The Effect of Ownership Structure on Audit Quality: Evidence from Jordan
Dr. Qasim Mohammad Zureigat

Abstract
Audit quality is getting very important due to the role of an audit in enhancing the quality and reliability of financial statements. The studying of audit quality and the factors that are affecting it has captured the attention and imagination of researchers, especially those in developed countries. This study aims at investigating the effect of ownership structure among Jordanian listed firms based on their audit quality. The sample study consists of one hundred ninety eight (198) companies out of the two hundred sixty two (262) listed companies on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The analysis of logistic regression was used to investigate the relationship between the audit quality measured based on the audit firms size as a dependent variable, and ownership structure as independent variables. The results show a significant positive relationship between the audit quality and that of companies both with foreign and institutional ownership. Whereas ownership concentration was shown to have a negative relationship with quality, that relationship was not significant. These results indicate that foreign and institutional investors tend to hire high quality auditors.

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