Auditor Industry Focus and Audit Fees
研究了审计师在行业内的相对专注度如何作为一种内部优势影响审计费用，发现专注度越高审计费用越低，且不损害审计质量，对大小审计师均有意义。
SUMMARY The audit pricing literature documents industry-specific pricing effects, focusing on the largest auditors with inter-firm (across firms) advantages developed through market dominance. However, prior studies have distinguished between auditors’ inter-firm and intra-firm (within-firm) advantages within an industry. We examine how auditors’ relative industry focus serves as an intra-firm advantage, distinct from market share and other portfolio measures. To capture this, we use FOCUS, a measure of auditors’ relative production efficiencies within an industry. Using 20,530 observations of U.S.-listed firms from 2009 to 2019, we find consistent evidence that relative industry focus is associated with lower audit fees. This effect is distinct from auditor size and scale measures, robust to alternative specifications, and is not associated with lower audit quality. These findings demonstrate that auditors of all sizes can develop industry-specific comparative advantages, addressing the limited research on smaller auditors’ industry-specific competencies. Data Availability: Data used in this study are available from public sources identified in the paper. JEL Classifications: M40; M4; L11.