Article

 

Audit market concentration for the segments of listed and non-listed auditees in Slovenia (p.31-49)

by

Maja Zaman Groff, Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Amela Salihovi, Faculty of Economics, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Keywords : Auditing, Concentration, Listed companies, Non-listed companies, Slovenia

JEL classification : M42, M48, D40

Abstract

High audit market concentration in the European Union (EU), especially in the segment of public interest companies (PIEs), was highlighted by the European Commission (EC) as problematic in the Green Paper on Audit Policy. We find that the market for the segment of listed companies is highly concentrated in Slovenia whereas in the segment of non-listed companies the concentration is relatively low. Given the observed trend of continuing decline in concentration level for non-listed companies and the overall observation of the differences between the two segments we conclude that the decision of the EC to prepare a separate, more stringent set of rules for the statutory audits of PIEs was justified. However, for proper implementation of national legislation for audits of non-PIEs (including mandatory audit firm rotation and prohibition of non-audit services) attention should also be placed on the effect of these measures on audit quality.