Audit Firm Concentration in Latin America

• In Event: Auditing II

Abstract

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of changes in the competitiveness of the market for audit services in six Latin American countries. Using a proxy for audit fees we provide market shares of Big 4 and non-Big auditors in the six countries of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru during the period 2005 to 2012. Furthermore, we identify market leaders, and report four-firm concentration ratios and Herfindahl indices for the Big 4 auditors during period for the full sample and for the individual countries separately. Our preliminary results show that Big-4 firms dominate the market for audit services in the six countries taken as a whole, but that the level of concentration remains relatively stable during our sample period. When countries are examined separately, we observe a similar pattern of highly concentrated markets.

Authors

• Maria T Caban-Garcia, University of South Florida- St Petersburg

• Rogelio J Cardona, university of puerto rico-rio piedras campus

• Karen C Castro-Gonzalez, University of Puerto Rico