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Barriers to entry to the big firm audit market: Evidence from market reaction to switches to second Tier audit firms in the post-sox period

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  • Cullinan, Charles P.
  • Du, Hui
  • Zheng, Xiaochuan

Abstract

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) studied concentration in the audit market and found that the Big 4 firms continue to dominate the market for clients with revenue of more than $500 million while non-Big 4 firms have gained market share among clients with revenue of $500 million or less (GAO, 2008). The US Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession has expressed concern about barriers to entry that might prevent a non-Big 4 firm from increasing its market share among large publicly-traded clients (Advisory Committee, 2008). One of these barriers may be the potential cost to shareholders if the stock market reacts negatively to the appointment of a non-Big 4 auditor (GAO, 2003). We examine whether the stock market reacts negatively when clients switch from a Big 4 to a non-Big 4, because a negative reaction might make such switching less likely to occur. We find that the market does not react more negatively when clients move from a Big 4 to a Second Tier auditing firm than when clients move from a Big 4 to another Big 4 firm. Our results suggest that a negative market reaction may not represent a significant barrier to entry among Second Tier auditing firms.

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  • Cullinan, Charles P. & Du, Hui & Zheng, Xiaochuan, 2012. "Barriers to entry to the big firm audit market: Evidence from market reaction to switches to second Tier audit firms in the post-sox period," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 6-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reacre:v:24:y:2012:i:1:p:6-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.racreg.2011.12.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Houqe, Muhammad Nurul & van Zijl, Tony & Dunstan, Keitha & Karim, A.K.M. Waresul, 2015. "Corporate ethics and auditor choice – international evidence," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 57-65.
    2. Maroun, Warren & Solomon, Jill, 2014. "Whistle-blowing by external auditors: Seeking legitimacy for the South African Audit Profession?," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 109-121.
    3. Schneider, Arnold, 2015. "Does information about auditor switches affect investing decisions?," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 39-44.
    4. Weiss, Renee & Kalbers, Lawrence, 2013. "Determinants of auditor changes for non-accelerated filers," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 13-29.

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