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This study aims to analyze the effect of audit findings and audit recommendations follow-up on the quality of financial reports and the quality of public services in the context of applying accrual accounting systems to local government in Indonesia. This study also examines whether the quality of the financial report affects the quality of public services.

This study employed cross-sectional regression using data from 1,437 observations from 491 districts/cities for 2014–2016. The data illustrates the conditions prior to the adoption of the accrual accounting system (2014), the initial year of application/transition period (2015) and the second year of the expected accrual accounting system (2016).

The results of the study indicate that, in general, the quality of financial reports affects the quality of public services. Regarding the implementation of audits in the public sector, it is also found that audit findings have a negative impact on the quality of financial report and the quality of public services, while audit recommendations follow-up plays a positive role in improving the quality of financial report and the quality of public services.

The implication of the results of this study is closely related to the efforts to realize the ultimate goal of the recent government reforms. In order to increase the quality of public services in the era of higher report requirements through an accrual accounting system, the government should focus on the quality of financial reports, audit findings and the audit recommendations follow-up.

This study provides new insight on the link between the public sector auditing and the quality of accounting in accrual implementation context and the quality of public services.

This study examines the perceptions of auditees from ministries/agencies and local governments in Indonesia of the quality and impact of performance audits. Additionally, it investigates the extent of improvements and changes implemented by auditees in response to audit findings and recommendations.

The research employed an online survey to collect data from auditees in ministries/agencies and local governments (at provincial, city and district levels) that underwent performance audits between 2018 and 2022. A total of 180 valid responses were analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques, including mean score ranking and frequency distribution.

The findings reveal that the auditees perceive that performance audits have a high level of quality and provide significant benefits. The respondents noted that such audits play a critical role in enhancing performance, serving as effective accountability tools and improving operational efficiency. Five key areas of significant impact were identified: (1) strategic shifts in planning and management by objectives, (2) enhancements in standard operating procedures, (3) improvements in internal control and risk management systems, (4) updates to laws and regulations and (5) institutionalization of improved governance practices. However, increased documentation and reporting pressures emerged as notable challenges.

The study is limited by its reliance on descriptive and correlation analysis. This restricts the depth of insights into the causal relationships between variables and limits the robustness of the findings. Future research should consider incorporating experimental designs or hypothesis testing with regression analysis to provide a deeper understanding of the causal impact of performance audits. This approach could enhance the generalizability and applicability of the findings, particularly in the framing of performance audits as a policy recommendation for mandatory implementation.

The study contributes to the literature by addressing the underexplored area of performance audit impacts in developing countries, particularly Indonesia. It highlights the role of such audits as drivers of governance reform and operational efficiency, filling a critical gap in public sector auditing research. Unlike previous studies that have focused on audit processes or developed country contexts, this paper underscores the unique challenges and opportunities in a developing country setting. It is recommended that performance audits be made mandatory to enhance their effectiveness in fostering governance improvements.

The novelty of the work lies in its context-specific insights and focus on the broader implications of performance audits for public sector accountability and operational improvement in a developing country, with practical recommendations for policymakers and audit practitioners made.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of local government spending on local government financial performance. Furthermore, this study also investigates the moderating role of re-election on the relationship between local government spending and the financial performance for all local government and dynastic local government. The hypotheses are analyzed using multiple regression with fixed effect using two groups of samples: all local governments and dynastic local governments from 2010 to 2015. The result shows that local government spending positively affects local government financial performance, but in dynastic local government, spending has negative effect on financial performance. Moreover, this study proves that re-election strengthens the positive effect of local government spending on local government financial performance in all sample and weaken the negative effect of spending on financial performance in dynastic local government. The finding of this study is very useful for the central government in terms of policy formulation and mechanisms to limit the practice of political dynasty.

This study aims to investigate the use of discretionary spending, especially by incumbents, to win the election and whether incumbents can take more advantage of such spending than the new local government heads. This study also examines the political monitoring effect in suppressing discretionary spending. By using panel regression on 225 local governments during 2013–2016, the results indicate that political motive positively affects discretionary spending proportion ahead of the election. Following the public choice theory that although local government heads act on the interests of voters, their primary motivation is personal interest. Incumbent’s victory does not affect total discretionary spending and the financial assistance expenditure/transfer but has a significant positive effect on grant and social assistance spending. It generally supports Corruption Eradication Commission’s allegations of “returning the favor” is carried out by elected heads in one year following the election. But, it shows that incumbents are more able to utilize grants and social assistance spending than the new local government heads. Political monitoring from the opposition party has proven to have a direct negative effect on discretionary spending proportion. Tracking of the one year after the election should be done to prevent misuse of discretionary spending for incumbent political interests. The results of this study are expected to provide input to regulators to develop more comprehensive regulation, for example, strict sanctions for violations related to accountability for the use of such funds to limit the opportunistic behavior of the local government heads.

