Designing a model to analyze the effects performance audit of effectiveness to improve accountability of executive agencies

Fatahi, Cyrus; Evazzadeh Fath, Fariborz; Valipour, Hashem

doi:10.22075/ijnaa.2023.29864.4284

Designing a model to analyze the effects performance audit of effectiveness to improve accountability of executive agencies

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Cyrus Fatahi ¹

Fariborz Evazzadeh Fath ²

Hashem Valipour ³

¹ Department of Accounting, Yasuj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yasuj, Iran

² Department of Accounting, Gachsaran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran, Iran

³ Department of Accounting, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran

10.22075/ijnaa.2023.29864.4284

Abstract

In our country, management of a large part of the economic resources is the responsibility of the state, and therefore its management has fundamental effects on the nation's fate. Therefore, public sector managers must be accountable to the people and their representatives, and provide the means for this accountability based on valid information. Nevertheless, to achieve adequate and appropriate accountability, the public sector naturally requires performance auditing in various components in addition to investigating financial statements and making statements in the framework of financial auditing principles. Therefore, the present study aims to propose a model to analyze the effects of performance audits on effectiveness to improve the accountability of executive agencies. For this purpose, the research method was correlational and in the form of a survey design with practical objectives. Then, to test the hypothesis (7) and obtain the optimal model, using Pearson correlation, regression, and meaningfulness of structural equations and finally, the path analysis algorithm through SPSS software, was designed and tested. The statistical population included directors, auditors, and experts of the Supreme Audit Court of Iran (SAC) from March 2016 to March 2018. The results of the test of research hypotheses showed that the effectiveness of performance audits through direct and indirect paths affects the improvement of accountability of executive agencies and its seven dimensions. Directly according to the results of the research, the research hypotheses (7) for the indirect effect of the effectiveness performance auditing on organizational, legal, professional, political, financial, moral and cultural accountability rates of 0.077, 0.025, 0.078, 0.093, 0.088, 0.085, and 0.055. The harmonious mean of the composite indexes of meaning as indirect effects of this pattern is estimated at 0.501. Exploratory results, combined with the confirmation of research hypotheses and design of equations and structural regressions, provide an optimal model that accounts for about 50.1\% of the changes in executive accountability responses through the implementation of the audit of effectiveness, indicating that the audit performance of the effectiveness has a significant relation with the improvement Responsible for executing agencies.

Keywords

accountability

performance auditing

performance audit of effectiveness

[1] J. Babajani, Benefits of performance auditing of performance in the country and its role in responsibility, A Collection of Articles and Lectures of the Performance Auditing, Accountability and Productivity Promotion Conference, 2010, pp. 16–46.

[2] S.M.R. Bani Fatemi Kashi, Understanding some of the basic concepts of operational auditing, Audit.-Audit. Two Month. 20 (2003), 62–65.

[3] M. Bovens, Public Accountability, E. Ferlie, L. Lynne and C. Pollitt (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, Oxford University Press, 2005.

[4] M. Bovens, New form of accountability and EU governance, Comp. Eur. Politics 5 (2007), no. 1, 104–120.

[5] S. Fattahi, E. Khoshnood and I. Gholipour, Evaluation of performance auditing performance on productivity improvement in Iranian public sector, Quart. J. Audit Court Audit 61 (2015), 107–134.

[6] H. Fauci, Review of the features and structure of performance auditing reports, J. Account. Knowledge Court Audit 15 (2005), no. 24, 1–14.

[7] C. Fornell and D.F. Larcker, Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics, J. Market. Res. 18 (1981), no. 3, 382–388.

[8] Y. Kamyabi, E. Malekian, and M. Khanlari, Explaining performance auditing components in the public sector of Iran with emphasis on environmental and social performance, Audit Court Audit 8 (2017), no. 71, 57–76.

[9] M. Mahmood Khani and R. Ahmadi, Performance auditing with emphasis on public sector, Quart. J. Account. Res. Alzahra Univ. 8 (2018), no: 2(29), 71–98.

[10] M. Mohammadi, Some challenges of operational auditing in the public sector of Iran, J. Audit Knowledge Quart. 25-26 (2008), 47–53.

[11] K. Nekhai, M. Hosseinpour, A.R. Barzegaran and A. Khorashadizadeh, Investigating the effect of performance auditing on justice and social responsibility of executive agencies, New Quart. J. Human. Res. Inst. Higher Educ. 40 (2018), 91–116.

[12] A.M. Nurul Athirah, The impact of performance audit: The New Zealand experience, Master thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2010.

[13] K. Reichborn-Kjennerud and S.I. Vabo, Performance audit as a contributor to change and improvement in public administration, Evaluation 23 (2017), no. 1, 6–23.

[14] D.Weihrich, Performance auditing in Germany concerning environmental issues, Sustain. Account. Manag. Policy J. 9 (2018), no. 1, 29–42.