عوامل تعیین کننده رفتار اخلاقی حسابرسان مالزی Determinants of ethical work behaviour of Malaysian public sector auditors

Introduction Public sector auditors play a crucial role in ensuring the credibility of financial and nonfinancial performance of government entities by providing quality auditing which ultimately improve the level of accountability and integrity of the government to the public at large (Buang, 2011). This is in line with the urge by the former Auditor General of Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Hj. Ambrin Bin Buang who claims that “Through quality auditing, the Government and citizens will obtain an objective and without prejudice, information on the weaknesses in managing public service” (Buang, 2014). In Malaysia, the National Audit Department (NAD) is an independent executive authority that manages audit activities for government entities. According to the Audit Act 1957, NAD is authorized to perform the auditing of accounts of the central government and state governments (Malaysian Government, 2000, p. 180). Besides being knowledgeable about auditing, accounting and other work related matters, it is equally important for auditors to remain ethical in their daily actions at work. Ethics is an essential professional of all professions, including accounting and auditing (Aaker, 1989). It is even more important for public sector auditors to behave ethically in their day-to-day delivery of work as their role is important in safeguarding the interest of the society (Mohamed Saat et al., 2012). Recent court cases involving unethical activities such as fraud and corruption in public sector throughout the developed world such as the United Kingdom and the United States (Simpkins, 2005) have put the spotlight on public sector auditors. The situation is perhaps even more worrying in parts of Asia. For instance, recent data from the Indonesian Government Internal Auditor Association (AAIPI) shows that 94% of government internal auditors cannot detect fraud and corruption (Ashari, 2013).