The unprecedented migration of Andersen's clients that followed Andersen's indictment in March 2002 potentially placed a large burden on successor auditors' audit resources. We refer to this strain, measured at the local-office level, as auditor capacity stress. We examine the effect of auditor...

The research assesses how the two Big Eight mergers of 1989 affected the market for audit services. A data set of 1,978 firms over a 12-year period is used to test four theories of how the mergers could have affected competition and consumer welfare. The study finds that the mergers reduced the...

The research assesses whether the two Big Eight mergers of 1989 were anticompetitive or efficiency enhancing. The study determines how a merger would affect the merged firm's probability of winning an auction to supply audit services under four different merger theories. A data set of 1,978...