Actorhood of the European Court of Auditors: a visual analysis

Timur Uman,Daniela Argento,Giorgia Mattei,Giuseppe Grossi

doi:10.1108/jpbafm-08-2021-0130

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores how public audit institutions establish themselves as distinct actors on the public stage through communication practices. By focussing on the journey of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), this paper addresses the following research question: how does a transnational audit institution construct its actorhood through visual communication practices?Design/methodology/approachUsing the theoretical framework of actorhood theory and inspired by the visual accounting methodology, this study explores the ECA actorhood journey through the visual analysis of front pages of its official journal (ECA Journal) from its inception in 2009 up to 2019. The visual analysis is conducted through content analysis and a two-step cluster analysis.FindingsBy showing how combinations of different visual artefacts have evolved over time, this study highlights the ways transnational public audit institutions, such as the ECA, construct their actorhood and position themselves on the public stage. It further reveals the underlying legitimacy mechanisms through which organisations such as the ECA position themselves in the public eye.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the depiction of individuals and their contexts in interaction with each other and how this interaction reveals the development of the actorhood journey of the ECA over time.

Highlights

The terms “audit explosion” and “audit society”, first used by Michael Power (1994, 1997), have become abbreviations for a set of beliefs about the ambiguity of an audit regime that has had a perverse impact on public sector culture and its image in the public eye
By studying “communicative construction” (Luckmann, 2006) rather than opting for social construction of reality our study shows how communicative construction of institutional actors develops over time and how the European Court of Auditors (ECA) both shapes and is shaped by changes in institutional context
Our findings reveal the journey over time of the ECA to establish legitimacy through visual communication

Summary

Introduction

The terms “audit explosion” and “audit society”, first used by Michael Power (1994, 1997), have become abbreviations for a set of beliefs about the ambiguity of an audit regime that has had a perverse impact on public sector culture and its image in the public eye. The increasing demand for public sector auditing is associated with New Public Management (NPM) and the inherent need for critical scrutiny of public sector organisations (Johnsen, 2019; Justesen and Skaerbaek, 2010). Growing demands for accountability and transparency, and the rise of quality assurance practices, have led to an explosion of the number of audits (Power, 2000). The authors are indebted to the participants in the GRIP Research Seminar (Kristianstad, April 2019), the CIGAR Biennial Conference (Amsterdam, June 2019), the CIGAR Workshop (digital event, June 2020) and the European Accounting Association Virtual Congress (digital event, May 2021), as well as two anonymous reviewers, for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management.

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