Anticorruption audits may deter corruption and signal to citizens that institutions are proactively combating it. However, by detecting and reporting corruption, audits might also unintentionally erode trust in institutions. Therefore, the impact of audits potentially hinges on whether they uncover corruption. Audit institutions, not implicated in the corruption they uncover, might be less likely to experience a decline in trust compared to auditee institutions. This study uses survey and administrative data from Brazil, leveraging a federal anti-corruption program that randomly selects municipalities for auditing. Results do not support the claim that audits boost institutional trust. Individuals in audited municipalities show no different levels of trust in local government or the audit institution than those in non-audited municipalities, and the coefficients may even indicate a negative effect. Additionally, audit institutions may not be better insulated from the corrosive effects of uncovering corruption than the institutions they audit.

反腐败审计可以遏制腐败，并向公民发出信号，表明各机构正在积极打击腐败。然而，通过发现和报告腐败，审计也可能无意中削弱对机构的信任。因此，审计的影响可能取决于它们是否发现腐败。与受审计机构相比，审计机构并未卷入其发现的腐败行为，因此信任度下降的可能性较小。本研究使用巴西的调查和行政数据，利用随机选择城市进行审计的联邦反腐败计划。结果并不支持审计增强机构信任的说法。被审计城市的个人对地方政府或审计机构的信任程度与非审计城市的个人没有什么不同，系数甚至可能表明存在负面影响。此外，审计机构可能并不比其审计的机构更好地免受揭露腐败的腐蚀影响。