We examine why U.S.-listed foreign companies choose to have a U.S.-based (rather than home country-based) Big N firm as their principal auditor for SEC reporting purposes and the effects of that choice for audit fees and earnings quality. We find that the likelihood of the Big N principal...

The financial scandal surrounding the collapse of Enron caused erosion in the reputation of its auditor, Arthur Andersen, leading to concerns about Andersen’s ability to continue in existence and ultimately to the firm’s demise. In this paper we investigate the role of corporate governance...

Auditing research requiring measures of auditor industry expertise have relied largely on proxies for industry expertise based on the market shares of auditors. These studies have yielded different results for the audit market outcomes examined. This study systematically documents differences in...

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires firms to assess the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting and auditors to express an opinion on the effectiveness of such internal controls. We examine whether the first-time inclusion of additional audited information in...

This study examines auditors' exhibit letters that are filed as part of reporting requirements for auditor changes. The two other reporting requirements (an initial 8-K filing by the client and the AICPA notification letter sent by the auditor) have been the subject of prior work (Schwartz and...

This study examines the association between auditor concentration and intra-industry competition in the client industry. It has been suggested that competition within the client industry may cause some firms to seek auditors that are not associated with their competitors, due to concerns of loss...

A number of recent studies examine whether the joint provision of audit and non-audit services (NAS) impairs auditor independence, and yield mixed results. We examine whether investors perceive auditor independence as being impaired when auditors supply non-audit services, by investigating the...

In this study, I examine the association between audit committee quality and internal control quality. While information on the quality of internal control is not generally available, companies changing auditors are required to disclose any internal control problems that were pointed out by...

In this paper we examine the effect of filing form 10-K on EDGAR on the incidence of small and large trades. We find that the change to EDGAR filings results in significant increases in the volume of small, but not large trades, during the five day window (-1, 3) around the filing date. While...

Industry classification is an important component of the methodological infrastructure of accounting research. Researchers have generally used the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system for assigning firms to industries. In 1999, the major statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico, and the...