Corporate Mergers and Auditors' Client Portfolios.
研究了美国公司并购导致的审计师变更，发现客户并未显著从原审计师转向并购方审计师，但非八大审计师的客户因并购显著流向八大审计师，并基于三个维度对审计公司进行排名。
Abstract This article investigates client, merger-induced, auditor changes in firms registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. It was revealed that no statistically significant pattern of client shifts occurred between predecessor and successor auditors. However, statistically significant shifts in clients from the non-Big 8 to the Big 8 did occur due to client mergers during 1980 through 1984. In addition, this article ranked the auditing firms along three key dimensions which were found to be statistically significant in their agreement. This agreement then formed the basis for a composite ranking, reflecting the firms' composite gains or losses due to client mergers. Possible explanations were then sought for this composite ranking based upon the firms' relative market positions as of the beginning of the period under examination. Rankings based on the number of 1/1/80 clients and the average client sales audited as of 1/1/80 were not found to be useful explanations of audit firms' composite ranking. Further explanations were then sought. It was found that audit firm rankings based upon the existence of high-merger clients in their 1/1/80 client portfolio and a dominance in high-merger industries prior to the test period were factors significantly associated with the composite rankings.