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This paper explores the value of financial statement auditing in the public sector. The study applies theory about auditing from the private sector as well as the public sector to explore ways in which public sector auditing can be expected to be valuable. It shows that there are a number of complementary explanations that can be applied to examine the value of public audit, including agency, signaling, insurance, management control, governance and confirmation explanations. The evidence from research and history is generally consistent with the agency and management control explanations. There is some support for the signaling and insurance explanations, while research evidence suggests that governance has differing impact in the public sector compared to the private. The confirmation hypothesis is also potentially relevant. Reviewing the history of the development of public sector auditing functions shows that at least some developments were consistent with explanations such as agency theory and management control. Auditing in the public sector is an area where more research is valuable. The paper concludes with a discussion of issues for further investigation.

New public management (NPM) has transformed the public sector auditing context, although in quite different ways. Further, investigations into NPM’s impact on public sector auditors and audit institutions have been largely unconnected, with the exception of the critical examination of performance audits. We investigate the question of how public sector auditors’ roles and activities have changed as a result of NPM and later reforms.

We examine and synthesise public sector audit research examining reforms since the year 2000. The research presented considers changes to external and internal public sector audits as well as the development of public sector audit institutions – known as supreme audit institutions (SAIs).

Considerable changes have occurred. Many were influenced by NPM, but others have evolved from the eco-system of accounting, auditing and public sector management. External auditors have responded to an increase in demand for accountability. Additional management and governance techniques have been introduced from the private sector, such as internal auditing and audit committees. NPM has also led to conflicting trends, particularly when governments introduced competition to public sector auditing by contracting out but then chose to centralise to improve accountability. There is also greater international influence now through bodies like the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and similar regional bodies.

NPM reforms and the eco-system have impacted public sector auditing. Sustainability reporting is emerging as an area requiring more auditing attention; auditors also need to continue to develop better ways to communicate with citizens. Further, research into auditing in non-Western nations and emerging technologies is also required, especially where it provides learnings around more valuable audit practices. Empirical evidence is required of the strengths and weaknesses of SAIs’ structural variety.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the increasing potential demand for meta-analysis studies in auditing. The paper includes a review of a new technique and meta-regression analysis, and explains its advantages in comparison to meta-analysis techniques used in prior auditing research. It also discusses opportunities for applying meta-analysis to auditing topics and potential pitfalls.

The paper provides a review and commentary on meta-analysis techniques used in auditing research, especially for meta-analyses of empirical archival studies that use regression models.

There is now considerable potential for meta-analysis to have an impact on auditing policy and regulation. Researchers using meta-analysis should make use of the most current techniques (e.g. meta-regression), which are more reliable and allow researchers to explore more issues about the research.

The paper informs auditing researchers about methods to advance their research and increase its usefulness.

This paper aims to uncover the practices of different privacy auditors to reveal the extent of any similarities in such practices. The purpose is to investigate the drivers of practices used by privacy auditors and to identify potential for improvements in the practice of privacy auditing so that privacy audits may better serve stakeholders.

Six semi-structured interviews with seven privacy auditors and regulators and an analyst across Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA are used as the basis for our analysis.

The study shows that some privacy auditors view privacy as an organizational issue, which means that all staff within an organization should understand the privacy issues that are relevant to the organization and to its customers. Because this practice goes beyond a mere compliance approach to privacy auditing, it indicates that there is a way to avoid the approach of merely applying standards from national data privacy laws which is an approach that has been subject to criticism because it is not applicable to the current situation of global applications and cross-border data. The interview themes demonstrate that privacy audits face significant challenges, such as the lack of a privacy auditing profession and the difficulty of raising the awareness of organizations and individuals regarding information privacy rights and duties.

Privacy auditing is mostly unexplored by academic research and little is known about the drivers behind the practice of privacy auditing. This study is the first to document the views of privacy auditors regarding the practices that they use. It also presents novel results regarding the drivers of the practice of privacy auditing and the interests of the beneficiaries of privacy audits. It builds on research that argues for the existence of best practices for privacy (Toy, 2013; Toy and Hay, 2015) and it extends this argument by providing reasons why privacy auditors may benefit from the use of best practices for privacy.

The purpose of this paper is to review opportunities for future research about auditing in the public sector.

The paper presents the viewpoints of two researchers, supported by research that is cited in the paper.

Public sector auditing research has grown considerably. The authors expect further growth. The authors debunk some myths about public sector auditing. The authors suggest areas where there are opportunities for research. In particular, researchers can examine a broader range of jurisdictions, investigate differences among countries and develop suggestions about what works best.

The paper presents the views of the authors.

There are opportunities for further research across different jurisdictions.

The paper makes a contribution by outlining research opportunities.

This paper aims to review potential areas for interdisciplinary research in auditing.

