Audit Market Concentration and Audit Quality: Evidence from Analysts’ Forecasts
研究了审计市场集中度如何影响分析师预测的准确性和离散度，发现集中度提高时预测更准确且离散度更低，同时审计师独立性下降但努力程度和聘用大所概率上升，最终净效应为正。
SYNOPSIS Audit market concentration remains a concern due to its potential impact on audit quality. We examine whether audit market concentration influences properties of analysts’ forecasts. We find that analyst forecasts are more accurate and less dispersed when audit markets are more concentrated. Consistent with regulators’ concerns, we find evidence of decreased auditor independence in concentrated markets but also increased auditor effort and a higher likelihood of a Big N auditor. This results in an overall net positive effect between audit market concentration, audit quality, and ultimately, analysts’ forecasts. These results are concentrated in settings where analysts rely more on audited financial statements. Our findings support regulators’ concerns regarding concentration in the U.S. audit market but also help to explain why audit market concentration leads to improved audit quality.