Determinants of Ethical Governance in the Moroccan Public Sector: A PLS-SEM Analysis of Internal Auditors’ Perceptions

Abstract

In the context of Moroccan public administration reforms aimed at moralizing public life, internal auditing has become a vital mechanism for ensuring transparency. This study investigates the perceived influence of three core ethical dimensions—integrity, accountability, and standards management—on the ethical governance of public entities. Adopting a quantitative approach, the research is based on a restricted sample of 69 internal auditors (N = 69) specifically located in the Guelmim-Oued Noun region, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) The structural model explains 26.6% of the variance in ethical governance (R 2 =0.266). The empirical results demonstrate that accountability has a strong positive and statistically significant influence (β=0.382,t=3.240,p<0.01) . Similarly, standards management exerts a significant positive impact (β=0.215,t=1.695,p<0.05). Conversely, integrity, perceived as a values-based culture, shows no significant direct impact on ethical governance in this regional context (β=0.047,t=0.348,p>0.10) . These findings suggest that formal accountability mechanisms and regulatory compliance currently prevail over purely value-based approaches in the studied framework. Managerially, the study recommends strengthening the independence of internal audit to better institutionalize ethical practices.

JEL Classification: M42; H83; D73; L25.

Paper type: Empirical Research