Although theory suggests that companies would rationally select into audit even if it were not a legal requirement, many countries impose mandatory audits. This is arguably due to an audit having elements of a public good, which may result in not enough audits being purchased without regulatory...

After a long period of universal mandatory audit, the UK reduced the regulatory burden of private firms by introducing size-based audit exemption in 1994; the size thresholds have subsequently been progressively increased. Both accounting bodies and credit-rating agencies (CRAs) have expressed...

After a long period of universal mandatory audit, the UK reduced the regulatory burden of private firms by introducing size-based audit exemption in 1994; the size thresholds have subsequently been progressively increased. Both accounting bodies and credit rating agencies have expressed reservations...

We argue that auditors are more conservative when they face high estimation risk. To test this, we examine how auditors respond to the estimation risk associated with predicting the future bankruptcy outcomes of their audit clients. Consistent with auditors being more conservative when they face...

We investigate the relation between perceived competition and voluntary disclosure in the absence of capital market incentives by examining private UK companies, which have the option to withhold sales and costs of sales information from their publicly-filed accounts. We survey managers about...