| This study examines the relationships between audit staff regulating mechanisms, auditors' task related processing and the effectiveness and efficiency of auditors, risk assessment decisions.;Auditors perform risk assessments as part of the evaluation of an audited organization's system of internal controls that prevent or detect material misstatements in financial reports (AICPA Professional Standards, 1998). To perform a risk assessment, the auditor must obtain and evaluate evidence concerning the audited organization's policies and procedures for preventing or detecting material financial reporting misstatements.;This study is motivated by conclusions reached in the literatures on auditing time pressure and the working paper review. These two audit staff regulating mechanisms are expected to have different effects on auditor task related processing and auditor information cues attended. Differences in task related processing and information cues attended should contribute to differences in the effectiveness and efficiency of auditors, risk assessment decisions.;Across staff regulating conditions, auditors, task related processing steps and the auditors, information cues attended were found to differ in certain instances, as anticipated. However, the evidence regarding implications of those differences on the effectiveness and efficiency of auditors, risk assessment decisions is inconclusive. In addition, the distribution of auditors' task related processing steps were found to differ across certain staff regulating mechanisms. Finally the consensus among auditors on the value of information cues attended was weak and the novice auditors participating in this study were found to be poor evaluators of information usefulness compared to a group of experienced auditors. |
