This paper examines intra-Big 4 audit fee premiums in the Australian market. During the period examined (2002–2004), there is both Big 4 and intra-Big 4 market dominance. The three largest firms – the ‘Big 3' (Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers) – hold over 80 per cent of...

This paper examines intra‐Big 4 audit fee premiums in the Australian market. During the period examined (2002–2004), there is both Big 4 and intra‐Big 4 market dominance. The three largest firms – the ‘Big 3’ (Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers) – hold over 80 per cent...

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...