The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality

Purpose: This paper examines the effect of minimum audit fee reserve deregulation on audit quality. Specifically, we examine the impact of the 2011 audit fee deregulation in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: Our sample consists of 120 firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, from twelve indust...

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Main Authors: Marios Fasoulas, Evangelos Chytis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Bucharest University of Economic Studies 2025-03-01
Series:Contabilitate şi Informatică de Gestiune
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Online Access:http://online-cig.ase.ro/jcig/art/24_1_1.pdf
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author Marios Fasoulas
Evangelos Chytis
author_facet Marios Fasoulas
Evangelos Chytis
author_sort Marios Fasoulas
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: This paper examines the effect of minimum audit fee reserve deregulation on audit quality. Specifically, we examine the impact of the 2011 audit fee deregulation in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: Our sample consists of 120 firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, from twelve industries. The period of observation is 10 years, with 1.200 firm-year observations. The examined period is divided into the five years prior to the deregulation (2007-2011) and those after it (2012-2016) to illustrate the impact of the audit deregulation. We use earnings quality as an audit quality proxy, set various independent variables as suggested by existing literature and conduct a difference in difference (DID) analysis and robustness tests. To estimate abnormal accruals we use the same model as Han and Wang (1998). Findings: Our results indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between audit quality and deregulation, which suggests that augmented competition of audit firms has a negative effect on audit quality. Originality/value: This study adds the case of Greece to the existing literature on the impact of audit deregulation on audit quality. The results corroborate the stream of research that finds a positive association between audit fee deregulation and audit quality decrease. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first similar study conducted in a European economy. In addition, our findings suggest that policy makers should carefully plan deregulations especially in jurisdictions with an emerging capital market distinguished by a low degree of supervisory effectiveness and poor investor protection mechanisms.
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spelling doaj-art-04f90be33f8d4944aa33309d2cfa3c2e2025-08-20T03:18:52ZengBucharest University of Economic StudiesContabilitate şi Informatică de Gestiune1583-43872025-03-0124152510.24818/jamis.2025.01001The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and qualityMarios Fasoulas0Evangelos Chytis1Department of Accounting and Finance, University of IoanninaDepartment of Accounting and Finance, University of IoanninaPurpose: This paper examines the effect of minimum audit fee reserve deregulation on audit quality. Specifically, we examine the impact of the 2011 audit fee deregulation in Greece. Design/methodology/approach: Our sample consists of 120 firms listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, from twelve industries. The period of observation is 10 years, with 1.200 firm-year observations. The examined period is divided into the five years prior to the deregulation (2007-2011) and those after it (2012-2016) to illustrate the impact of the audit deregulation. We use earnings quality as an audit quality proxy, set various independent variables as suggested by existing literature and conduct a difference in difference (DID) analysis and robustness tests. To estimate abnormal accruals we use the same model as Han and Wang (1998). Findings: Our results indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between audit quality and deregulation, which suggests that augmented competition of audit firms has a negative effect on audit quality. Originality/value: This study adds the case of Greece to the existing literature on the impact of audit deregulation on audit quality. The results corroborate the stream of research that finds a positive association between audit fee deregulation and audit quality decrease. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first similar study conducted in a European economy. In addition, our findings suggest that policy makers should carefully plan deregulations especially in jurisdictions with an emerging capital market distinguished by a low degree of supervisory effectiveness and poor investor protection mechanisms. http://online-cig.ase.ro/jcig/art/24_1_1.pdfaudit qualityderegulationaudit feesearnings qualityaudit firm competition
spellingShingle Marios Fasoulas
Evangelos Chytis
The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
Contabilitate şi Informatică de Gestiune
audit quality
deregulation
audit fees
earnings quality
audit firm competition
title The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
title_full The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
title_fullStr The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
title_full_unstemmed The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
title_short The effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
title_sort effect of audit market deregulation on audit competition and quality
topic audit quality
deregulation
audit fees
earnings quality
audit firm competition
url http://online-cig.ase.ro/jcig/art/24_1_1.pdf
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