Competition in the Portuguese legal audit market: An empirical analysis from 2010 to 2014

Abstract

The audit market concentration has been the subject of some studies in Portugal. Carmo Gonçalves, 2009a, Carmo Gonçalves, 2009b and Almeida (2012) concluded that there was strong concentration among public companies. After these studies four important events emerge: the liberalization of fees, changes in the number of companies subject to audit, the auditors of public interest entities are required to publish an annual transparency report and Portuguese economy stepped into an economic and financial crisis. This work is based in the information disclosed in the transparency reports from 2010 to 2014. This information allowed us to analyze the concentration in the Portuguese audit market both in terms of revenues and in terms of clients. Data was treated according to the following methodology: Concentration Ratio, Herfinthal Index, Gini Index and Lorenz Curve. We conclude that, according to international trend, there is a concentration of the audit market, that is been increasing in the last years.