Assessing and managing the impact of COVID-19: a study of six European cities participating in a circular economy project
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 13 July 2021
Issue publication date: 3 January 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government for the assessment and management of the effects of COVID-19 in the context of six cities involved in a large European project.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the field study of a large European project, this paper relies on a comparative case study research approach (Yin, 2003). This research design allows insights into the role of central and local key performance indicators (KPIs) in managing the ongoing pandemic.
Findings
This paper explores the role of accounting in the assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings illustrate how the “adjudicating” and “territorialising” roles (Miller and Power, 2013) of local and central accounting technologies rendered the COVID-19 pandemic calculable.
Originality/value
This paper connects central and local performance management systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It relies on a governmentality approach to discuss how different programmes and the relative KPIs were impacted by the ongoing global crisis.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the constructive feedback received from the guest editors, and from the two anonymous reviewers. This publication is based on the work conducted during the European project REFLOW in the Horizon 2020 framework. The authors wish to express their gratitude for the support of the European Commission under grant agreement No. 820937 and the contribution of all partners of this project.
Citation
Parisi, C. and Bekier, J. (2022), "Assessing and managing the impact of COVID-19: a study of six European cities participating in a circular economy project", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 97-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4837
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited