For this analysis we collect the identity of the firm’s auditor from Compustat, and begin by forming an indicator variable, Big4, which equals 1 if the firm is audited by a Big 4 firm, and 0 otherwise. A total of 123 (24) of our sample firms are audited by Big 4 (non-Big 4) auditors. Following a long line of academic research, we assume Big 4 audits are perceived to be of higher quality than non-Big 4 audits. Khurana and Raman (2004) find that this perception is driven by exposure to litigation rather than reputation concerns. Glendening (2012) finds that the disclosure frequency of pension CAEs is nearly twice that for non-pension CAEs. He speculates that firms may be providing pension CAE disclosure as a means to “achieve minimum compliance” with FR- 72 (Glendening 2012, 20). Given this evidence, we expect Big 4 auditors to be associated with more frequent pension-related CAE disclosures.