The effectiveness of the auditing function depends on auditors’ ability to constrain
managers’ opportunistic behavior; however, the extant audit literature recognizes that
all audits may not be of equal quality due to differences in the technical abilities of
auditors and in the actual independence of auditors (Woodland and Reynolds, 2003). It is
argued that higher quality auditors (Big 4) provide high-quality services to their firms,
resulting in high-quality accounting information being provided to market participants.
Taken together, the evidence presented on audit quality literature strongly indicates
that Big 4 audit firms provide more effective audits than non-Big 4 audit firms by
increasing the assurance that the financial statements faithfully reflect a firm’sunderlying economics. Higher audit quality may enhance the value relevance of earnings and book value and hence improve the usefulness of accounting information in
the investment decision-making process.