There is a constant questioning about the interest of introducing the joint audit. Very recently, the European Commission has raised this topic in its Green Paper, arguing that it may be a way to increase audit quality after the financial crisis and to mitigate audit market concentration, by...

The paper uses a unique dataset comprising the population of new ventures that enter the UK market in 1998. We argue that we would expect the effect of market concentration on firm survival to be different according to whether an industry is static (low entry and exit) or dynamic. In our...

We propose that the effect of market concentration on firm survival is different according to whether an industry is static (low entry and exit) or dynamic. In our empirical analysis we find support for this hypothesis. Industry concentration rates reduce the survival of new plants but only in...

This paper examines the inter-relationships between changes the political economy of pensions law and changes in pension accounting regulation in four Anglo-American countries. A four fold property rights framework is developed which identifies the common inequities in the ownership of pension...

This paper is the first multi-country investigation of comprehensive corporate risk disclosure. Based on a detailed content analysis of 160 annual reports, we analyze the attributes and the quantity of risk disclosure and its association with the level of firm risk in the U.S., Canadian, U.K.,...

Under accrual accounting, earnings add to shareholders' equity. Cash flow generated by a business has no effect on the book value of shareholders' equity but reduces the book value of net assets employed in business operations. In short, accrual accounting rules prescribe that earnings add to...

The role of auditors is to add credibility to financial information and to reduce the risk of management manipulation or concealment. It is vital that auditors be independent of company management. In practice, however, various circumstances may pose a potential threat to auditor independence....

Although theory suggests that companies would rationally select into audit even if it were not a legal requirement, many countries impose mandatory audits. This is arguably due to an audit having elements of a public good, which may result in not enough audits being purchased without regulatory...