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The Effect of Corporate Status on External Audit Fees: Evidence From the UK

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  • Mark A. Clatworthy
  • Michael J. Peel

Abstract

This paper simultaneously examines, for the first time, the determinants of external audit fees of UK companies drawn from the quoted sector (Main Market, the Alternative Investment Market and Ofex), and the unquoted sector (public and private limited companies). The paper also provides new evidence on the effects of corporate failure and the persistence of the big four and mid‐tier auditor premiums across the public and private corporate sectors. After controlling for firm size, audit risk and complexity, we find that quoted and unquoted public limited companies have significantly higher audit fees than their private limited counterparts. Our estimates imply that relative premiums for market/corporate form are as follows: Main Market over AIM, 6.8%; AIM over Ofex, 19.5%; Ofex over unquoted plc, 15.5%; and unquoted plc over private, 16.7%. However, despite indications in prior US research to the contrary, we find no evidence that insolvent firms that failed were charged higher audit fees in the year preceding failure. A positive relationship is also found between audit and consultancy fees – a result that persists using an instrumental variables approach to control for endogeneity.

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  • Mark A. Clatworthy & Michael J. Peel, 2007. "The Effect of Corporate Status on External Audit Fees: Evidence From the UK," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1‐2), pages 169-201, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jbfnac:v:34:y:2007:i:1-2:p:169-201
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5957.2006.00658.x
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    3. Sang Cheol Lee & Mooweon Rhee & Jongchul Yoon, 2018. "Foreign Monitoring and Audit Quality: Evidence from Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Leventis, Stergios, 2018. "An empirical test of SEC enforcement in the audit market," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 106-116.
    5. Xue, Bai & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2023. "The determinants of audit fees in the alternative investment market (Aim) in the UK: Evidence on the impact of risk, corporate governance and auditor size," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    6. Abbasi, Kaleemullah & Alam, Ashraful & Bhuiyan, Md. Borhan Uddin, 2020. "Audit committees, female directors and the types of female and male financial experts: Further evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 186-197.
    7. Abidin, Shamharir & Beattie, Vivien & Goodacre, Alan, 2010. "Audit market structure, fees and choice in a period of structural change: Evidence from the UK – 1998–2003," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 187-206.
    8. Stergios Leventis & Emmanouil Dedoulis & Omneya Abdelsalam, 2018. "The Impact of Religiosity on Audit Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 53-78, March.
    9. Michael J. Peel, 2014. "Addressing unobserved endogeneity bias in accounting studies: control and sensitivity methods by variable type," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 545-571, October.
    10. Elisabeth Dedman & Asad Kausar & Clive Lennox, 2014. "The Demand for Audit in Private Firms: Recent Large-Sample Evidence from the UK," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 1-23, May.
    11. Ghafran, Chaudhry & O'Sullivan, Noel, 2017. "The impact of audit committee expertise on audit quality: Evidence from UK audit fees," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 578-593.
    12. E. A. Onatuyeh & I. Ukolobi, 2020. "Tax Aggressiveness, Corporate Governance and Audit Fees: A Study of Listed Firms in Nigeria," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(6), pages 278-295, December.
    13. Chantziaras, Antonios & Dedoulis, Emmanouil & Leventis, Stergios, 2020. "The impact of labor unionization on monitoring costs," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 288-307.
    14. Bremert, Michael & Voeller, Dennis & Zein, Nicole, 2007. "Interdependencies between Elements of Governance and Auditing : Evidence from Germany," Papers 07-76, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    15. Li‐Ying Huang & Gene C. Lai & Erin Lu & Michael McNamara, 2020. "Auditor quality, audit fees, organizational structure, and risk taking in the US life insurance industry," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(2), pages 151-182, June.
    16. Aase, Øivind André, 2022. "Size Management in Response to Mandatory Audit Rules," Discussion Papers 2022/2, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    17. Tom Van Caneghem, 2010. "Audit pricing and the Big4 fee premium: evidence from Belgium," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(2), pages 122-139, January.
    18. Hassan, Omaima A.G. & Skinner, Frank S., 2016. "Analyst coverage: Does the listing location really matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 227-236.
    19. Rewczuk Karol & Modzelewski Piotr, 2019. "Determinants of audit fees: Evidence from Poland," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 6(53), pages 323-336, January.
    20. Sang Cheol Lee & Jaewan Park & Mooweon Rhee & Yunkeun Lee, 2018. "Moderating Effects of Agency Problems and Monitoring Systems on the Relationship between Executive Stock Option and Audit Fees: Evidence from Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    21. Clatworthy, Mark A. & Peel, Michael J., 2016. "The timeliness of UK private company financial reporting: Regulatory and economic influences," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 297-315.

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