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This study aims to investigate the adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the new performance perspective in cities. It also aims to understand how accounting for SDGs begins in city administrations by following Power’s (2015) fourfold development schema composed of policy object formation, object elaboration, activity orchestration and practice stabilization.

Focusing on a network of cities coordinated by the Finnish local government association, we analyzed the six largest cities in Finland employing a holistic multiple case study strategy. Our data consisted of Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), city strategies, budget plans, financial statements, as well as results of participant observations and semi-structured interviews with key individuals involved in accounting for SDGs.

We unveiled the SDG framework as an interpretive scheme through which cities glocalized sustainable development as a novel, simultaneously global and local, performance object. Integration of the new accounts in city management is necessary for these accounts to take life in steering the actions. By creating meaningful alignment and the ability to impact managerial practices, SDGs and VLRs have the potential to influence local actions. Our results indicate further institutionalization progress of sustainability as a performance object through SDG-focused work.

While prior research has focused mainly on general factors influencing the integration of the sustainability agenda, this study provides a novel perspective by capturing the process and demonstrating empirically how new accounts on SDGs are introduced and deployed in the strategic planning and management of local governments.

The purpose of this study is to identify the norms that underlie and condition the decisions made by preparers of financial reports.

This interview-based study illustrates how financial report preparers engage in behaviors linked to the perception of recognition and measurement of internally generated intangible assets by important stakeholders. All of the companies included in the study adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards when creating their consolidated financial statements. The participants selected for the study are involved in accounting decisions related to research and development in accordance with International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38.

The authors identify the normative assumptions underlying the recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles, which are based on concerns of consistency, credibility and reasonableness. The authors find that the normative basis for legitimacy in financial accounting is primarily related to cognitive legitimacy and is not of a moral or pragmatic nature.

The study reveals that recognition and measurement of internally generated intangibles in financial accounting relate to legitimacy. The authors identify specific norms that form the basis of this legitimacy, namely, consistency, credibility and reasonableness. These identified norms serve as constraints, mitigating the risk of judgment misuse within the IAS 38 framework for earnings management.

The purpose of this paper is to re-test the determinant factors of the quality of financial statements and performance of the government by adding contextual factors, such as personal factor, system/administrative factor and political factor, that may affect the quality of financial statement information and performance of the government. Personal factor is proxied to the competencies that affect the quality of financial statements and performance. Social administrative factor is proxied on the regulations and presentation of quality financial statements.

The analysis unit in this study was conducted at the organizational level. The research object was in South Sulawesi Province. This was a descriptive and verificative research with survey technique. Based on the objectives of the research, this is an explanatory research. The research method used was explanatory survey with quantitative approach. The population of this research was proxied to the Regional Unit Organization (Organisasi Perangkat Desa) which compiled the financial statements in South Sulawesi Provincial Government consisted of 803 units of Local Government Agencies (Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah). The purposive sampling technique was chosen under the following criteria: the regional government whose financial statement has been audited by Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan; the regional government whose financial accountability report has been evaluated by Indonesia’s Agency for Financial and Development Supervision (Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan). In line with the criteria mentioned above, the minimum samples required for 26 observations/indicators are 5×26=130 respondents. The sample size met the minimum sample requirement of 5 for each group (cell) (Hair et al., 2006, p. 112).

Personal factors competence affects the financial statements quality. The high personal factors competence will affect on the high financial statements quality. System/administration factors regulation affect the financial statement quality. The high system/administration factors regulation will affect on the high financial statements quality. Political factors affect the financial statements quality. The high political factors will affect on the high financial statements quality. Personal factor competence has no direct effect on the performance. The high personal factor competence will not affect the high or low of the performance. However, there is a significant indirect effect between personal factor competence on performance through the financial statements quality which means that higher personal factor competence will lead to higher performance through financial statements quality. System/administration factor regulation is not directly affects the performance. The high system/administration factor regulation will not affect on the high or low of the performance. However, there is a significant indirect effect between system/administration factor regulation on performance through the financial statements quality which means that higher the system/administration factor regulation will lead to higher performance through financial statements quality. Political factors is not directly affects the performance. The high political factors will not affect the high or low of the performance. However, there is a significant indirect effect between political factors on performance through the financial statements quality which means that the higher the political factor, it will leads to higher performance through the financial statements quality. Financial statements quality affects the performance. The high financial statements will affect on the performance.

The research issues raised are the increasing public demands for the government services and accountability, while on the other hand the government is faced with the report and financial quality that are below the expectation. This issue is a national strategic issue, leading this research to aim at providing guidelines that can help the regional government to formulate operational policies and strategies of the quality improvement of financial statement and performance of the regional government.

The purpose of this paper is to re-test the determinant factors of the quality of financial statements and performance of the government by adding contextual factors, such as the personal factor, system/administrative factor and political factor, that may affect the quality of financial statement information and performance of the government. The personal factor is proxied to the competencies that affect the quality of financial statements and performance. The social administrative factor is proxied on the regulations and presentation of quality financial statements.

