Auditing the auditors: a performative “spectacle” of public oversight
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 31 July 2023
Issue publication date: 25 March 2024
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses the establishment and evolution of a public oversight body (POB) – the Egyptian Audit Oversight Unit (AOU) – and its implications for local auditing firms and practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were gathered from 34 semi-structured interviews (including follow-up ones) between 2014 and 2020. Secondary data was obtained through publicly available documents and internal memos. Drawing on Debord's (1967) Society of the Spectacle, the insights focus on the POB's conception, materialisation and evolution in a context characterised by weak regulatory structures.
Findings
Through a series of acts, the findings reveal how the AOU first accepted the image of “international best practice” oversight (the “metaphorical”), followed by the construction of the local structure and décor replicating a United States (US) style POB archetype (the “transformational”) by primarily relying on visible processes/procedures. Yet, these mechanisms emphasised the spectacular nature of oversight, with little improvement for practice and limiting itself to “cracking down” on smaller local firms. A final stage (the “performative”) reveals how the AOU seeks to expand its activities beyond its original mandate without challenging the image-driven nature of its oversight.
Originality/value
The paper offers two key contributions. First, it reveals how actors, through a combination of symbolic and tangible measures, create a new performative reality of public oversight. Second, it advocates Debord's “spectacle” to complement other theoretical lenses, with a view to illuminating the materialisation stages that bridge the gap between proclaimed oversight policies and actual practices (including conscious and unconscious omissions) within a given political economy context.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express sincere gratitude for the invaluable insights and feedback received from the Accounting and Accountability in Emerging Economies conference in Colchester, England, June 2018, and the Accounting and Financial Management Research Seminar (virtual) at the Royal Holloway University of London, March 2021.
Citation
Ghattas, P., Soobaroyen, T., Uddin, S. and Marnet, O. (2024), "Auditing the auditors: a performative “spectacle” of public oversight", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 764-789. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2022-5957
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited