
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.213510
We examine the relation between audit firm industry specialization and client disclosure quality. Our motivation for conducting this research arises from the claims made by each of the Big5 public accounting firms that industry specialization enables each to provide superior service and quality to clients in its target industries. We document a positive association between industry-specialized audit firms and analysts' rankings of disclosure quality in unregulated industries, but no relation in regulated industries. Alternative measures of auditor industry specialization support our conclusions. Our results suggest industry-specialized audit firms add value to clients in unregulated industries in the form of improved disclosure quality.
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 9 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
