Proposition d’une nouvelle approche de la relation entre la taille de l’auditeur et la qualité de l’audit : l’importance de la technologie d’audit

In this paper, we use Sutton?s (1991) endogenous fixed cost model to revisit the notion of audit quality and investigate how audit quality is related to auditor size and the structure of the auditing industry. We propose a new framework to explain the well documented ?Big 4/non-Big 4 dichotomy? and the current dual and overall concentrated structure of the audit market. In our model, audit technology (investments to improve quality and/or production efficiency) plays a central role in determining the level of audit quality (real and/or perceived) and fees. We argue that Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors fundamentally differ with respect to their investment strategies in technology. Big 4 auditors engage in an ?investment race? which leads to a natural oligopoly, while a large number of lower quality and smaller non-Big 4 auditors remain because they meet the demands of clients who cannot afford or do not value Big 4 audits.