Abstract:
Fraud is believed to be amongst the most serious problems in all type organisations, which undermine the stability, reputation and financial health. Additionally, the prevalence of fraud in the public sector including local government could give a negative impact on human life. Therefore, the phenomenon of fraud needs greater attention by organisations in order to detect and prevent fraud more effectively and efficiently. In recent years, the emergence of forensic accounting services to counter fraud activities is in great demand. However, little is known about the use of forensic accounting services by the local government. The current study presents a new conceptual framework based on institutional theory and other salient factors to investigate the intention to use forensic accounting services in detecting and preventing fraud. There are gaps that exist in prior literatures on the counter fraud activities in local government and the lack of research in forensic accounting. Consequently, the current study contributes to extend the literature by providing a better understanding on the relationships of institutional pressures, fraud and forensic accounting perception factors, and internal control factor. The current study used institutional theory as the underlying theories. Future experimental studies may be done to provide evidence and empirically validate the conceptual framework in another domain.
