Study On Equity And Efficiency Oriented Government Managerial Audit

With the rapid growth of China's economy in recent years, some problems emerge from our society, such as environmental pollution, the widening gap between rich and poor, the wanton wasting of resources, etc. Government now tries to build a harmonious and frugal society. Harmony is the harmony between people, harmony is the harmony between human and nature; and frugality means that we should use resources efficiently. All these are the quest for equity and efficiency. In order to strengthen the public sector's accountability, government auditors should audit the public sector from the perspectives of equity and efficiency. This dissertation researches equity and efficiency oriented government managerial audit (GMA) theory and practice. It looks into public accountability, equity and efficiency at the outset. Then builds an equity and efficiency oriented GMA framework. After that it generalizes the framework's audit objectives, which are for government managerial auditors'reference.The dissertation consists of four chapters besides an introduction, its cornerstone is accountability theory. The introduction tells the dissertation's research motivation, research framework, contributions and limitations. Chapter one looks into general accountability, public accountability, equity and efficiency. As a common social relationship, accountability relationship exists universally in human society. It exists between accountors and accountees. The accountability in the public sector is called public accountability. Contrast with corporate accountability, public accountability has its unique characteristics. For instance, it emphasizes equity and constraints from politics, laws and ethics. Public accountability's assessment standards consist of economy, efficiency, effectiveness, environment, equity, etc. Considering the studies from public management, the dissertation concludes that public accountability rests heavily upon equity and efficiency. After analyzing equity and efficiency, the dissertation summarizes different equity concepts, i.e. abstract equity concept, ethical equity concept, political equity concept, and economic equity concept; and it summarizes different efficiency concepts, i.e. technology efficiency concept, behavior efficiency concept, allocation efficiency concept, institutional efficiency concept, and comprehensive efficiency concept. Chapter two discusses the equity and efficiency oriented GMA framework. The essence of audit is accountability, and the essence of GMA is public accountability. According to different types of public accountability, GMA has different forms, such as, conformity audit, economy audit, efficiency audit, effectiveness audit, and environment audit, etc. GMA went through traditional government audit stage, performance audit stage, and modern GMA stage. Modern GMA is oriented by equity and efficiency, it takes the examination of public accountability as its task. The equity and efficiency responsibilities of public accountability are reflected in conforming to laws, maintaining good internal control, and generating good outcomes. Equity and efficiency oriented GMA examines the following three areas: the public sector's compliance with laws; the public sector's internal control; and the public sector's work results. Chapter three studies the equity and efficiency in the public sector's internal control and their audit. Organization internal control is value preferential, it can be efficiency oriented, equity oriented, or both equally oriented. By looking into the development of public administration thought, the dissertation finds out that the public sector's internal control experienced development from efficiency oriented to equity and efficiency oriented. GMA should examine three components of the public sector's internal control, that is, organization structure, human resource management, and performance assessment. The examination of internal control is to judge whether these three parts conform to equity and efficiency standards. Chapter four studies the equity and efficiency in the public sector's work results and their audit. The public sector's work results are known as the achievement of the established objective, the contribution to social equity and efficiency. GMA should examine the public sector's achievement of objective, and judge whether the public sector's social performance conform to equity and efficiency standards.