This study empirically examines the effects of competition through differentiation on audit
pricing. Based on prior economic theory on differentiated-product markets (e.g., Hotelling,
1929; Tirole, 1988), we hypothesize that audit fees are affected by an auditor’s relative
location in a market segment. We define audit markets per industry segment and
U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Area and specify an auditor’s industry location relative to
the client (auditor–client industry alignment) and relative to the closest competitor
(industry market share distance to closest competitor). We find that audit fees increase
in both auditor–client industry alignment and industry market share distance to the
closest competitor.