International Journal of Finance & Managerial Accounting

International Journal of Finance & Managerial Accounting

Explaining the Relationships Between Leader–Member Exchange, Organizational Commitment, and Audit Quality-Reducing Behaviors.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Niusha Mehrani
Bahman Banimahd
Seyed Hossein Hosseini
Samaneh Refahibakhsh
Department of Accounting, Ka.C., Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.
10.22034/ijfma.2026.78692.2295
Abstract
The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between leader–member exchange, organizational commitment, and audit quality-reducing behaviors in private sector of the Iranian auditing market. For this purpose, a sample of 245 auditors working in private audit firms was randomly selected. In this study, we use survey methods to collect data by using a questionnaire. The research hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).
The findings indicate that leader–member exchange has a significant positive impact on organizational commitment and a significant negative impact on audit quality-reducing behaviors. Moreover, the results confirm that organizational commitment has a significant and negative effect on audit quality-reducing behaviors. The evidence from this study suggests that enhancing trust-based relationships between managers, supervisors, and staff in audit firms can improve audit quality.the findings offer valuable insights for regulators and policymakers in the auditing profession by highlighting the influence of supervisor–auditor relationships on behaviors that threaten audit quality.
Keywords
leader-member exchange
organizational commitment
audit quality-reducing behaviors

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