Human capital and performance in young audit firms

This research analyzes the relationship between auditors' human capital attributes and young audit firms' performance. The study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to a sample of 26 young Portuguese audit firms. The results reveal the existence of Multiple combinations of human capital attributes leading to high performance, thus supporting the relevance of the human capital in the audit industry and highlighting the importance of human capital attributes toward the performance of young audit firms. These findings can help auditors-entrepreneurs invest in the development of those human capital attributes that are pertinent to succeed in the marketplace. The use of fsQCA enables the identification of alternative combinations of human capital attributes that associate with higher performance, which constitutes an important contribution to the literature. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.