Design and Explanation of the Audit Firm Merger Model under Iranian Environmental Conditions
Keywords:
Merger, Audit Firms, Grounded TheoryAbstract
Over the past two decades, the Iranian audit market has experienced significant transformations, including privatization and mergers, which have substantially affected private audit firms. The merger phenomenon has reshaped the audit market structure and has driven small audit firms toward transformation into larger entities. The present study was conducted with the aim of designing a merger model for audit firms within the environmental conditions of Iran. The research adopted a qualitative approach based on grounded theory methodology. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and data analysis was carried out using the Strauss and Corbin grounded theory procedure and the paradigm model. Sampling was conducted through theoretical sampling using purposive (judgmental) and snowball (chain-referral) techniques, resulting in 16 interviews with university professors, accounting experts, and audit firm owners. The findings derived from interview data analysis through open, axial, and selective coding led to the development of an audit firm merger model grounded in theory, consisting of six main dimensions, 49 sub-dimensions, and 151 indicators.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hamid Moradian (Author); Yousef Taghipouryan; Raziyeh Alikhani Kashkak, Mehdi Maranjory (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