This study aims to determine the effect of halal brand awareness (HBA), halal brand image (HBI), halal brand loyalty (HBL) on halal brand equity (HBE) and purchase decision-making (PDM). This study will also discuss the mediating role of HBE and the moderating role of interactive social media (ISM).

A total of 700 questionnaires were distributed with an effective rate of 94% to customers in large supermarkets in 3 major cities in Indonesia by using convenience sampling. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling processed using AMOS. The Sobel test was used to test the significance of mediating variables.

The results of the study reveal that there was a positive and significant influence between variables. Other results reveal that HBE acts as a partial mediator and ISM as a moderator.

This study builds a new construct, namely, ISM and is the first to build and test a comprehensive direct and indirect relationship between HBA, HBI, HBL, HBE, ISM and PDM on halal cosmetics in Indonesia.

This study aims to investigate whether country governance, regulated industry and firm-level characteristics, namely, ownership structure and firm size, are associated with the likelihood of firms having a politically connected board (PCB). This study also examines whether country governance and concentrated ownership moderates the association between institutional ownership and PCB.

This study uses cross-country analysis using 20 countries and hand-collected PCB data from 574 firms and 1,701 firm-year. This study performs logit regression analyses to examine hypotheses.

The results document that countries’ accountability, industry type and institutional ownership are associated with the likelihood of firms having a PCB. This study also finds that country governance, especially accountability, moderates the relationship between institutional ownership and PCBs. The results thus indicate the importance of country governance, especially accountability, in determining institutional investors’ political strategies.

This study provides several implications. First, firms tend to elect PCBs as a non-financial strategy because it arguably delivers additional resources and improves their performance, especially in countries with lower accountability and regulated industries. Meanwhile, investors and management must also hire PCBs cautiously because PCBs are closely related to agency issues. Agency issues reflect on the finding that institutional investors tend to avoid PCBs. However, the relationship between institutional investors and PCBs is closely related to the country-level context, especially accountability. This study also advises policymakers that country governance, especially accountability, is crucial in regulating the relationship between business and politics.

This study uses a relatively large number of new PCB and institutional ownership data collected manually from 20 countries. This study also examines several variables of country governance, such as accountability to PCB decisions that have not been tested before. This study examines the relationship between institutional ownership and PCB ownership decisions that were not examined before and uses a cross-country sample. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first one that examines the role of state governance, especially accountability for the relationship between institutional ownership and PCBs.

The 2015 global economic crisis has triggered the issuance of several banking regulations in Indonesia, including those related to temporary stimulus for Islamic banks and branchless banking (fintech). However, few studies attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of such regulations. Thus, this study aims to determine the role and assess the effectiveness of such banking regulations.

The data used cover all 12 Islamic commercial banks in Indonesia during the stimulus period of Q3.2015 to Q2.2017. The variables included were banks’ fundamental factors (Islamic financing, capital adequacy ratio, investment, non-performing financing, return on asset, efficiency, financing deposit ratio and fintech) and macroeconomic variables (inflation, exchange rate and money supply). The model was analyzed by using multiple linear regressions with generalized least square estimation technique.

The main finding suggests that the stimulus regulation indeed played a positive role in the acceleration of Islamic bank financing. However, the fintech-related regulation was not yet effective to achieve the goal, at least in the short term. Furthermore, the study found that return of assets, operational efficiency, financing deposit ratio and money supply also influenced Islamic financing.

For policymakers, the effectiveness of the temporary stimulus in accelerating Islamic banking financing and preventing the possible negative impacts of the external crisis provides indications that the regulator could conduct similar policy in the future. More generally, the findings are also expected to enrich Islamic banking literature.

This is possibly one of the few studies to investigate the role and effectiveness of banking regulations on Islamic banking financing in Indonesia.