Audit costs for small cities, large cities, and state governments: a symposium

The three papers in this symposium on governmental auditing examine the general question: "what factors influence the amount of public sector resources devoted to audits of public sector entities?" Despite the passage of the Single Audit Act of 1984, both state and federal auditors have continued to report wide variations in the quality of audits conducted by independent certified public accountants. Hence, it is important to understand factors that contribute to this situation. One approach is to determine the factors that determiine the price paid (budget) for the audit services since the price of audit is generally considered a critical factor associated with audit quality. That approach underlies the articles appearing in this symposium.