大容量数据库完整性测试的本福德定律:以某国有企业内部审计为例

IF 2.3 Q2 ECONOMICS
H. R. Morales, Marcela Porporato, Nicolas Epelbaum
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引用次数: 3

摘要

目的分析利用本福德定律协助内部审计师审查大量数据集的完整性的技术可行性。本研究探讨了Benford分布是否适用于由组成国有企业(SOE)企业资源规划(ERP)关系数据库的不同表的记录数量(大小)所表示的一组数字。本福德定律的使用简化了对ERP系统数据集中可能出现的异常情况的搜索,提高了内部审计功能(IAFs)检测数据库中异常情况的能力。在集团争夺权力和资源的新兴经济体国有企业中,内部审计师最好采用分析测试来履行职责,而不卷入权力斗争。设计/方法/方法使用阿根廷一家国有企业的8个数据库的记录来分析3至12年期间每个表的记录数量。案例逐步开发本福德的法律应用程序,使用卡方(χ²)和平均绝对偏差(MAD)拟合优度检验来测试每个ERP模块记录。发现本福德定律是执行大容量数据库完整性测试的适当工具。每个数据库中至少需要350个表才能使MAD测试有效;这一阈值高于早期研究报告的67。对于完整的ERP系统和大型模块,得到了鲁棒性的结果;小于350表的模组符合本福德定律的程度较低。研究局限性/意义本研究不是关于检测欺诈;它旨在帮助内部审计师对需要进一步关注的数据库发出警告,最大限度地利用国有企业有限的可用资源。它的贡献是一种简单、廉价和有用的定量工具,新兴经济体的内部审计人员可以利用它对关系数据库中包含的数据进行第一次扫描。本文提供了一种工具来测试大量数据是否如预期的那样表现,如果不是,它们可以为未来的调查精确定位。它为该工具的应用提供了测试和解释,以便新兴经济体国有企业的内部审计师可以使用它,特别是那些面临来自敌对的强大利益集团的不同期望的企业。独创性/价值这项研究表明,即使在内部审计员可用的信息技术工具有限的情况下,也有简单而廉价的测试来审查大量数据库的完整性。它还扩展了关于大容量数据库完整性测试的文献,以及我们对民法国家,特别是拉丁美洲新兴经济体的IAF的了解。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
Benford's law for integrity tests of high-volume databases: a case study of internal audit in a state-owned enterprise
PurposeThe technical feasibility of using Benford's law to assist internal auditors in reviewing the integrity of high-volume data sets is analysed. This study explores whether Benford's distribution applies to the set of numbers represented by the quantity of records (size) that comprise the different tables that make up a state-owned enterprise's (SOE) enterprise resource planning (ERP) relational database. The use of Benford's law streamlines the search for possible abnormalities within the ERP system's data set, increasing the ability of the internal audit functions (IAFs) to detect anomalies within the database. In the SOEs of emerging economies, where groups compete for power and resources, internal auditors are better off employing analytical tests to discharge their duties without getting involved in power struggles.Design/methodology/approachRecords of eight databases of an SOE in Argentina are used to analyse the number of records of each table in periods of three to 12 years. The case develops step-by-step Benford's law application to test each ERP module records using Chi-squared (χ²) and mean absolute deviation (MAD) goodness-of-fit tests.FindingsBenford's law is an adequate tool for performing integrity tests of high-volume databases. A minimum of 350 tables within each database are required for the MAD test to be effective; this threshold is higher than the 67 reported by earlier researches. Robust results are obtained for the complete ERP system and for large modules; modules with less than 350 tables show low conformity with Benford's law.Research limitations/implicationsThis study is not about detecting fraud; it aims to help internal auditors red flag databases that will need further attention, making the most out of available limited resources in SOEs. The contribution is a simple, cheap and useful quantitative tool that can be employed by internal auditors in emerging economies to perform the first scan of the data contained in relational databases.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a tool to test whether large amounts of data behave as expected, and if not, they can be pinpointed for future investigation. It offers tests and explanations on the tool's application so that internal auditors of SOEs in emerging economies can use it, particularly those that face divergent expectations from antagonist powerful interest groups.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates that even in the context of limited information technology tools available for internal auditors, there are simple and inexpensive tests to review the integrity of high-volume databases. It also extends the literature on high-volume database integrity tests and our knowledge of the IAF in Civil law countries, particularly emerging economies in Latin America.
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来源期刊
Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science
Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science Economics, Econometrics and Finance-Economics, Econometrics and Finance (all)
CiteScore
5.10
自引率
20.80%
发文量
23
审稿时长
12 weeks
期刊介绍: The Universidad ESAN, with more than 50 years of experience in the higher education field and post graduate studies, desires to contribute to the academic community with the most outstanding pieces of research. We gratefully welcome suggestions and contributions from business areas such as operations, supply chain, economics, finance and administration. We publish twice a year, six articles for each issue.
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