Prior literature on auditor choice in the nonprofit market has largely focused on auditor size as a measure of audit quality. We extend this literature by examining a more refined definition of nonprofit audit quality which incorporates the twelve mission industries defined by the National...

This paper examines the demand and supply side factors associated with audit partner selection and assignment in the United States. First, we examine whether audit partner gender and experience are associated with board and management gender and experience. Second, we investigate whether...

We examine auditors' use of in-house specialists (employed by auditors). We use data from PCAOB inspections of global network audit firms during 2006 to 2018, a period in which the use of specialists in audits increased from 50% to 90%. We document that the use of specialists is predictably...

We examine the engagements of audit partners in leadership roles to determine how their direct audit work reveals “tone at the top.” Although leadership partners are likely strong performers who have proven to be capable auditors, the administrative tasks associated with these roles could...

We examine whether audit partners with prior non-public accounting industry experience conduct higher quality and more efficient audits. We further analyze whether the sequencing and nature of this experience matters by splitting audit partners with prior industry experience into those who...

Non-Big 4 firms represent important participants in the audit market and are often compared to Big 4 firms, yet details on how and why they are different from and yet similar to the more widely studied Big 4 firms remain largely unexplored. We use a multi-method approach and a theoretical...

This study investigates how non-Big 4 firm audit partners' Big 4 experience is valued by the audit market. The Big 4 audit firms have differentiated themselves as nationally recognized firms for whose services companies are willing to pay a premium. It is unclear, however, whether this...

During the time surrounding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Big 4 firms either spun-off or downsized their consulting practices. However, in recent years, consulting service lines of the large accounting firms have seen a dramatic resurgence and growth. Regulators have taken notice and...

We examine the association between professionally qualified human capital and office audit quality. Using hand-collected data from 2009 to 2014 on Big 4 audit firm office CPA levels from 30 U.S. cities, we find that offices with relatively more professionally qualified human capital deliver...

Much of the contemporary accounting literature has focused on Big 4 firms. Yet, mid-size and smaller firms are also important actors in the accounting field and are increasingly competing with Big 4 firms for market share. Rooted in a theoretical framework based on Bourdieusian scholarship, we...