The Role of Law Enforcement on Moderating the Relationship between Government Size, Fiscal Decentralization, Audit Finding and Corruption

Abstract

This study is based on Indonesia's high levels of corruption, as evidenced by the Corruption Perception Index's low level (CPI). In Indonesia, the bulk of corruption cases involve local government entities. The objective of this study is to empirically examine the factors that contribute to high levels of corruption in local governments of district or city in Indonesia and the role of enforcement in that influence. This study applied a purposive sampling method to obtain a sample consisting of 66 district governments and 15 municipal governments in Indonesia in 2019. The data were analyzed by utilizing multiple linear regression techniques using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. The results of the analysis revealed that fiscal decentralization, government size, and audit findings have a significant positive with the level of corruption and law enforcement significantly moderates such relationship. This research contributes to auditing practices, government administration, law enforcement, and corruption control initiatives in the local government of Indonesia. Local government is also expected to be able to involve the role of the community to help oversee the running of a government which is free from corruption practices. Supervision also needs to be done by law enforcement officials, especially those dealing with corruption cases. Law enforcement officers are expected to be able to supervise and crack down on perpetrators of corrupt practices.