2015/12/31 by Kristin Reichborn-Kjennerud, Kristin Reichborn‐Kjennerud, Åge Johnsen
Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #Accounting and Organizational Management #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Public Policy and Administration Research
paper · doi:10.1177/0095399715623315
openalex publication_date 2015/12/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Performance audit is widespread but contested. The “audit society” proposition holds that audits are rituals producing comfort, whereas the “mandatory audit” proposition in public policy presumes that audits have positive impacts. Common to both propositions is the lack of empirical evidence of audit impact. This article analyzes survey data of the auditees’ tendency to make changes as a consequence of Supreme Audit Institutions’ performance audits. Civil servants who had experienced performance audits responded that ministries and agencies tend to make changes, but instrumental, institutional, and political factors have an effect on the institution’s propensity to make changes.