This study investigates the extent to which the pressures from outside stakeholders, specifically the providers of debt and trade credit, as opposed to owner-managers' internal needs explain the use of voluntary audits in micro-companies. Whereas previous studies have mainly focused on how bank...

This paper examines factors affecting the owner-manager's voluntary decision to hire an auditor in small firms. Using a random sample of 412 small private companies in Finland responding to an Internet survey, we first probe the institutional boundaries of a prior UK study [Collis et al., 2004]...

Using a sample covering practically all dividend-paying small and medium-sized private companies in Finland during 2006–2010, we document that earnings management in these companies is driven by two concurrent forces: the willingness to pay (tax-exempt) dividends and avoiding unnecessary...