State accountancy regulations, audit firm size, and auditor quality: An empirical investigation

This paper extends the literature on occupational licensing by examining the effect of states' licensing requirements for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). We related variations in licensing requirements across states to CPA firm based assessments of service quality. Based upon prior research, we also examined the relationship between service quality and a market generated quality indicator: CPA firm size. The results show no association between audit quality and variations in regulatory strictness. However, a positive relationship was found between audit quality and firm size, suggesting that market forces, rather than governmental intervention, is effective in addressing the information asymmetry that can exist between CPAs and their clients.