Further evidence on the determinants of local government audit delay

This paper presents a study of the audit delay experienced by 289 U.S. local governments. The study extends prior research by considering explanatory variables thought to be correlates of audit quality and by comparing city and county delay. Models of audit delay and audit fees are estimated using two-stage least squares regression. The study finds that audit delay is positively associated with correlates of audit quality and that cities experience less delay than do counties. The results indicate that, while audit fees have no explanatory power concerning audit delay, delay exerts a positive influence on fees.