Authors from the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation and the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Center for Audit Excellence win the INCOSAI XXIV Staats Award
The Comptroller General of the United States presented the Elmer B. Staats Award on behalf of the International Journal of Government Auditing at the awards ceremony and closing dinner on Thursday, November 10, 2022. This award recognizes excellence in the writing of articles contributed to the Journal in supporting its mission to extend knowledge sharing and learning throughout the INTOSAI community. At each Congress, the award goes to the author (s) of the best article, or articles, published by the Journal over the previous three calendar years.
The INTOSAI Journal’s Board of Editors and Associate Editors, made up of a diverse and inclusive group of SAIs, assessed 35 eligible articles from 21 nations and regions. In determining the authors receiving this honor, judges consider the article’s contribution to knowledge and originality; subject matter; literary merit; evidence of research; and imaginative treatment. Based on their scoring, two articles tied for the Staats Award. In 2022, Mr. Dodaro presented two awards that the judges deemed to best meet the award’s criteria.
First, “Auditing Gender Equality: An Opportunity For SAIs To Make A Difference And Lead By Example”, written by Jane Fuller and Marie-Hélène Bérubé of the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation exemplifies their commitment to contributing to the UN SDGs and auditing gender equality. The Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation is a not‑for‑profit organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening public sector performance audit, oversight, and accountability in Canada and abroad through research, education, and knowledge sharing. Fuller and Bérubé highlight capacity building in the area of gender audit through explanation and application of the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation’s guides and trainings, which help auditors better address gender equality issues in performance audits. Ms. Sharon Clark from the Canadian Audit and Accountability Foundation accepted the award at INCOSAI on behalf of Fuller and Bérubé.
The second article was “More Effective Audit Work: Insights from Behavioral Economics,” authored by Loren Yager from the US GAO’s Center of Audit Excellence. The Center for Audit Excellence offers training, technical assistance, and other products and services to audit organizations to build capacity and foster effective accountability. Yager discusses how insights from behavioral economics can help auditors understand factors affecting decision-making, and can strengthen the independence and objectivity of audit work. Yager’s article challenges and assists auditors in applying key insights to think more critically about relevant biases and fallacies that affect decision making, and suggests ways that behavioral insights can be used in the audit process. Mr. Stephen Sanford, Managing Director of Strategic Planning and External Liaison at the U.S. GAO accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Yager.
The Staats Award honors former U.S. GAO Comptroller General Elmer B. Staats, who made many important contributions to the Journal during his tenure as its Chair. Since the first Staats Award in 1983, authors from 14 different countries have received this prestigious award. The INTOSAI Journal thanks all of the judges and contributing authors to the Journal for their efforts and submissions. The Staats Award reflects the high quality of articles and information shared through the Journal, and the Journal continues its commitment to knowledge sharing throughout INTOSAI.
