Evaluation and comparison of audit quality of big 4 audit firms compared to non-big 4 companies: Empirical evidence in Viet Nam

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze, evaluate, and compare the audit quality of Big 4 auditing firms with other Non-Big 4 auditing firms in Viet Nam. To achieve the aforementioned research objective, the team collected secondary data from the audited consolidated financial statements of companies listed on the HOSE and HNX over a sixyear period from 2018 to 2023. The dataset was then analyzed based on two proposed research equations previously developed and presented in Chapter 2 of this report, using the statistical software STATA 18. The research findings indicate that the level of earnings management in companies utilizing audit services from the Big 4 differs significantly from those using audit services from Non-Big 4 firms. Additionally, in the presence of discretionary accruals, there is no difference between Big 4 and Non-Big 4 auditors in their ability to issue audit adjustment opinions. On the other hand, the results did not find any relationship between audit opinions and the level of earnings management