Audits of government entities offer a potential tool to hold public officials to account and to improve the functioning of public administration; however, empirical studies of audit impacts show mixed results. This is largely due to the diversity of audit regimes with different goals and accountability mechanisms, which yield different causal chains. In this study, I compare three distinct audit regimes with distinct casual mechanisms in Honduras. I find that backward‐looking audits, which aim to hold officials accountable for past behavior or performance, require effective horizontal accountability mechanisms to investigate and prosecute cases. Forward‐looking audits, which aim to hold officials accountable for future behavior or performance, require independent accountability mechanisms, a systematic follow‐up methodology, public dissemination, and pressure from the media and civil society. Complementary initiatives that build on audit recommended reforms are found to strengthen these weaknesses in the causal mechanism linking audits to outcomes.

中文翻译：

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审计是政府问责的一种工具？通过三个洪都拉斯案例探索不同的因果机制

对政府实体的审计提供了一种潜在的工具，可以使公职人员承担责任并改善公共行政职能；但是，对审计影响的实证研究结果不一。这主要是由于具有不同目标和责任机制的审计制度的多样性，从而产生了不同的因果链。在这项研究中，我比较了洪都拉斯三种不同的审计制度和不同的偶然机制。我发现，旨在使官员对过去的行为或绩效负责的后瞻性审计需要有效的横向问责机制来调查和起诉案件。前瞻性审计旨在使官员对未来的行为或绩效负责，因此需要独立的问责机制，系统的跟进方法，公众传播，媒体和民间社会的压力。人们发现，在审计建议的改革基础上的补充举措可以加强将审计与结果联系起来的因果机制中的这些弱点。