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This volume provides an analytical framework and operational approaches needed for the implementation of results-based accountability. The volume makes a major contribution to the literature on public management and evaluation. Major subject areas covered in this book include: performance based accountability, e-government, legal and institutional framework to hold government to account; fighting corruption; external accountability and the role of supreme audit institutions on detecting fraud and corruption.

Purpose The expectation gap between auditors and users has recently been the topic of many controversies. This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between auditor’s characteristics and audit expectation gap among information users in listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange market. In other words, the study attempts to find whether there is a significant relationship between audit components and the audit expectation gap or not. Design/methodology/approach The multiple regression model is used to test the hypotheses. Research hypotheses are tested using a sample of 78 listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange during 2012-2016, by using integrated data technique of the multiple regression model. Findings The findings show that standard audit fees are not significantly associated with the audit expectation gap. Furthermore, audit fees are negatively associated with the audit expectation gap, which provides that allocated audit price in financial statements gives useful information for external and internal individuals. Predictably, it is recommended that audit opinion significantly determines the level of the audit expectation gap. The authors also find that the independence of the director boards and audit committee members fulfill the expectation gap of individual users. Moreover, finding the negative impact of audit firms ranking on the expectation gap, supports the idea of higher ranked audit firms provide high quality services, and consequently, more reliable information. Finally, the results show that the audit record is positively associated with the audit expectation gap. Originality/value As all recent studies on the expectation gap were qualitative, the present study is the first paper, which measures the expectation gap quantitatively through the statistical method.

Purpose This study aims to study the relationship between audit components and collusion in the audit market. Design/methodology/approach The statistical population of the study includes 130 listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2012-2017. The data tested using multivariate regression. Findings The findings of the study indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between Rank A audit firms, competition and audit fees and audit market adaptability. The relationship standard fees and audit market adaptability, however, is negative and significant. Moreover, the results of the study show that there is no significant relationship between opinion shopping, type of audit report, audit market concentration, and agency costs with audit market adaptability. Originality/value The current study fills the gap in this area, and the results of the study may give direction to researchers and policy makers.

The quality improvement of state audit system is vital and relevant for all post-Soviet republics and Kazakhstan particularly. On the whole, it is grounded on the old notions, and is not suitable for the contemporary economic situation and numerous private enterprises’ growth. The article aims to highlight the advantages of the audit systems in the USA and the UK for the contemporary state of the audit system in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In order to achieve the stated purpose theoretical bases, statistical data, legislative and regulatory official documents were analyzed. The analysis shows that the most perspective approaches to the internal audit system development are risk management and budget planning. The main problematic areas are the legal support, staff of auditing departments and services, the quality of revisions and competence of state auditors. It is substantiated that training and education for the auditors are highly demanded. The internal annual audit reports can be used as the effective instrument of the governmental control as well as the marker of the most undeveloped spheres.

Disclosure plays an important role for information users. Voluntary disclosure is more meaningful for stakeholders in order to make appropriate decisions. The article researches the impact of firm characteristics on the voluntary disclosure of the top 50 listed firms in Forbes Vietnam (50 listed firms) from 2015 to 2019. It uses the ordinary least squares of time-series data to test the regression model. The signaling and agency theory is used to explain the relationship between firm characteristics on voluntary disclosure. The research results show three variables of firm characteristics that positively impact the voluntary disclosure of 50 listed firms, including firm size, growth rate of market share value to book value, and audit type, in which audit type has the strongest influence. Accordingly, the state agencies of Vietnam should encourage 50 listed firms to improve the Vietnamese listed firms’ voluntary disclosure and meet international economic integration. AcknowledgmentWe would like to thank Assoc. Prof. Ngoc Thach Nguyen (Phd), Assoc. Prof. Hoang Anh Ly (Phd) and Assoc. Prof. Thi Loan Nguyen (PhD), as well as some experts of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam and some leaders of 50 listed firms for their advice and support the project.

This study investigates audit quality under joint and single audit regimes with a sample of large European firms. Both, the economic relevance of these companies, and the fact that the impact of joint audit on audit quality should be stronger when the audited company is a blue-chip firm motivate the study. If mandatory joint audit were positively associated with audit quality, French firms, under mandatory joint audit since 1966, should present higher audit quality compared to their European peers. The results do not indicate this to be the case. Specifically, similar levels of discretionary accruals are observed for French and other European firms. Furthermore, for the first time in the literature, evidence is reported indicating that French firms may even present lower audit quality than their European peers, when audit quality is measured by the likelihood of just beating earnings benchmarks. These results are expected to inform the ongoing debate in several countries about joint audits.

