IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/acctbr/v39y2009i2p139-166.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Selection bias and the Big Four premium: New evidence using Heckman and matching models

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Clatworthy
  • Gerald Makepeace
  • Michael Peel

Abstract

Many prior studies have found that large auditors charge significantly higher fees for statutory audit services, potentially resulting from higher audit quality and/or a lack of competition in the audit market. However, recent research using a Heckman two‐step procedure attributes the large auditor premium to auditor selection bias. In this paper we examine the limitations of the Heckman model and estimate the large auditor (Big Four) premium using decomposition and matching methods on a large sample of UK private companies. Our analysis suggests that Heckman two‐step estimates are highly sensitive to changes in sample and model specification, particularly the presence of a valid identifying variable. In contrast, the propensity score and portfolio matching methods we employ point to a persistent large auditor premium, consistent with the majority of previous studies. Conclusions of the premium vanishing when selection bias is controlled for therefore appear premature. Since the Heckman model is increasingly used in auditing and other areas of accounting research, our discussion and findings are likely to be of more general interest.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Clatworthy & Gerald Makepeace & Michael Peel, 2009. "Selection bias and the Big Four premium: New evidence using Heckman and matching models," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 139-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:39:y:2009:i:2:p:139-166
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2009.9663354
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00014788.2009.9663354
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00014788.2009.9663354?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. Simunic, Da, 1980. "The Pricing Of Audit Services - Theory And Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 161-190.
    2. Pittman, Jeffrey A. & Fortin, Steve, 2004. "Auditor choice and the cost of debt capital for newly public firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 113-136, February.
    3. Margaret Giles, 2003. "Correcting for selectivity bias in the estimation of road crash costs," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(11), pages 1291-1301.
    4. Black, Dan A. & Smith, J.A.Jeffrey A., 2004. "How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 99-124.
    5. Little, Roderick J A, 1985. "A Note about Models for Selectivity Bias," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 53(6), pages 1469-1474, November.
    6. Beatty, Rp, 1993. "The Economic-Determinants Of Auditor Compensation In The Initial Public Offerings Market," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 294-302.
    7. James Heckman & Justin L. Tobias & Edward Vytlacil, 2001. "Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 210-223, October.
    8. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    9. 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.
    10. Seetharaman, Ananth & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Lynn, Stephen G., 2002. "Litigation risk and audit fees: evidence from UK firms cross-listed on US markets," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 91-115, February.
    11. Datar, Srikant M. & Feltham, Gerald A. & Hughes, John S., 1991. "The role of audits and audit quality in valuing new issues," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-49, March.
    12. Stock, James H & Wright, Jonathan H & Yogo, Motohiro, 2002. "A Survey of Weak Instruments and Weak Identification in Generalized Method of Moments," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(4), pages 518-529, October.
    13. Titman, Sheridan & Trueman, Brett, 1986. "Information quality and the valuation of new issues," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 159-172, June.
    14. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    15. Eric Neumayer, 2003. "Do Human Rights Matter in Bilateral Aid Allocation? A Quantitative Analysis of 21 Donor Countries," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(3), pages 650-666, September.
    16. James Heckman & Justin L. Tobias & Edward Vytlacil, 2001. "Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 210-223, October.
    17. Patrick Puhani, 2000. "The Heckman Correction for Sample Selection and Its Critique," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 53-68, February.
    18. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    19. van der Klaauw, Bas & Koning, Ruud H, 2003. "Testing the Normality Assumption in the Sample Selection Model with an Application to Travel Demand," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 21(1), pages 31-42, January.
    20. Hartman, Raymond S, 1991. "A Monte Carlo Analysis of Alternative Estimators in Models Involving Selectivity," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 9(1), pages 41-49, January.
    21. David C. Hay & W. Robert Knechel & Norman Wong, 2006. "Audit Fees: A Meta†analysis of the Effect of Supply and Demand Attributes," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 141-191, March.
    22. Paul A. Copley & Edward B. Douthett, 2002. "The Association between Auditor Choice, Ownership Retained, and Earnings Disclosure by Firms Making Initial Public Offerings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 49-76, March.
    23. Ho, Daniel E. & Imai, Kosuke & King, Gary & Stuart, Elizabeth A., 2007. "Matching as Nonparametric Preprocessing for Reducing Model Dependence in Parametric Causal Inference," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 199-236, July.
    24. 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.
    25. Lars Skipper & Marianne Simonsen, 2006. "The costs of motherhood: an analysis using matching estimators," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(7), pages 919-934.
    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. Clatworthy, Mark A. & Peel, Michael J., 2021. "Reporting accountant appointments and accounting restatements: Evidence from UK private companies," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    2. Manoel, Aviner Augusto Silva & Moraes, Marcelo Botelho da Casta & Santos, David Ferreira Lopes & Pündrich, Gabriel Pereira, 2021. "Audit quality and the cost of debt in private firms: evidence from the Brazilian sugarcane industry," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(1), July.
    3. Nguyen, Lily & Vu, Le & Yin, Xiangkang, 2020. "The undesirable effect of audit quality: Evidence from firm innovation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    4. Ann Vanstraelen & Caren Schelleman, 2017. "Auditing private companies: what do we know?," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 565-584, July.
    5. Juan L. Gandía & David Huguet, 2021. "Combined Effects of Auditing and Discretionary Accruals on the Cost of Debt: Evidence From Spanish SMEs," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    6. De Fuentes, Cristina & Porcuna, Rubén, 2016. "Main drivers of consultancy services: A meta-analytic approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 4775-4780.
    7. Du, Xingqiang & Jian, Wei & Lai, Shaojuan, 2017. "Do Foreign Directors Mitigate Earnings Management? Evidence From China," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 142-177.
    8. Wu, Meng-Wen & Shen, Chung-Hua, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility in the banking industry: Motives and financial performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3529-3547.
    9. Grey, Colette & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos & Walker, Martin, 2013. "The impact of executive pay on the disclosure of alternative earnings per share figures," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 227-236.
    10. 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.
    11. Choi, Sunhwa & Choi, Youn-Sik & Gul, Ferdinand A. & Lee, Woo-Jong, 2015. "The impact of mandatory versus voluntary auditor switches on stock liquidity: Some Korean evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 100-116.
    12. John E. Core, 2010. "Discussion of Chief Executive Officer Equity Incentives and Accounting Irregularities," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 273-287, May.
    13. Thomas Jeanjean & Hervé Stolowy & Michael Erkens, 2010. "Really “Lost in translation”? The economic consequences of issuing an annual report in English," Post-Print hal-00479511, HAL.
    14. Elisabeth Dedman & Asad Kausar, 2012. "The impact of voluntary audit on credit ratings: evidence from UK private firms," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 397-418, September.
    15. Alhadab, Mohammad & Clacher, Iain, 2018. "The impact of audit quality on real and accrual earnings management around IPOs," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 442-461.

