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Practice Variation in Public Sector Internal Auditing: An Institutional Analysis

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  • Marika Arena
  • Kim Klarskov Jeppesen

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the rise of practice variations in public sector internal auditing (IA), giving special attention to the role of agents’ embeddedness in multiple institutional arrangements. IA's trends of development and the characteristics of the public sector context, in fact, make IA inherently subject to multiple institutional forces that interact with the system of values and beliefs of individual internal auditors. The empirical analysis, which relies on case study methodology, highlights the inherent tensions associated with the changing role of IA and shows how different types of IA developed in three case settings, shaped by the agents’ embeddedness in different institutional fields. This article provides a more comprehensive approach to the study of IA adoption and development in public sector organizations than previous literature, and it highlights the relevance of the interplay between actors’ contemporary embeddedness in professional systems and the focal social system as a relevant source of practice variation. In this respect, the case of IA can contribute to previous studies of practice variation in the field of management accounting, shedding some light on the types of tensions that emerge when persons with mixed professional identities are involved in a field.

Suggested Citation

  • Marika Arena & Kim Klarskov Jeppesen, 2016. "Practice Variation in Public Sector Internal Auditing: An Institutional Analysis," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 319-345, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:319-345
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2015.1018917
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    1. Englund, Hans & Gerdin, Jonas, 2011. "Agency and structure in management accounting research: Reflections and extensions of Kilfoyle and Richardson," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 581-592.
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    9. Covaleski, Mark A. & Dirsmith, Mark W. & Weiss, Jane M., 2013. "The social construction, challenge and transformation of a budgetary regime: The endogenization of welfare regulation by institutional entrepreneurs," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 333-364.
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    11. Laura de Zwaan & Jenny Stewart & Nava Subramaniam, 2011. "Internal audit involvement in enterprise risk management," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(7), pages 586-604, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Svitlana Firsova, 2017. "Examining Institutional Content Of The Balanced Scorecard: Logics And Translations In Ukrainian Business Environment," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 8(2).
    2. repec:vul:omefvu:v:9:y:2017:i:2:id:229 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Marta Postula & Olga Irodenko & Przemyslaw Dubel, 2020. "Internal Audit as a Tool to Improve the Efficiency of Public Service," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 699-715.
    4. Sargiacomo, Massimo & Everett, Jeff & Ianni, Luca & D'Andreamatteo, Antonio, 2024. "Auditing for fraud and corruption: A public-interest-based definition and analysis," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(2).

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