Abstract:
The paper aim is to assess the concentration level of financial audit market in Poland. Our sample consists of 375 public companies disclosing statutory auditor’s report on financial statement for 2018, listed on the Main Market in the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). We have measured the audit market concentration by means of the 4-firm concentration ratio CR4, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, ‘Big Four’ and ‘10KAP’ indicators. The research findings reveal that the audit market concentration in Poland is much lower than in other European states. The share of the Big 4 firms in the entire market is close to 35%, and of the 10 most important audit firms - to 53%. The audit firm with the greatest share of the market for statutory audits of annual financial statements of WSE-listed companies is Ernst & Young, which audited 12% enterprises. It is followed by Deloitte, BDO, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UHY ECA, Grant Thornton and KPMG, none of which has a market share greater than 10%. An analysis of the concentration levels in major sectors allows auditors specialising in certain industries to be identified.
