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The purpose of the study was to analyze how COVID-19 pandemic affects regional budgets and regional fiscal resilience in Russia.

The research article is structured as follows. Based on the official data from the Ministry of Finance, the Federal Treasure and the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, first, the state of Russian regional budgets before and under COVID-19 is analyzed. Second, due to the increase of regional spending commitments under pandemic the regional debt dependence is reviewed. Third, anticrisis fiscal measures which have been taken to combat the negative impact of COVID-19 are discussed.

In general, 2020 may be the most difficult for regional budgets, although the results of the first quarter do not show such tension. However, the impact of COVID-19 on budget indicators is ambiguous because the economic crisis of 2020 is dual, including the crisis in the oil markets. The pandemic has become a unique global phenomenon, the effect of which is difficult to identify and interpret outside of the economic aspects of life.

The value of the article is based on the overview of the state of regional budgets before and under COVID-19, on the analysis of how pandemic affects fiscal resilience of the regional budgets and on the forecast of how serious the volume of lost revenues are going to be.

The study aims to explore a retrospective overview of the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, a prestigious international journal in the discipline. It also analyses the bibliometric information of its publications between 2011 and 2021 in terms of authors, countries, documents, themes, topics and sources.

The performance analysis and science mapping were conducted using the data from Scopus between 2011 and 2021. The bibliometric information of 301 publications was visualised through the analysis types, such as co-authorship, co-citation and bibliographic coupling, through the VOSviewer software programme.

The main finding is that the journal has recently improved in several areas (e.g. its productivity and visibility, citations, index scores and international collaborations). Although financial aspects such as accounting and accountability, financial management and public budgeting maintained their importance during the analysing period, some other features were revealed as new research themes. However, there are some research gaps regarding sustainable development goals, climate change and other matters, and the solutions for them through public fiscal policies.

The analyses are primarily backwards oriented by their very nature. Although they were excellent at portraying the past, the findings provided limited information about subjects that would be hot topics in future. The study has some limitations. The information on publications was collected from the Scopus database. However, bibliometric analyses were conducted from 2011 to 2021 as its data on Scopus did not cover before 2011. Second, the data are dynamic over time and may contain various changes in the future. Therefore, the bibliometric analysis may be repeated by including new studies of JPBAFM in the following years.

A performance analysing that the editorial team could benefit from in order to monitor the productivity of JPBAFM, one of the popular and favoured journals in the discipline, was conducted in this paper. The editorial team may also find ideas for the intellectual development of the journal as a result of mapping the performance of the publications.

The bibliographic analysis of the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management has yet to be conducted. The study presents comprehensive findings on the performance and bibliometric analysis of the journal to guide authors and readers.

Over the years, public sector reforms in emerging economies have focused on improving national budget systems and financial management practices to promote sustainable development. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, this article examines whether the strength or effectiveness of national budget systems and related financial management practices moderates the impact of fiscal policy measures on economic recovery and resilience.

The article uses bivariate correlations and difference-in-difference analyses to examine the relationship between budget system effectiveness, government stimulus measures and forecasts of economic recovery and resilience. The analysis uses data from the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) program, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

The article finds that estimates of economic recovery and resilience are higher in countries with more reliable budget processes and more transparent public finances. Also, the strength or effectiveness of the budget system before the pandemic appears to moderate the impact of government stimulus measures on economic recovery and resilience over a medium-term forecast horizon.

This is a prospective analysis based on economic forecasts from the IMF, which are subject to change in the coming years. In addition, the analysis uses subjective budget system indicators, which present measurement challenges that often influence this area of research. Better comparative data in the future, for example, large administrative datasets, will enable researchers to explore these issues with less estimation bias.

The findings are relevant for policymakers and budget officials in developing countries in Africa who are engaged in plans to improve national budget systems and enhance resilience to crises, such as the COVID-19-induced economic crisis. The findings also have implications for developing countries beyond Africa with similar economic and fiscal conditions.

The findings have implications for economic and budgetary planning for the social sector as well as the efficient delivery of public services in developing countries. Public managers have a critical role to play in adapting national budget systems and financial management reforms within complex and evolving economic circumstances even after the coronavirus pandemic.

The authors use novel and latest data on country responses to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as medium-term economic forecasts to examine the relationship between national budget systems and post-pandemic economic recovery and resilience in the African context. Previous research has only addressed these issues in the context of industrialized countries, and a limited number of empirical studies examine these relationships. The findings also have significant value for policymakers outside Africa who are facing similar challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The paper examines financial resilience responses/capacities of governments from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ghana in relation to COVID-19. It highlights the governments’ fiscal, budgetary and actions as either anticipatory or coping mechanisms towards the pandemic.

