Small accounting firms represent important participants in the audit market, yet details of how they operate and develop competencies remain unexplored. Small firms often join forces through accounting associations and networks (“AANs”), which may help them overcome significant challenges...

A firm's decision on whether to choose the same auditor as a close competitor reflects a trade-off between exercising caution to protect its proprietary information and pursuing the benefits of auditor knowledge derived from providing services to comparable clients. We conduct a survey of audit...

The “coopetition” paradox exists when two or more organizations are simultaneously involved in cooperative and competitive interactions. In the accounting industry, small firms encounter coopetition when they align themselves with other independent firms to form accounting associations and...

This study examines the audit pricing effects when auditors specialize in industries conducive to transferable audit processes. Our results indicate that specialists charge incrementally lower audit fees in industries with homogenous operations and in industries with both homogenous operations...