The impact of globalization on professional accounting firms: Evidence from New Zealand

Abstract

This study examines how the survivors survived the turbulence of affiliations and global mergers among accounting firms in the 1980s. The core data in this project are narratives from an oral history study of partners in large New Zealand accounting firms in the 1980s. The survival of accounting firms and the careers of their partners were substantially affected by their ability to form and maintain affiliations with global firms. The major benefit of Big 8 affiliation was improved auditing technology, and formerly important audit firms without an affiliation to a Big 8 firm disintegrated. Over the same period, accounting firms generally also became more managerial and bureaucratic. This was consistent with trends in other professional organizations.