Exploring past and future trends in public sector auditing: a literature review

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to analyze articles already published in accounting and public sector management journals on the topic of public sector auditing. This paper also aims to propose a future research
agenda for scholars and practitioners interested in the research field of public sector auditing.

Design/Methodology/Approach – To achieve the goal, the authors realized a literature review with a mixed structured and traditional approach. This research allows us to understand what has been done in the past in terms of the research contexts, themes, theories, and methods adopted by previous studies in the field of public sector auditing.

Findings – The literature review showed that academic interest in the topic of public sector auditing has increasingly grown during recent years among accounting and public management scholars. The research methods used by previous scholars are quite diverse, varying from qualitative methods, using a single or multiple case studies to quantitative methods. The literature review also shows the emerging research themes that authors have already discussed in past publications, and – thanks to the study of the previous literature – it is possible to define future research trends on public sector auditing.

Originality/Value – This study offers the possibility to propose a research agenda and suggest future themes, theories, and methods for exploration in the field of public sector auditing in the near future.