Forensic Accounting and Financial Accountability in Developing Economies: Evidence from Nigeria
The low level of financial accountability in the sectors in Nigeria, especially the public has been identified as one of the primary reasons behind fraud, corruption and the like. Thus, the application of forensic accounting is expected to increase the level of financial accountability accordingly. The study appraised factors that hinder the developing economies like Nigeria from attaining the level of the developed economies in the use of Forensic Accounting and determined the nexus between it and financial accountability in Nigeria. The study used primary data through structured questionnaire with 273 completed copies received. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data and SPSS for logit regression. The study established, among others, that many businesses in Nigeria could not effectively differentiate between the work of forensic auditor and traditional auditor. The multiple regression results showed that forensic accounting is an effective tool that has a positive significant nexus with financial accountability in the public service. The study, thus, recommended that government should engage the services of forensic accountants for improved financial accountability in the public sector. Keywords: Developing economies, Financial accountability, Forensic accounting, Net worth approach, Productive governance JEL Classification: O16, M40, M41, M49, O10