Empirical Archival Audit Research in Korea: A Primer

In order for researchers outside Korea to obtain a better understanding of the empirical archival audit research in Korea, we provide a concise literature review. We begin by briefly describing the changes in the institutional and regulatory landscape of the Korean audit market over the past 40 years, focusing on the unique characteristics of the market. Then, we summarize the literature using three methods. First, we classify the literature by the framework suggested by Simnett et al. (2016). Next, we employ the mapping technology proposed in Luft and Shields (2003) to visualize the causal relations and/or associations among the key variables of the literature. Finally, we summarize the major findings of the literature through comparison with research in the United States, as surveyed by DeFond and Zhang (2014). We conclude by pointing out how future Korean research can exploit its unique institutional setting to answer questions that cannot be addressed elsewhere.