The analysis unit in this study was conducted at the organizational level. The research object was in the South Sulawesi Province. This was a descriptive and verificative research with a survey technique. Based on the objectives of the research, this is an explanatory study. The research method used was an explanatory survey with a quantitative approach. The population of this research was proxied to the Regional Unit Organization (Organisasi Perangkat Desa/OPD) which compiled the financial statements in the South Sulawesi Provincial Government and consisted of 803 units of local government agencies (Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah or SKPD). The purposive sampling technique was chosen under the following criteria: the regional government whose financial statement has been audited by the BPK, the regional government whose financial accountability report has been evaluated by Indonesia’s Agency for Financial, and Development Supervision (Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan or BPKP). In line with the criteria mentioned above, the minimum samples required for 26 observations/indicators are 5 × 26 = 130 respondents. The sample size met the minimum sample requirement of five for each group (cell) (Hair et al., 2006, p. 112).

The personal factor “competence” affects the financial statements’ quality. The high personal factor “competence” will affect the high financial statements’ quality. The system/administration factor “regulation” affects the financial statement quality. The high system/administration factor “regulation” will affect the high financial statements’ quality. Political factors affect the financial statements’ quality. The high political factors will affect the high financial statements’ quality. The personal factor “competence” has no direct effect on the performance. The high personal factor “competence” will not affect the high or low of the performance. However, there is a significant indirect effect between the personal factor “competence” on performance through the financial statements’ quality, which means that the higher personal factor “competence” will lead to higher performance through financial statements’ quality. The system/administration factor “regulation” does not directly affect the performance. The high system/administration factor “regulation” will not affect the high or low of the performance. However there is a significant indirect effect between the system/administration factor “regulation” on performance through the financial statements’ quality which means that higher system/administration factor “regulation” will lead to higher performance through financial statements’ quality. The political factor does not directly affect the performance. The high political factors will not affect the high or low of the performance. However there is a significant indirect effect between political factors on performance through the financial statements’ quality which means that the higher political factor will lead to higher performance through the financial statements’ quality. Financial statements’ quality affects the performance. The high financial statements will affect the performance.

The research issues raised are the increasing public demands for the government services and accountability, while on the other hand, the government is faced with the report and financial quality that are below the expectation. This issue is a national strategic issue, leading this research to aim at providing guidelines that can help the regional government to formulate operational policies and strategies for the quality improvement of financial statement and performance of the regional government.

The paper aims to provide empirical evidence of the impact of IFRS adoption on the value relevance of accounting information in the emerging market of Saudi Arabia.

The sample consists of 98 non-financial listed firms operating in Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2019, representing the years before and after IFRS adoption. The authors apply basic and extended price models to examine the value relevance of select accounting figures.

The authors findings provide evidence that accounting information is, generally, value relevant to the Saudi Arabian capital market. However, mixed results exist for particular accounting variables. Both earnings and cash flows are value-relevant in the period before and after IFRS adoption; equity is only relevant in the post-adoption period. Furthermore, IFRS adoption also increases the explanatory power of earnings. An increase in the value relevance of earnings and equity hurts the value relevance of cash flows. The effects are moderated by leverage and dividend policy.

The authors contribute to the ongoing discussion of the economic effects of IFRS adoption in emerging markets. The empirical findings show that initial concerns about IFRS adoption, as reflected by the negative coefficient within the regression analysis, are mitigated once the usefulness of the individual accounting variables published in financial statements is investigated.

Considering the increased financial responsibility of local government (LG), the impact of global crises and the growing adoption of accrual accounting and common standards such as IPSAS, this work focuses on financial indicators for LGs. It explores whether the literature on financial indicators has grown, investigates whether there is any consensus on which indicators to use for assessing LG's financial condition, develops a critical reading of the literature and offers suggestions for future research and policy agendas.

A structured literature review was carried out for publications in English about LG financial indicators.

Results reveal that the number of publications dealing with financial indicators has increased over the past ten years. However, rather than focusing on a set of common indicators, the literature reports a plethora of different ones used for four main purposes: transparency and accountability compliance, performance monitoring and benchmarking, assessing LG's financial health and helping deal with exogenous crises. There is no evidence of convergence towards a common set of indicators, even though liquidity and solvency are the most popular dimensions explored by scholars.

Findings highlight the challenges in converging on financial indicators, yet no claim can be made beyond the reviewed material.

Results provide legislators, public managers, investors and rating agencies with insights about trends in financial indicators, their benefits and limitations.

The article focuses on a less popular aspect of recent financial management reforms for local administration, that is the growing fragmentation in LG indicators, accentuated by the need for common assessment tools during unprecedented widespread crises across countries and sectors.

The Spanish airport system contains several regional airports within an amenity distance and alternative travel modes. Profitable airports cross-subsidise small airports, which are not required for regional development or connectivity. Airports are government-owned and centralised-managed by Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA, for its Spanish acronym). This study aims to analyse the probability of an under-used public infrastructure and the AENA’s managerial ability as per the financial sustainability of the network in the long term.