Multiple case studies and secondary data were used, including official government documentation/records, expert views, policy publications by supranational organisations and international financial institutions and media reports. Textual analysis was conducted to evaluate the case countries’ resilience.

The paper highlights how governmental budgetary initiatives, including repurposing the manufacturing sector, can sustain businesses, aid social interventions and reduce vulnerability during health crises. In addition, the paper highlights that external borrowing continues to be indispensable in the financial and budgetary initiatives of the case countries. The paper finds that lessons learnt from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa within the last decade have shaped the anticipatory resilience capacities of the case countries against COVID-19.

The paper uses the notion of resilience, the dimensions of the resilience framework and the resource-based view (RBV) theory to unearth resilience patterns. This sort of combined approach is new to financial resilience studies.

First, the paper examines the short-term fiscal and budgetary responses of the South Asian governments to the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, it brings out the implications of such responses, focusing on India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The paper is based on multiple secondary data sources, including the viewpoints of experts and government officials. Data are analysed using the ideas of financial resilience.

South Asian governments' response to the pandemic shows a gap in understanding the magnitude of the problem and in developing financial resilience. This paper points out the importance of avoiding austerity, becoming more cautious in accepting lending conditions, rethinking public sector accountability and revitalising mutual collaboration through SAARC for developing financial resilience, both at individual country and regional levels.

The study offers some insights on policy implications for South Asian governments in terms of building financial resilience to deal with future crises.

The official authorities have established several action plans including fiscal support measures to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) counter the negative repercussions of COVID-19. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to critically assess the recent fiscal policies endeavoured by the Mauritian authorities in response to COVID-19, to assess the awareness and perception of some local MSMEs of these initiatives, to investigate the extent to which these MSMEs have benefited from them and also, to suggest recommendations to the Mauritian authorities on how to enhance the existing framework to ensure sustainable and equitable development.

This study has adopted both the quantitative and qualitative research methods. Primary data were obtained by conducting a survey of some Mauritian MSMEs, and secondary data were obtained by referring to laws and policy papers on the research topic. Some statistical tests were performed using SPSS software on the primary data to illustrate the research findings.

Despite the laudable initiatives, the survey conducted for this research demonstrates that MSMEs in Mauritius have a moderate awareness of these fiscal support measures. Furthermore, upon being asked whether they have availed of these tax incentives, again a moderate mean average was derived which implies that not all MSMEs have fully benefited from fiscal support to help them in countering the negative effects of COVID-19.

At present, this study will be amongst the first academic writings on the effectiveness of the fiscal measures undertaken by the Mauritian authorities to deal with issues entailed by the COVID-19. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical, and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.

This paper presents a review of literature, aimed at analyzing and understanding the nexus of knowledge on the topic of government budgetary responses to COVID-19 and identifying gaps for future research directions on crisis budgeting.

A systematic literature review approach was conducted by considering scientific journal articles written in English and published through 2020–2022. The databases used for the literature search in this paper were Scopus and Web of Science, resulting in 41 articles for final review.

This review found that in a crisis, budgetary responses were greatly determined by perceived uncertainties. In the case of the COVID-19 crisis, governments seemed to prioritize economic recovery. While many studies have documented budgetary responses to the crisis, most were written in the beginning of the crisis through documentary content analysis, leaving significant research gaps. Thus, this review offers directions for future research concerning governmental response to perceived uncertainty, logic behind governments' budgeting strategies, sustainable development principles within crisis budgeting and the prioritization of economic considerations in a health crisis.

This paper is one of the first to present insights into the state of research regarding the topic of government budgeting during the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, it provides insights from the literature for anticipating future shocks and crises, along with directions for future researchers in developing their research agenda.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-01-2023-0057

The purpose of this study is to examine the viewpoints and experiences of multiple budget actors to understand their particular budget related behaviours contingent upon the COVID-19 (C19) pandemic of a developing country.

This study uses Uganda as a case study and employs semi-structured interview method for the data collection. In trying to generate themes and patterns, data are analysed through three levels of coding: open, axial and selective coding. The contingency theory is used to interpret the data.

The task of budgeting formulation, implementation and control in times of C19 lead to varied actual behaviours of budget actors because of the environmental uncertainty, inappropriate structural and technological conditions and manipulative organisational cultures contingent upon the Ugandan C19 budget context.

The insights generated from the study can be useful for the national governments of emerging economies, e.g. African countries, to understand the conditions that influence the budget actors' behaviour and together, develop long-term financial resilience strategies to face future emergencies.

This study contributes to accounting and public budgeting theory by showing that contingency theory is a relevant framework for understanding budget actors' behaviour in emergency situations. The study potentially strengthens the contingency theory framework through its incorporation of organisational culture perspective into the “people” element.