[The Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities expressed concern for the adverse effect of audit fee price cutting on auditor independence. In the present study, tests were conducted to determine both the presence and magnitude of audit fee price cutting on 1984 audit fees for a sample of 214 firms having changed auditors over the period 1979-1984. A control sample of 226 firms not changing auditors over the same period was used in order to estimate price cutting. Results indicated a significant fee reduction in the initial engagement year that averaged 24 percent of normal fee levels for ongoing engagements, an average fee reduction of 15 percent for each of the next two years, but by the fourth year of the new auditor the fee had increased to normal levels for continuing engagements. The Commission's concern for price cutting's effect on auditor independence is then reconsidered in the context of recent work on the psychology of sunk costs.]

[Simunic [1980] and Palmrose [1986, Appendix A] report contradictory findings about a Big Eight auditor price premium in the "small" auditee segment of the U.S. audit market for publicly-traded companies. The study reported here finds that a Big Eight price premium exists and that the premium exists with respect to both second-tier national firms and local/regional firms. The existence of a price premium implies Big Eight product differentiation, at least in the "small" auditee market segment. A separate test is made of initial audit engagements. Tests indicate that initial engagements are priced significantly lower than continuing engagements, which supports recent reports of price-cutting behavior. However, no inference is made about the effect of price-cutting on audit quality.]

Abstract The Commission on Auditors' Responsibilities expressed concern for the adverse effect of audit fee price cutting on auditor independence. In the present study, tests were conducted to determine both the presence and magnitude of audit fee price cutting on 1984 audit fees for a sample of 214 firms having changed auditors over the period 1979–1984. A control sample of 226 firms not changing auditors over the same period was used in order to estimate price cutting. Results indicated a significant fee reduction in the initial engagement year that averaged 24 percent of normal fee levels for ongoing engagements, an average fee reduction of 15 percent for each of the next two years, but by the fourth year of the new auditor the fee had increased to normal levels for continuing engagements. The Commission's concern for price cutting's effect on auditor Independence is then reconsidered in the context of recent work on the psychology of sunk costs.

Abstract ABSTRACT: Simunic [1980] and Palmrose [1986, Appendix A] report contradictory findings about a Big Eight auditor price premium In the "small" auditee segment of the U.S. audit market for publicly-traded companies. The study reported here finds that a Big Eight price premium exists and that the premium exists with respect to both second-tier national firms and local/regional firms. The existence of a price premium Implies Big Eight product differentiation, at least in the "small" auditee market segment. A separate test is made of initial audit engagements. Tests indicate that initial engagements are priced significantly lower than continuing engagements, which supports recent reports of price-cutting behavior. However, no inference is made about the effect of price-cutting on audit quality.

Michael L. Ettredge, Daniel T. Simon, David B. Smith, Mary S. Stone, The Effect of the External Accountant's Review on the Timing of Adjustments to Quarterly Earnings, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 195-207

Abstract ABSTRACT: This paper examines trades by insiders as a means of providing additional evidence regarding whether mandated accounting standards give rise to economic consequences. It is argued that corporate insiders should possess information on the economic consequences of accounting pronouncements (or lack thereof) that is at least as accurate as that possessed by other security market participants. Therefore, "unusual" insider trading around the time of a mandated accounting change suggests that insiders perceive that there are economic consequences associated with the accounting change. This research approach was used to examine the trades by insiders in the period surrounding the exposure draft for FASB Statement No. 19. The results indicate that full-cost insiders were selling (relative to their historical behavior and the behavior of successful-efforts insiders) in this period. One (although not the only) interpretation of this result is that full-cost insiders perceive that FASB Statement No. 19 is associated with adverse economic consequences for their firms.

Abstract Reviews various books related to accounting. "Advanced Accounting," 3rd ed., by Floyd A. Beams; "Three Degrees Above Zero: Bell Labs in the Information Age," by Jeremy Bernstein; "Wiley-Ronald Auditing Service," by D.R. Carmichael and Martin Benis; "Dictionary of Accounting Terms," by Derek French.