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Economic Freedom and Audit Fees: Evidence From the USA

Mahmud Hossain et al.

Accounting and Finance2026https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.70187article
AJG 2ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

We examine the association between US state‐level economic freedom and audit fees. We argue that economic freedom lowers clients' perceived business risk, thereby requiring reduced audit effort and exposing auditors to a lower probability of litigation risk, which enables auditors to charge lower audit fees to clients headquartered in states with high economic freedom. Using a US sample, we find a negative association between economic freedom and audit fees. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on socio‐economic determinants of audit fees by providing evidence that economic freedom reduces overall inherent risk, thereby reducing audit risks.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.70187

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@article{mahmud2026,
  title        = {{Economic Freedom and Audit Fees: Evidence From the USA}},
  author       = {Mahmud Hossain et al.},
  journal      = {Accounting and Finance},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.70187},
}

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Economic Freedom and Audit Fees: Evidence From the USA

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.