IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v42y2010i3p187-206.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Audit market structure, fees and choice in a period of structural change: Evidence from the UK – 1998–2003

Author

Listed:
  • Abidin, Shamharir
  • Beattie, Vivien
  • Goodacre, Alan

Abstract

This paper presents evidence on audit market concentration and auditor fee levels in the UK market in the crucial period of structural change following the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) merger and encompassing Andersen’s demise (1998–2003). Given the current interest in auditor choice, analysis is also undertaken at the individual audit firm level and by industry sector. There is evidence of significant upward pressure on audit fees since 2001 but only for smaller auditees. Audit fee income for top tier auditors (Big 5/4) did not change significantly while the number of auditees fell significantly, consistent with a move towards larger, less risky, clients. A decomposition analysis of the aggregate Big 5/4 concentration ratio changes over the period identifies the impact of four distinct consumer-based reasons for change: leavers; net joiners; non-par auditor switches; and (only for the audit fees measure) audit fee changes. Andersen’s demise markedly reduced the level of inequality among the top tier firms but PwC retained its position as a ‘dominant firm’. On switching to the new auditor, former Andersen clients experienced an initial audit fee rise broadly in line with inflation, with no evidence of fee premia or discounting. They also reported significantly lower NAS fees, consistent with audit firms and auditees responding to public concerns about perceptions of auditor independence. There is no general evidence of knowledge spillover effects or cross-subsidisation of the audit fee by NAS. The combined findings provide no evidence to indicate that recent structural changes have resulted in anticompetitive pricing; the key concerns remain the lack of audit firm choice and issues concerning the governance and accountability of audit firms.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:42:y:2010:i:3:p:187-206
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2010.04.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838910000272
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2010.04.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. McMeeking & K. Peasnell & P. Pope, 2006. "The determinants of the UK Big Firm premium," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 207-231.
    2. 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.
    3. Craswell, Allen T. & Francis, Jere R. & Taylor, Stephen L., 1995. "Auditor brand name reputations and industry specializations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 297-322, December.
    4. Kevin P. McMeeking, 2007. "Competition in the UK accounting services market," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(2), pages 197-217, January.
    5. Jones, Frederick L. & Raghunandan, K., 1998. "Client risk and recent changes in the market for audit services," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 169-181.
    6. Darren Duxbury & Peter Moizer & Wan Azmimi Wan-Mohamed, 2007. "Effects of the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger on the UK audit services market," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(2), pages 121-138, January.
    7. Jane Hamilton & Yang Li & Donald Stokes, 2008. "Is the audit services market competitive following Arthur Andersen's collapse?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(2), pages 233-258, June.
    8. Power, Michael, 2007. "Business risk auditing - Debating the history of its present," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 379-382.
    9. Michael T. Stein, 2006. "Discussion of “An Economic Analysis of Audit and Nonaudit Services: The Trade†off between Competition Crossovers and Knowledge Spillovers†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 555-564, June.
    10. Sharad Asthana & Steven Balsam & Sungsoo Kim, 2009. "The effect of Enron, Andersen, and Sarbanes‐Oxley on the US market for audit services," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(1), pages 4-26, July.
    11. Paul K. Chaney & Kirk L. Philipich, 2002. "Shredded Reputation: The Cost of Audit Failure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 1221-1245, September.
    12. Mark Kohlbeck & Brian W. Mayhew & Pamela Murphy & Michael S. Wilkins, 2008. "Competition for Andersen's Clients," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(4), pages 1099-1136, December.
    13. Andrew C. Ferguson & Jere R. Francis & Donald J. Stokes, 2006. "What matters in audit pricing: industry specialization or overall market leadership?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 46(1), pages 97-106, March.
    14. Emilie Feldman, 2006. "A Basic Quantification of the Competitive Implications of the Demise of Arthur Andersen," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 29(3), pages 193-212, November.
    15. 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.
    16. Karla M. Johnstone & Jean C. Bedard, 2004. "Audit Firm Portfolio Management Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(4), pages 659-690, September.
    17. Michael Peel, 1997. "UK Auditor Concentration: A Descriptive Note," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 311-322.