The national regulatory framework determines the airports’ environment. Six airports revealed unobserved heterogeneity, avoiding model misspecification. The framework is defined through proxies of the singularities of the Spanish framework: public investments and geographical specifications. The stochastic frontier analysis model follows two time-varying specifications, accounting for airports’ environmental factors, to ensure the robustness of the results to differ from the inefficiency caused by AENA and external factors.

Airports’ infrastructure capacity and traffic are not correlated; regional airports become a financial burden for the system unless they specialise or differentiate. Proxies defining the airports’ context are relevant. Because airports do not compete for airlines and passengers, there are too many regional airports with little traffic, resulting in disused public infrastructure that falls far short of improving connectivity and regional development.

This study contributes to paying attention to the characteristics of the regulatory framework, such as management strongly centralised in AENA, airport charges decided by the owner, lack of competition and lack of an independent regulatory entity. Another original contribution considers reliable capital measures (airports’ infrastructure).

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how “New Deal” regulatory initiatives, primarily the Securities Acts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), changed US auditors’ professional knowledge conception, culminating in the 1938 expansion of the Committee on Accounting Procedure (CAP), the first US body to set accounting principles.

The paper combines Halliday’s (1985) knowledge mandates with Hancher and Moran’s (1989) regulatory space to attain a theory-based understanding of auditors’ changing knowledge conceptions amid regulatory pressure. It draws on a range of primary and secondary sources to examine the period from 1929 to 1938.

Following the stock market crash, the newly created SEC aimed to engage auditors as a means to regulate companies’ accounting practices based on a set of codified principles. While entailing increased status, this new role conflicted with the auditors’ knowledge conception, which was based on professional judgment and personal integrity. Pressure from the SEC and academics eventually made auditors agree to a codification of their professional knowledge and create the CAP as a cooperative regulatory solution.

The paper explores the role of auditors’ knowledge conceptions in the emergence of today’s standard setting. It is suggested that auditors’ incomplete control of their professional knowledge made standard setting a form of co-regulation, located between the actors occupying the regulatory space of accounting.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the main components of the regulatory framework for Islamic banking in Mauritius. This small island state of the Indian Ocean aspires to host Islamic banking products while diversifying the range of financial services offered within its hybrid jurisdiction despite having a minority Muslim population. The study also aims at drawing some comparisons with the well-established regulatory framework that applies to conventional banking.

In this qualitative analysis of the regulatory framework of Islamic banking in Mauritius, the doctrinal approach is adopted. This method relies principally on a scrutiny of the provisions of the law and delves into the primary and secondary sources of law guiding Islamic banking practices in the Mauritian jurisdiction.

The research study concludes that, with the view of encouraging investors into Islamic banking, policymakers took some regulatory initiatives but these remained timid. These initiatives relied too often on borrowing from the regulatory framework in place for conventional banking practices instead of regulating the area within its own precepts. Prospects for expanding Islamic banking exist but will require more audacious regulatory steps so as to secure the environment within which Islamic banking is to flourish. In the meantime, the industry is in a status quo position with no further legal action currently being envisaged to re-launch this area.

This research study is among the first generated specifically on the regulatory framework of Islamic banking in a small financial centre that operates mostly offshore financial activities. Previous research work either focused on the empirical analysis or on reviewing the challenges and the prospects but no study has provided an in-depth analysis of the regulatory provisions circumscribing Islamic banking. This lacuna is being filled up by this research paper which highlights the regulatory needs of Islamic banking and comments on the inclusion of and the need for specific rules related to Islamic finance instead of relying on the overlap with conventional banking laws.

The parent-subsidiary nexus has been explored since the mid-1990s, but the extent to which subsidiaries resemble their parents remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the performance drivers for subsidiary banks in emerging markets and their parents to determine the similarities between these groups. The findings could help identify key financial performance measures that should be included in global strategies for multinational banks operating in emerging markets.

The study uses data on subsidiaries from 32 countries, including 20 European transitioning countries and 49 parent companies operating internationally from 1996 to 2015. It considers several models that distinguish between units using individual bank effects and the stochastic structure. In a robustness analysis, EU- and non-EU-based institutions are distinguished and long-term historical links between parents' and subsidiaries' countries are considered.

Cost control, capital adequacy and asset quality policies have similar importance for parent banks and subsidiaries and are strictly coordinated, whereas the remaining policies allow more flexibility. Subsidiaries in the EU and in countries that were politically and/or militarily influenced by parent countries do not “fall far from the tree”, which signals their strong group-wide integration and coordination.

This study covers a limited number of emerging market countries due to the limited availability of long-term series data. Future studies should include more countries.

This study identifies key financial measures used on a group-wide basis for performance management while accounting for long-term relations between host and home countries and the geopolitical characteristics of host countries.