Performance Audit in the Context of New Public Management

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the performance audit as specific and sufficiently new institute in
the history of auditing. This paper argues that performance audit growth parallels the evolution of politics
and public administration from one-dimensional focus on control of inputs toward broader attention to
accountability for outputs and outcomes. As our survey has demonstrated, the causal relation between
management reforms and the developments in performance auditing may theoretically go in two directions:
reform causes new audit practices or new audit practices cause the reform. Empirically, the relationship
is mainly one directional: management reforms trigger adoption of audit practices. At the audit
sides, new public management has influenced development of the audit. This evolution of auditing represents
both a means by which audit can continue to be relevant and a move toward fulfilling accountability
role in governance.
Basically the survey is based on the experience of Western countries and INTOSAI standards.