Using the most recent observations (2005-2011) from a sample of UK listed companies, this study investigates whether Big 4 audit firms exhibit a ‘fee premium' and, if this is the case, whether the premium is related to the delivery of a better audit service.Univariate tests, multivariate...

The pricing of Big 4 industry leadership is examined for a sample of U.K. publicly-listed companies, and adds to the evidence from the Australian and U.S. audit markets that city-specific industry leadership commands a fee premium. There is a significant fee premium for city-specific industry...

This study examines the role of auditor industry expertise in the pricing of Big 5 audits in Australia. We test if the audit market prices an auditor's firm-wide industry expertise, or alternatively if the audit market only prices office-level expertise in those specific cities where the auditor...