The Strategic Options of Supreme Audit Institutions: The Case of Four Nordic Countries

Jeppesen, Kim Klarskov; Carrington, Thomas; Catasús, Bino; Johnsen, Åge; Reichborn-Kjennerud, Kristin; Vakkuri, Jarmo

doi:10.1111/faam.12118

Cited by 42 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…In Denmark and Finland, the performance audits seemed to have had a low impact on improvement. In Denmark, where the performance audit approach is partly focused on checking compliance with acknowledged standards of public sector management (Jeppesen et al., ), civil servants perceived the performance audit as having little impact on making improvement. In Finland, which has an evaluation‐oriented SAI that does not emphasise giving advice, the civil servants found the audits least likely to lead to improvement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supreme audit institutions in a high‐impact context: A comparative analysis of performance audit in four Nordic countries

Johnsen¹,

Reichborn-Kjennerud²,

Carrington

et al. 2019

Financ Acc Manag

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This article analyses survey data regarding the impact of supreme audit institutions’ (SAIs) performance audit on public administration in four Nordic countries. Regression analysis with pooled data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden indicates that performance audits have positive impacts on usefulness, changes, improvements and, to some extent, accountability, as perceived by auditees who have experienced the audits. The results show that some of the factors that earlier research found important for the impact of performance audits in some countries were insignificant for all the four Nordic countries, but that SAIs’ legitimacy, audit quality and consequences of media attention were important factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supreme audit institutions in a high‐impact context: A comparative analysis of performance audit in four Nordic countries

Johnsen¹,

Reichborn-Kjennerud²,

Carrington

et al. 2019

Financ Acc Manag

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“…This is not unusual. However, unlike the other Nordic countries, the Danish SAI pursues a hybrid strategy in which (legal) compliance, financial, and performance audits are often, but not always, highly integrated (Jeppesen et al ). The Auditor General is entitled to access all documents pertaining to state expenditures, and state institutions are obliged to provide these documents to Rigsrevisionen.…”

Section: A Dual System: the Legal And Organizational Framework Of Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Playing a zero‐sum game? The pursuit of independence and relevance in performance auditing

Triantafillou

2017

Public Administration

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Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) are fundamental institutions in liberal democracies as they enable control of the exercise of state power. In order to maintain this function, SAIs must enjoy a high level of independence. Moreover, SAIs are increasingly expected to be also relevant for government and the execution of its policies by way of performance auditing. This article examines how and why the performance auditing of the Danish SAI pursues independence and relevance. It is argued that, in general, the simultaneous pursuit of independence and relevance is highly challenging and amounts to a zero‐sum or, at the very best, a very modest plus‐sum game. More specifically, while the Danish SAI actively pursues both objectives, it has persistently prioritized independence over relevance. This priority seems to be the most effective strategy for the Danish SAI to maintain its legitimacy in a situation where the parliament is characterized by minority governments.

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“…There is obviously big variation in the organisation of the audit between many countries and across tiers of government (Pierre & Licht, 2019). There is even variation in strategies and organisation between the Nordic countries within one accountability regime, which often are regarded as relatively homogenous countries (Jeppesen et al, 2017). Barzelay (1997), Glynn (1985) and Blume and Voigt (2011), conducted some early comparative studies of the organisation of public sector audit and its impacts on independence and relevance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Public sector audit in contemporary society: A short review and introduction

Johnsen

2019

Financ Acc Manag

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This article gives a short review of recent research on public sector audit, and then introduces six articles in a special issue on public sector audit in contemporary society. Many countries have developed their audit institutions and expanded the audit activities in particular since the 1980s. New public management and the theory of the ‘audit society’ explain much of this development well, also in some international organizations, but some countries have also experienced a contraction in the audit activities in the public sector. Moreover, literature on public sector audit outside the Anglo‐American and North European contexts, and especially from Africa, Asia and Latin‐America, is limited. There are big variations in how audit institutions are organized, in what they produce, in their relations to stakeholders and media, and in their impacts on organizations and society. Overall, auditors are little active in the fight against corruption, and the Napoleonic court system for organizing supreme audit institutions seems to be little effective. The audit institutions in the Anglo‐American and Nordic accountability regimes seem to be relatively effective, but the recent research show that auditors' independence and relevance are persistent challenging issues in public sector audit.

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The Strategic Options of Supreme Audit Institutions: The Case of Four Nordic Countries

Cited by 42 publications

References 31 publications

Supreme audit institutions in a high‐impact context: A comparative analysis of performance audit in four Nordic countries

Supreme audit institutions in a high‐impact context: A comparative analysis of performance audit in four Nordic countries

Playing a zero‐sum game? The pursuit of independence and relevance in performance auditing

Public sector audit in contemporary society: A short review and introduction

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