A Matter of Motivation - The Influence of Risk Preference, Liability Limitation, & Complexity on the Auditor´s Motivation

This paper examines whether, & how several audit-specific attributes influence auditor's motivation. Following the literature, the research project focuses mainly on the impact of risk preference, task complexity, & the liability situation in this issue. A 2x2 mixed-subjects case-based experiment was conducted to gain data for in-depth insights. In sum 209 master students with a major in accounting, & auditing participated in the experiment. The results indicate that increased risk aversion leads to a higher observed task motivation. Regarding the task complexity, data analysis show that increasing task complexity lowers auditor´s motivation. No effects were found regarding the current liability regime. This study contributes to the stream of judgment, & decision making literature, & offers new insights to the relationship, & dependence of inherent auditor-specific factors.