Zbysław Dobrowolski*

Institute of Public Affairs, 

Jagiellonian University,

Poland

zbyslaw.dobrowolski@uj.edu.pl 

ORCID 0000-0003-1438-3324

*Corresponding author

Auditors maximising their utility: Economic analysis of the supreme audit institution

Łukasz Sułkowski

Institute of Public Affairs, 

Jagiellonian University,

Poland

lukasz.sulkowski@uj.edu.pl 

ORCID 0000-0002-1248-2743

Dagmar Bařinová

Department of Accounting and Taxes, 

VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic

dagmar.barinova@vsb.cz 

ORCID 0000-0002-1801-035X

Abstract. Despite several studies on the supreme audit institutions (SAIs), the research question of what maximises SAI auditors' utility remains unanswered. Since SAIs are key public suppliers of audit services, it is essential to determine how they perform their duties and obligations to the stakeholders. This paper follows the grounded theory paradigm using qualitative and quantitative methods. This study is pioneering in many ways because the motivation of SAI's auditors is rarely the subject of research. We formulate the model of SAI's utility and determine the SAI auditor's motivators. The study results prove that SAIs seek to impose their system of preferences through audits and derive usefulness from this. From a long-term perspective, this may lead to a negative autonomy of SAI. Additionally, the study reveals that auditors strive to maximise monetary income and perceive employment stability as a motivational factor. However, job stability could lead to lower auditors' engagement during the audits. The study proposes a pay-for-performance system, which does not reduce the auditor's motivation linked with job stability and simultaneously encourages auditors to achieve better job results. This study contributes to a better understanding of the problems associated with interactions of public officials inside the state. 

Received: February, 2022

1st Revision: June, 2022

Accepted: September, 2022

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2022/15-3/7

JEL Classification: M42, M49

Keywords: external auditing, audit methodology, audit quality, audit theory, audit risk, public choice