Research On The Operational Efficiency Of Accounting Firms In China Based On DEA Method

As important professional service institutions,accounting firms have been deeply rooted in the economic system of China.By December 31,2016,there were 8460 accounting firms and more than 103 thousands of CPAs in the country.These firms are offering audit certification,management consulting and other professional services for more than 3000 listed companies,more than 10 thousands new three board enterprises and more than 4.2 millions enterprises and institutions.Under the support of the policy documents of Recommendation on Promoting the Accounting Firms to be Stronger and Bigger released by The Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants(CICPA)in 2007,the accounting firms have developed rapidly,while the competition in the industry is becoming increasingly fierce.At present,the development of local accounting firms is diverse.The gap between local accounting firms and the intermational”big 4" is obvious.Under such a background,the research on the operational efficiency and productivity change of accounting firms is crucial for the healthy development of accounting firms and the formulation of relevant policies.The research sample of the paper is chose from the list Top 100 accounting firms released by the CICPA from the year 2013 to 2015.The paper selects 38 firms with qualification of securities and fiutures,and their data are available.We evaluate their operational efficiency and productivity change in transforming inputs to outputs,and analyze the differences and problems in efficiency between domestic firms and the international "big 4".The paper uses the BCC model of Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA)to calculate and compare the annual operational efficiency.Based on the dynamic Malmquist productivity index,the intertemporal comparison and the total factor productivity analysis are carried out.Finally,according to the results of the analysis,we provide guidance and advice about the direction to improve operating performance and total factor productivity of various accounting firms in different positions and with different development conditions.