Purpose This study aims to examine whether the industry characteristics of homogeneity, product competition, high auditor competition and accounting standards complexity are associated with auditor changes. Design/methodology/approach Logistic regressions test for significance of the industry characteristics on resignations, dismissals and directional changes to and from Big 4 and nonBig 4 auditors after controlling for client, auditor and engagement factors. Findings The authors report a lower likelihood of auditor resignations with greater accounting standards complexity. The authors also report a greater likelihood of auditor dismissals with greater industry homogeneity, greater product competition and greater auditor competition. Results also show that accounting standards complexity is associated with a lower likelihood of changes from Big to nonBig auditors, and industry homogeneity is associated with a greater likelihood of changes from Big to nonBig. Also, greater auditor competition is associated with a lower likelihood of changes from nonBig to Big auditors. Research limitations/implications Prior research has established the importance of industry characteristics to the market for audit services (Cairney and Stewart, 2015; Wang and Chui, 2015; Cahan et al., 2011; Bills et al., 2015). The authors report that industry characteristics also impact auditor changes. Second, previous research has used various methods that indicate general industry effects on changes. The paper contributes to this research by specifying industry characteristics. Limitations include the reliance on the self-reporting in 8-Ks to identify auditors resigning and firms dismissing auditors. Also, the paper relies on proxies for industry characteristics that were developed in prior research. Practical implications Regulators have expressed concern over the relatively low rates of auditor changes and the problem of lack of auditor choice. By demonstrating a significant effect of industry characteristics on changes, the authors indicate some levers that may be available to influence rates of auditor changes, especially realignments to nonBig. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to examine how specific industry characteristics impact auditor changes. The study may be of interest to academics who are interested in how industry factors influence auditor changes. It may also interest policymakers who could lever the characteristics of industries to address concerns about the low rates of auditor changes.

There are no indications of a slowdown. Accordingly, this article reviews the recent developments in RFID technology, examines implementation issues, and then provides a summary of benefits that may help readers as they seek an answer to the question of how extensively RFID implementations will change firms' operations. RECENT DEVELOPMENTSProjections suggest that the RFID market will be dominated by passive tags. Active tags continuously transmit information while passive tags activate only in response to a reader. Active tags can transmit over longer distances than passive tags. Many suppliers offer passive tags at a cost of ten to twenty cents each, with extremely large orders bringing the cost down to five to seven cents each. 1 At a five-cent cost, consumer packaged goods firms' use of item-level tags would be feasible. Tags can be made from a silicon chip no larger than the tip of a pencil. The chip can be encoded with information about the product, such as identification number, Electronic Product Code (EPC), serial numbers, starting point and destination of the delivery, the specific time the item crossed a certain point, production date, expiration date, temperature, humidity, and chain-of-custody identifiers. It is difficult to envision a limit to the amount of data that can be stored on an RFID tag, and it is the updating/write capability of the active tags that will be the source of increased benefits as the price of tags continues to drop. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags