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The emergence of the Big Five in Sweden

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  • Eva Wallerstedt

Abstract

The accounting profession is dominated by the Big Five, which in 1999 and in order of revenue size were PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Arthur Andersen. A specific feature of the profession in Sweden is that three firms dominate the market -; PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG - while Arthur Andersen and Deloitte & Touche are of less relative importance compared with their standing in other countries. The objective of this paper is to explore the development of the auditing profession in Sweden 1912-99, in order to find the growth strategies that generated today's structure. Particular attention will be paid to the gradual emergence of the Big Five. The Big Three auditing firms in Sweden in 1999 engaged 55% (1,105 authorized public accountants) of the total population of authorized public accountants. However, the proportion of 'sole practitioners', i.e. firms with no more than one authorized public accountant, was 81% in the same year. An overwhelming part of the auditing firms in Sweden are thus very small. It seems quite obvious that the activities within these small firms in many important ways differ from the activities within the medium-sized and big firms. A common feature of the firms that subsequently became the Big Three in Sweden is that they were established at a very early stage. There seems to have been a first-mover advantage in the auditing profession. The Big Three firms have adopted different growth strategies. They have increased in size by organic growth, by establishing or buying branch offices in different parts of Sweden or by merging with large firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Wallerstedt, 2001. "The emergence of the Big Five in Sweden," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 843-867.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:10:y:2001:i:4:p:843-867
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180120069133
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    1. Matthews, Derek & Anderson, Malcolm & Edwards, John Richard, 1998. "The Priesthood of Industry: The Rise of the Professional Accountant in British Management," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198289609.
    2. Christopher W. Nobes (ed.), 1996. "International Accounting," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1102.
    3. Merete Christiansen & Anne Loft, 1992. "Big players and small players," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 277-301.
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    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm Anderson, 2002. "Accounting History publications 2001," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 505-512.
    2. I. De Beelde & N. Gonthier-Besacier & A. Mikol, 2006. "The Introduction Of The Anglo-American Audit Firms In France," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 06/392, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. Larsson, Bengt, 2005. "Auditor regulation and economic crime policy in Sweden, 1965-2000," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 127-144, February.

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