Assurance Ecosystem

We develop and introduce an assurance ecosystem that should aid scholars in identifying and applying relevant theories in their audit research. We then use the assurance ecosystem to organize the theories from various disciplines in our theory repository to make them easily accessible to researchers. 

Our assurance ecosystem, shown below, describes the ecosystem in which assurance engagements occur with three components: 

• assurance process: the sequential process of assurance engagements.

• individuals/entities:  those who are involved in or benefit from the assurance engagement.

• environmental factors: all factors surrounding the assurance process and the entities/individuals.

We focus on these components because most previously published audit articles fall within at least one of these three categories. Therefore, audit researchers can more easily use the framework as a preliminary guide to find theories from other disciplines that may be relevant to their research questions.

To determine which assurance ecosystem component a phenomenon relates to, a researcher should first identify the primary focus of their inquiry. If the research question examines specific steps, methodologies, or phases of the engagement, such as evidence gathering, risk assessment, or reporting, it pertains to the assurance process ecosystem component. If the research question focuses on the actions, behaviors, interactions, or well-being of individuals or groups involved in the assurance process, such as auditors, clients, or management, it relates to the entities/individuals ecosystem component. Lastly, if the research question addresses external factors or contextual elements that impact the assurance process, such as regulatory standards, organizational culture, or economic conditions, it falls under the environmental factors ecosystem component. Within the theory repository, the researcher can filter for the relevant assurance ecosystem category and skim the resulting theory descriptions.