The Audit Society: Rituals of Verification

by Michael Power

Overview

Since the early 1980s there has been an explosion of auditing activity in the United Kingdom and North America. Why has this happened? This book is the first systematic exploration of "audit" as a principle of social organization and control. The author critically examines the reasons, means, and consequences of this audit explosion. He raises important questions about the efficacy of audit processes and suggests that the consequences of this must be carefully evaluated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198289470
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/02/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.84(d)
Lexile:	1480L (what's this?)

About the Author

Michael Power is Professor of Accounting at the London School of Economics. He is a qualified accountant himself and has undertaken audit work for one of the major accounting firms.

Table of Contents

IntroductionPreface1. The Audit Society: General Themes2. The Rise of Audit3. The Audit Explosion4. Audit and the Dialectic of Regulatory Failure5. Audit Knowledge and the Construction of Auditees6. Beyond Audit, Towards TrustNotesBibliography

Editorial Reviews

Power (accounting, London School of Economics and Political Science) traces the explosion of auditing activity in Britain and North America since the early 1980s to political demands for accountability and control. He argues that the new expectations are not consistent with the capabilities of audits, that the means of offering assurance and accountability is open to question, and that audits impose their own values on society. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

"Michael Power's The Audit Society is an intriguing exploration of the dynamics of public control over business through one particular instrument of regulation, auditing. ... All in all, Power's account is thought-provoking"—Comparative Politics

From the Publisher