The paper reflects on the relevance of the findings from auditing research, and discusses an example from medical research. The medical example highlights how unexpected results can lead to surprising research findings. The paper then examines the areas in which further auditing research should be most valuable.

Auditing research is generally based on practical problems. It can be qualitative, quantitative, use mixed methods or be interdisciplinary. There are examples of each of these, including interdisciplinary research that has contributed to the auditing literature. The paper describes areas in which future research in auditing is likely to be valuable. These include research in developing countries, smaller entities and other settings that have not been widely researched; research in the public sector, including the impact of armchair auditors; research about the place of auditing in corporate governance; and research about the function of auditing in confirming earlier unaudited announcements.

Standard setters are becoming more aware of research and more likely to make evidence-based decisions about auditing standards.

The paper evaluates existing research and provides suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of internal audit function (IAF) use on earnings quality and external audit fees using empirical data collected from the New Zealand (NZ) setting.

Applying institutional theory as the underlying framework, this study examines an IAF’s ability to demonstrate legitimacy, which will shed light to the functions long-term survival. Using a unique data set from the NZ setting, which combines information obtained from “The Institute of Internal Auditors of New Zealand” with empirical firm data collected from publicly available sources, multivariate analysis is performed to test the prediction that IAF use is associated with earnings quality, measured using discretionary accruals, and external audit fees.

There is strong positive association between IAF use and external audit fees, which supports the complementary controls view, where better internal controls increase audit fees by increasing the demand for scope of external audit work. The authors find no significant relationship between IAF use and earnings quality, which is not entirely surprising.

The aim is to empirically test the IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. Given the size of the NZ economy and limitations of data availability, total sample size used in this study is relatively modest. However, the analysis does yield significant results. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. Senior management (SM) will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.

The aim is to empirically test IAF value proposition and to delve deeper into the black box of IAF value drivers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first NZ-based academic investigation which examines the relationship between IAF use and earnings quality. Apart from academic contribution to knowledge, this study offers a profound list of practical contributions. Practitioners will be interested to learn about the IAF value proposition from an empirical viewpoint. SM will obtain value from the outcomes when contemplating IAF investment and sourcing decisions. Regulators will be inherently interested in whether IAFs should be mandated.

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors explain the use of an in-house internal audit function (IAF) in a voluntary setting.

Based on the foundations of agency and resource-based theory, this study examines a unique data set from the New Zealand setting, which combines information obtained from The Institute of Internal Auditors of New Zealand with empirical firm data collected from publicly available sources. Multivariate analysis is performed to test the prediction that in-house IAF use is associated with factors such as strong corporate governance, firm size, risk, complexity and firm ownership structure.

There is strong evidence that larger organisations are more likely to use an in-house IAF. The authors also find that listed firms and organisations that use a Big Four auditor are less likely to use in-house-based IAF. The authors learn that the IAF investment decision is dominantly influenced by a firm’s ability to fund an in-house IAF as compared to the IAF being used as a resource to improve firm performance to achieve sustained competitive advantage. This implies that IAFs need to ensure cost efficiency and eliminate unnecessary overheads and demonstrate and make visible the benefits the function offers to the host organisation.

The unique New Zealand setting, where the establishment and use of an IAF are voluntary, provides an environment to study factors that promote demand for internal audit services. Research implications are applicable to most parts of the world, including the UK, EU nations and the Asia-Pacific region, where IAF use is voluntary.

This paper aims at reflecting on the changing boundaries of public sector auditing. In particular the paper focusses on the opportunities and challenges for performance auditing, for sustainable development auditing and digitalised public sector auditing.

Building from the papers in this special issue, the authors draw on the literature on current development of public sector auditing (such as public sector auditing performance auditing, sustainable development auditing and digitalised public sector auditing) and propose a future research agenda.

The “changing boundaries” of public sector auditing may influence the difficulty for public sector organisations to manage the uncertainties and risks not only associated to corruption but also the public governance development (collaborative, digital and emergency governance). The authors speculate on the role that the “changing boundaries” of public sector auditing can play.

The paper contributes by setting new research avenues for future studies on public sector auditing in a post-new public management context.

Changes to the auditor’s report have been proposed and issued internationally to provide more relevant information to users and enhance the perceived value of financial statement audits. This paper aims to investigate the impact of audit reporting changes on audit quality and audit fees in the New Zealand context.

The authors examined audit quality measured by absolute abnormal accruals and audit fees for New Zealand listed companies.

The evidence suggests the enhanced audit reports were followed by an improvement in audit quality as proxied by a reduction in absolute abnormal accruals upon the adoption of the new audit reporting requirements. There was also a significant increase in audit fees.

Although the new auditor reporting requirements are associated with improvements in audit quality, such benefit does not come without cost.

The study provides evidence about the impact of this recent substantial reform to auditing.