    18. Sumithira Thavapalan & Robyn Moroney & Roger Simnett, 2002. "The effect of the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger on auditor concentration in Australia: A note," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 42(2), pages 153-167, June.
    19. Aloke Ghosh & Steven Lustgarten, 2006. "Pricing of Initial Audit Engagements by Large and Small Audit Firms," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 333-368, June.
    20. Kevin McMeeking & Ken Peasnell & Peter Pope, 2007. "The effect of large audit firm mergers on audit pricing in the UK," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 301-319.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fleischer, Rouven & Goettsche, Max & Schauer, Maximilian, 2017. "The Big 4 premium: Does it survive an auditor change? Evidence from Europe," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 103-117.
    2. Aggreh, Meshack, 2019. "Effect Of Audit Market Concentration And Auditors' Attributes On Audit Quality In The Quoted Nigerian Manufacturing Firms," International Journal of Contemporary Accounting Issues-IJCAI (formerly International Journal of Accounting & Finance IJAF), The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), vol. 8(1), pages 97-110, June.
    3. Brivot, Marion & Cho, Charles H. & Kuhn, John R., 2015. "Marketing or parrhesia: A longitudinal study of AICPA's shifting languages in times of turbulence," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 23-43.
    4. Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo & Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz, 2018. "Financial Auditor and Sustainability Reporting: Does it matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 209-224, May.
    5. de Fuentes, Cristina & García Benau, María Antonia & Pucheta Martínez, María Consuelo & Ruiz Barbadillo, Emiliano, 2015. "El éxito de los procesos de fusión en el mercado de auditoría: el caso de PriceWaterhouseCoopers," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 55-67.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Fuentes, Cristina & García Benau, María Antonia & Pucheta Martínez, María Consuelo & Ruiz Barbadillo, Emiliano, 2015. "El éxito de los procesos de fusión en el mercado de auditoría: el caso de PriceWaterhouseCoopers," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 55-67.
    2. Numan, Wieteke & Willekens, Marleen, 2012. "An empirical test of spatial competition in the audit market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 450-465.
    3. Juan A. Toscano M. & Maria A. Garcia-Benau, 2014. "Structure and Nature of Competition in the Market for Financial Audit Services in Mexico," Journal of Business Administration Research, Journal of Business Administration Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(2), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Habib, Ahsan, 2011. "Audit firm industry specialization and audit outcomes: Insights from academic literature," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 114-129.
    5. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    6. Sharad Asthana & Rachana Kalelkar, 2011. "The Market For Audit Services And S&P 500 Index Clients," Working Papers 0022, College of Business, University of Texas at San Antonio.
    7. Kam-Wah Lai & Ferdinand A. Gul, 2021. "Do failed auditors receive lower audit fees from continuing engagements?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1159-1190, April.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. 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).
    12. Fukukawa, Hironori & 福川, 裕徳 & Karube, Masaru & 軽部, 大, 2013. "Audit Firm Switch and Engagement Partner Continuance," IIR Working Paper 13-05, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    13. Cheng Y Lai & Yang Li & Yaowen Shan & Stephen Taylor, 2013. "Costs of mandatory international financial reporting standards: Evidence of reduced accrual reliability," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 38(3), pages 491-521, December.
    14. Mande, Vivek & Son, Myungsoo & Song, Hakjoon, 2017. "Auditor search periods as signals of engagement risk: Effects on auditor choice and audit pricing," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 15-29.
    15. Joseph Gerakos & Chad Syverson, 2015. "Competition in the Audit Market: Policy Implications," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 725-775, September.
    16. Rewczuk Karol & Modzelewski Piotr, 2019. "Determinants of audit fees: Evidence from Poland," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 6(53), pages 323-336, January.
    17. Cahan, Steven & Hay, David & Li, Lina Z., 2021. "Audit firm merger and the strategic response by large audit firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    18. Bremert, Michael & Voeller, Dennis & Zein, Nicole, 2007. "Interdependencies between Elements of Governance and Auditing : Evidence from Germany," Papers 07-76, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    19. Mercedes Mareque & Angel Barajas & Francisco Lopez-Corrales, 2018. "The Impact of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Financial Fair Play Regulation on Audit Fees: Evidence from Spanish Football," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-20, November.
    20. Kaplan, Steven E. & Williams, David D., 2012. "The changing relationship between audit firm size and going concern reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 322-341.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:42:y:2010:i:3:p:187-206. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.