This paper presents a new method for estimating standards. Prior accounting research suggests the need for flexibility in setting standards in order to allow managers to make trade-offs between efficiency and attainability, and also between inputs with different relative prices to minimize cost....

We present evidence on components of productivity change in the public accounting industry toward the end of the 20th century. Using revenue and human resource data from 64 of the 100 largest public accounting firms in the United States for the 1995--1999 period, we analyze productivity change,...