The Korea Local Administration Review

This study aims to analyze U. S. Government Accountability Office performanceaudit reports and draw lessons for their implementation by Korean localgovernments.The results of analyses show that the focus of performance audits is onmanagement and monitoring, rather than on program impact or effectiveness. Bothqualitative and quantitative approaches are employed to conduct performance audits:these approaches include document reviews, surveys, interviews, site visits andsecondary data analysis. On the other hand, neither experimental or quasiexperimentaldesigns, nor sophisticated statistical techniques are used. Bothprobability and nonprobability sampling methods are employed in selecting samplesfor audits. Overall, the quality assurance system is well established to ensure thequality of data used and the credibility of audit results.Korean local government must take the issue of quality control into account whenimplementing performance audits, and establish a system to ensure competence andprofessionalism for those who conduct performance audits.