Supreme audit institutions in a high-impact context: A comparative analysis of performance audit in four Nordic countries

Abstract

This article analyses survey data regarding the impact of supreme audit institutions’ (SAIs) performance audit on public administration in four Nordic countries. Regression analysis with pooled data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden indicates that performance audits have positive impacts on usefulness, changes, improvements and, to some extent, accountability, as perceived by auditees who have experienced the audits. The results show that some of the fac- tors that earlier research found important for the impact of perfor- mance audits in some countries were insignificant for all the four Nordic countries, but that SAIs’ legitimacy, audit quality and conse- quences of media attention were important factors.