This paper investigates the effects of both regulation and economic demand on the timeliness of UK private companies' accounting information. We study companies' response to a one-month shortening of the statutory filing deadline and hypothesise that companies using accounting to communicate...

In recent years, regulators have exempted an increasing number of companies from the requirement to appoint auditors, yet little is known about the role of the accounting profession in preparing and validating the financial statements of unaudited companies. In this paper, we examine empirically...

We examine how NHS trust audit and non-audit (consultancy) fees changed between 1997 and 2004, providing longitudinal evidence during a period of increased public expenditure and rapid restructuring. We find that audit fees rose dramatically over the period, though non-audit fees fell...

This paper presents new evidence on the pricing of initial audit engagements by big 4 auditors relative to their next four largest mid-tier (‘mid 4') competitors, following voluntary auditor switches - with reference to the public and private corporate markets, and according to the type of...

Mechanical correlation bias is inherent in audit pricing studies when independent variables (X) are derived from firm level audit fees (Y); a form of endogeneity which appears not to have been addressed fully in the extant literature. Such variables are endogenous by construction leading to...

We review the academic literature on the use of financial reporting information by capital providers. We classify our findings by investor type and by information objective. While most capital providers use accounting information, our survey indicates that they do so in a variety of ways with...

Using a variance decomposition approach, we examine the importance of accounting information - in particular the cash flow and accruals components of earnings - in explaining the variation in UK company stock returns. We extend prior research by analysing whether auditor quality moderates the...

We examine how investment professionals assess the usefulness of financial accounting information depending on their information acquisition objectives and preparers’ earnings management incentives. We conduct a survey experiment based on face-to-face interviews with investment professionals...

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...