriptive and qualitative in terms of data collection. The research data were obtained through the study of theoretical foundations and a researcher-made questionnaire with a sample size of 309 (using Cochran formula) by cluster random sampling. Conceptual model analysis and testing of research hypotheses were performed using AMOS software. The results of testing the hypotheses showed that the diversity of client and their demands has been able to strengthen or weaken institutional pressures on the quality of auditing according to their dual identities; In a way, client diversity affects the relationship between mimetic, normative and coercive pressures and audit quality of partner auditing firms with foreign institutions and auditing firms- Grade A, but on the relationship between institutional pressures and auditing quality of auditors of non- colleague audit firms with foreign agencies and auditors of other auditing firm’s are not effective.