Audit quality, second-tier and size: effect on the Spanish private distressed firms

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the effect of the client size on the probability for an audit failure when the auditor issues the report, which is a sign of lower audit quality. The results for a sample of Spanish privately distressed firms, differentiating Big4 from Second-Tier and other auditors, suggest that there is a different auditor behaviour based on the client size. The Big4 and Second-Tier auditors provide higher audit quality in larger client firms than other auditors. These results can reflect the importance of protecting auditor reputation on its possible dependence of its client. Further, when considering small client firms, the results reveal that the Second-Tier auditors’ failure is higher than for other auditors. This could be explained by their lower concern about reputational loss, considering the lower visibility and litigation cost of this type of clients. However, this lower quality of the Second-Tier auditors is not observed when the client firm bankruptcy is imminent.