More recently a substantial body of research has found that industry-specialist auditors
demonstrate superior performance compared to non-specialist auditors (Solomon et al. 1999;
Owhoso et al. 2002; Low 2004; Hammersley 2006). Task-based experience has also been found to
enhance auditor performance (Libby and Tan 1994; Tan and Kao 1999; Thibodeau 2003).
Unfortunately, the prior studies that have considered both industry- and task-based experience do
not allow for conclusions about the relative importance of industry- and task-based experience
because the industry specialists who were used gained task-based experience mainly in one industry
(see, for example, Thibodeau 2003; Moroney 2007).