We investigate if the SEC's mandated disclosure of fees for audit and nonaudit services affected the market's perception of auditor independence and earnings quality. Following the initial fee disclosures, we find that the market valuation of quarterly earnings surprises (earnings response...

Big 6 audit market shares based on aggregate national data have been used in prior research to infer market leadership and industry expertise, and to differentiate Big 6 accounting firms from one another. In this study it is demonstrated that further differences exist with respect to...

Two competing theories of initial engagement audit pricing are examined empirically. DeAngelo's (1981) model predicts initial engagement discounts in all settings, while Dye's (1991) model specifically predicts discounting will not occur in settings where audit fees are publicly disclosed....

We investigate the potential for a client to use a same-firm office switch as a mechanism for audit opinion shopping, relying on the framework developed by Lennox (2000). Opinion shopping in this context could either be informationally motivated (Dye 1991) or driven by managerial opportunism....

We investigate whether firms' tax planning affects the accuracy of analysts' forecasts. Tax planning can exacerbate the complexity of firms' operations through strategic choices to exploit tax laws. Because of its effect on firms' operations, tax planning can influence analysts' efforts to...

UK listed firms are used to investigate if auditor attributes (fixed effects for audit firms, audit offices, and audit partners) add incrementally to baseline models with client controls in explaining audit outcomes (earnings quality and going concern reports). We document that accounting firm...

Prior research emphasizes the centrality of audit offices in understanding auditing practices, and documents significant inter-office variation in audit outcomes based on industry expertise and office size. Our study examines how two city-specific labor characteristics also affect audit offices...

We find that non-Big 4 audit offices with greater awareness of SEC enforcement are more likely to issue first-time going concern reports to distressed clients; where SEC “awareness” is measured using (1) audit office proximity to SEC regional offices, and (2) proximity to specific SEC...

Our study reports evidence on the dynamic effects of client switches on auditor reputations and fee premia. Offices of large accounting firms that lose (gain) major industry clients experience a reputation shock leading to more same-industry client losses (gains) over the next two years. There...

Mandatory auditor rotation was recently proposed for the European Union and is also under consideration in the United States. There has been little research into either the benefits or costs of rotation in a true mandatory setting that could inform intelligent policy making. Our paper helps fill...