Unpacking the Emergence of Unqualified Audit Opinions as Quasi‐Accountability in Indonesian Public Sector
研究了印度尼西亚地方政府无保留审计意见如何被生产和利用，发现其增加并不代表实质性问责增强，而是被用来支持公共诚信和反腐败的宣称，揭示了准问责机制的形成。
ABSTRACT This study examines how public sector audit opinions, particularly unqualified audit opinions (UAOs), are produced and used within specific local governments in Indonesia. Employing a qualitative methodology, the study draws on documentary sources, including laws and regulations governing public sector auditing in Indonesia, supplemented by media reports and interviews with auditors and other relevant stakeholders across five local governments. Although UAOs for local governments have increased, this does not necessarily signify stronger substantive accountability. Rather, although they may reflect enhanced procedural compliance and financial reporting quality, their proliferation more accurately demonstrates how audit opinions are mobilized to support broader public claims about integrity and anti‐corruption. We also identify that government auditors emerge as strategic actors, navigating environmental expectations while managing their own institutional and personal risks. This study deepens understanding of the complex and dynamic contexts shaping auditors’ roles in an emerging economy such as Indonesia, where enduring nepotism, corruption, and patronage across government institutions constrain reform effectiveness and reproduce quasi‐accountable governance. This study contributes by theorizing quasi‐accountability as a systemic condition in which formally credible audit opinions can sustain the appearance of accountability despite unresolved control weaknesses and corruption risks.