Purpose - This paper aims to develop a classification scheme of different types of value for money (VFM) audits with different degrees of compliance audit, and to classify the performance audits carried out by the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO) during its first six years as an independent state audit organization reporting to parliament.Design methodology approach - The empirical data were gathered from all of the 150 audit reports published by the SNAO from its establishment in 2003 to the end of 2008. Seminars were arranged to discuss the classifications for validation.Findings - The focus on traditional VFM audits (the \"Three Es\") is unusual. Most audits carried out by the SNAO combine different types of extended VFM audits with compliance audit. On the one hand, they audit how the government and or central agencies fulfil their mandates (from good to bad). On the other, they audit how the government and or central agencies adhere to legislation, rules and policies (right or wrong). In some cases, the SNAO equates compliance audit with performance audit.Practical implications - The authors have verbalised and visualised performance audit activities of interest not only to state auditors, but also to external stakeholders. One practical implication is that the Swedish national audit committee has conducted an evaluation of the SNAO that is partly based on the national report of this study, and has proposed a stronger focus on the Three Es.Originality value - The study addresses a new approach in terms of a classification scheme for performance audits, consisting of eight types of VFM audits and three degrees of compliance audit, and creating 24 possible combinations.

The study aims to examine the influence of corporate governance structure that includes ownership structure, board of directors’ size, board of commissioner’s size, and audit firm type to the Islamic voluntary disclosure (IVD) in the Indonesian sharia-compliant companies listed on Jakarta Islamic Index 70 (JII70). Voluntary disclosure in this study is measured using the Islamic disclosure index. This study analyses the data using multiple regression. The results show that the board of directors’ size significantly positively affects Islamic voluntary disclosure, while the ownership structure, type of audit firm and board of commissioners' size do not significantly affect the extent of Islamic voluntary disclosure. These results imply that voluntary disclosure is very dependent on the will of internal parties. The board of directors can encourage wider disclosure, especially in sharia aspects, thereby further emphasizing its status as a sharia compliance company.

In spite of the detrimental consequences, such as pollution and other environmental risks arising from corporate activities, there has been a noticeable lack of transparency in disclosing social, environmental, and economic information. In light of this, the research aims to present empirical evidence regarding the impact of sustainability committees and the type of audit firm on the reporting of corporate sustainability information by companies. The study utilized an Ex-post facto research design, considering a population of one hundred and fifteen (115) listed non-financial firms. Ninety-two (92) companies were selected as the sample. Both descriptive and inferential (Panel Corrected Standard Error) estimation techniques were employed to analyze data collected from the annual reports and accounts of the sampled listed manufacturing companies over a seven-year period (2016-2022). The findings revealed that the presence of a sustainability committee and audit type significantly predict corporate sustainability reporting among listed non-financial firms at a 5% level of significance. In conclusion, the study determined that sustainability committees and audit types play a crucial and meaningful role in shaping corporate sustainability reporting practices among listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. As a result, the study recommends that listed companies should establish sustainability committees to proactively address sustainability issues and enhance disclosure. Additionally, non-Big Four audit firms are encouraged to enhance their services by providing their staff with up-to-date audit skills.

Purpose In South Africa, King III requires companies to have their corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures independently assured. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to examine internal audit’s CSR assurance role. Design/methodology/approach With reference to the International Professional Practices Framework of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the first phase of the study conceptually considers whether internal audit does qualify as an independent CSR assurance provider. Using a content analysis of integrated reports, the second phase examines the extent to which internal audit’s CSR assurance role has been disclosed. The final phase relies on survey responses to understand the emerging trends observed in the second phase. Findings The study finds that although internal audit does provide independent CSR assurance, this assurance is primarily intended for internal stakeholders to assist in improving the quality of CSR reporting practices. With one notable exception across the study period, the results suggest that any benefits accruing to external stakeholders were not deliberate, but merely incidental. The paper concludes by arguing that although internal audit will continue to incorporate material CSR issues into its mandatory risk-based auditing approach, the results will not necessarily be publicly available. The extent of reliance that external stakeholders can place on company CSR disclosures are therefore not directly influenced by internal audit’s involvement in CSR-related matters. However, by adopting a proactive CSR role, internal audit can assist reporting companies improve their CSR reporting practices. Originality/value Although CSR assurance has been extensively researched, this is one of the first studies to specifically consider the CSR assurance role of the internal audit activity. Despite its South African orientation, given the emerging nature of the CSR assurance phenomenon, the study findings have global implications.