    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. 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.
    2. DeFond, Mark & Zhang, Jieying, 2014. "A review of archival auditing research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 275-326.
    3. Jeffrey Smith & Arthur Sweetman, 2016. "Viewpoint: Estimating the causal effects of policies and programs," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(3), pages 871-905, August.
    4. David C. Hay & W. Robert Knechel & Norman Wong, 2006. "Audit Fees: A Meta†analysis of the Effect of Supply and Demand Attributes," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(1), pages 141-191, March.
    5. Lin, Z. Jun & Liu, Ming, 2009. "The impact of corporate governance on auditor choice: Evidence from China," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 44-59.
    6. Xin Chang & André F. Gygax & Elaine Oon & Hong Feng Zhang, 2008. "Audit quality, auditor compensation and initial public offering underpricing," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 48(3), pages 391-416, September.
    7. Dang, Man & Puwanenthiren, Premkanth & Truong, Cameron & Henry, Darren & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Audit quality and seasoned equity offerings methods," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Chen, Vincent Y.S. & Keung, Edmund C. & Lin, I-Min, 2019. "Disclosure of fair value measurement in goodwill impairment test and audit fees," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3).
    9. Li-Jen He & Jianxiong Chen, 2021. "Does Mandatory Audit Partner Rotation Influence Auditor Selection Strategies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, February.
    10. Kwang Wuk Oh & Seok Woo Jeong & Seon Mi Kim & Seung Weon Yoo, 2017. "The Effect of IPO Risks on Auditors’ Decisions: Auditor Designation Case," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 27(4), pages 421-441, December.
    11. Timothy B. Bell & Rajib Doogar & Ira Solomon, 2008. "Audit Labor Usage and Fees under Business Risk Auditing," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 729-760, September.
    12. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Krishnan, Gopal V. & Lobo, Gerald J., 2009. "Is the market valuation of banks' loan loss provision conditional on auditor reputation?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1039-1047, June.
    13. Guilhem Bascle, 2008. "Controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research," Post-Print hal-00576795, HAL.
    14. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2018. "A General Weighted Average Representation of the Ordinary and Two-Stage Least Squares Estimands," IZA Discussion Papers 11866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Chahine, Salim & Filatotchev, Igor, 2011. "The effects of corporate governance and audit and non-audit fees on IPO Value," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 155-172.
    16. Yi-Fang Yang & Lee-Wen Yang & Min-Ning Lee, 2015. "Service Quality, Size, And Performance Of Audit Firms: Consideration Of Market Segments And Business Strategies," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 9(4), pages 51-66.
    17. Paul A. Copley & Edward B. Douthett, 2002. "The Association between Auditor Choice, Ownership Retained, and Earnings Disclosure by Firms Making Initial Public Offerings," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 49-76, March.
    18. 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.
    19. Xingqiang Du & Xu Li & Xuejiao Liu & Shaojuan Lai, 2018. "Underwriter–Auditor Relationship and Pre-IPO Earnings Management: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 365-392, October.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:acctbr:v:39:y:2009:i:2:p:139-166. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RABR20 .

    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.