Third party certification bodies audit companies to determine compliance with standards. We introduce a model of oligopoly competition between certification bodies, showing that a higher degree of certification body competition results in higher grades. We empirically test this hypothesis using...

Auditors are required to issue going concern opinion (GC opinion) to companies that are incapable to continue their operations in the near future. It is very important for auditors to issue the GC opinion properly because such opinion is the only signal from them on the viability of a company....