Regulators and economists are often concerned with mergers and acquisitions (M&A) because of their potential to reduce competition by decreasing the number of suppliers and consolidating market share. However, Stigler (1955) points out that in certain situations, mergers may increase competition...

Our study aims to investigate the effect of transition from Big 4 to Big 3 audit market on audit pricing competitiveness using a sample of Japanese listed firms from 2004 to 2014. First, we compare Big N audit fee premium earned from clients in large and small market segments. We find an...

We investigate the effects of engagement auditor industry specialization on stock price crash risk. Although research on audit partners has been growing, we are not aware of any prior studies that investigate partner-level specialization and crash risk. Using a large sample of Chinese stocks...

Prior studies document that firms having material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting adjust more discretionary accruals in financial reporting process than other firms. This study examines the influence of industry-specialist audits on accrual management behavior of firms...

Using a sample of U.S. firms spanning 2001-2008, we examine whether female directors or nonexecutive female directors or female audit committee members affect auditor choice and audit effort measured by audit fees. After correcting for selectivity bias and controlling for other known board, firm...

We use data from China to examine whether regulations that limit management influence over auditors improve audit quality. China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) issued two rules in 2004 aimed at improving audit quality for state-owned...

We examine the association between country-level government quality and firms' choice of external auditors. Using a cross-sectional sample of 142,193 firm-year observations from 46 countries over 1998-2007, we show that the government quality of a country has a significant positive effect on the...

In the past six years, the average number of industries (2-digit SIC) serviced by audit offices in the United States has grown by 20% and the number of industries where the office has specialization has fallen by 40% (Data Source: Audit Analytics). This suggests a trend away from specialization...

Research in information economics seeks to understand how the actions of one individual affect the decisions of related individuals. We examine this issue in the context of information contagion between audit offices in the same locality. Specifically, we investigate whether contagion among Big...

Related party transactions (RPTs) are considered a potential tool for shareholders' wealth expropriation, as they offer opportunities to transfer wealth between the firm and related parties. While considerable evidence has been reported on the negative consequences of RPTs (declines in...