Search results
1 – 10 of 298Paula Gomes dos Santos and Fábio Albuquerque
This paper aims to assess the factors that may explain the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) convergence, considering Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the factors that may explain the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) convergence, considering Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as the theoretical reference for the cultural approach proposed. Additional factors include countries’ contextual and macroeconomic characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
Logistic and probit regression models were used to identify the factors that may explain the IPSAS (fully or adapted) use by countries, including 166 countries in this assessment (59 for those whose cultural dimensions are available).
Findings
The findings consistently indicate collectivism and indebtedness levels as explanatory factors, providing insights into cultural dimensions along with macroeconomic characteristics as a relevant factor of countries’ convergence to IPSAS.
Research limitations/implications
There are different levels of IPSAS convergence by countries that were not considered. This aspect may hide different countries’ characteristics that may explain those options, which could not be distinguished in this paper.
Practical implications
As a result of this paper, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board may gain insights that can be applied within the IPSAS due process to overcome the main challenges when collaborating with national authorities to achieve a high level of convergence. This analysis may include how to accommodate countries’ cultural differences as well as their contextual and macroeconomic characteristics.
Social implications
There is a trend of moving toward accrual-based accounting standards by countries. Because the public sector embraces a new culture following the IPSAS path, it is relevant to assess if there are cultural factors, besides contextual and macroeconomic characteristics, that may explain the countries’ convergence to those standards.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first cross-country analysis on the likely influence of cultural dimensions on IPSAS convergence as far as the authors’ knowledge.
Details
Keywords
Mustafa Elkasih Abdulkarim, Mohamed Ismail Umlai and Layth Faris Al-Saudi
This study aims to explore the role that culture and language play in the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role that culture and language play in the implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).
Design/methodology/approach
The Hofstede–Gray and Huerta et al. (2013) models were used to collect data on language and accounting culture. Paired-sample t-test, regression and factor analyses were conducted on data from a sample of 101 respondents. This study also used ordinary least squares to test hypotheses.
Findings
The cultural dimensions of professionalism, secrecy and uniformity significantly influence the implementation of IPSAS. Furthermore, this study finds a significant link between culture, language and IPSAS implementation, which underlines the need for careful consideration of International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board policies in the promotion of IPSAS internationally.
Research limitations/implications
While this study is limited to its research method, using secondary data would have been challenging given the setting and accessibility issues. This study overcomes this problem by using a self-administered questionnaire. Prior studies confirm the reliability of the constructs. Despite providing justifications for why the authors use judgemental sampling, the authors acknowledge the limitation of the technique in survey distribution. Furthermore, the findings cannot be read without caution, as the authors focused on one country. However, interactions between accounting practices and culture in one country may be transferred to other countries that share a common language and culture with Qatar. The authors believe future research in this area will complement the understanding of the determinants of IPSAS implementation should the study be replicated.
Social implications
Policymakers, standard setters and regulators should promote and enforce an integrated approach that reflects the need for accountants and auditors to be conscious of the effects of culture and language, given the likelihood of widespread IPSAS adoption.
Originality/value
This study offers insight into the significance of culture and language in reforming public-sector accounting systems in developing nations and emerging economies.
Details
Keywords
This paper investigates to what extent public sector entities (PSEs) in developing countries (DCs) are compliant with IPSAS and examines the impact of the socioeconomic and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates to what extent public sector entities (PSEs) in developing countries (DCs) are compliant with IPSAS and examines the impact of the socioeconomic and politico-administrative environment on this compliance during the period 2015–2018.
Design/methodology/approach
This research develops a self-constructed checklist consisting of 116 disclosure items from five accrual-based IPSAS (IPSASs, 1, 2, 3, 14 and 24) and applies panel regressions for a sample of 500 entity-year observations of 125 PSEs.
Findings
The study results show a high level of disparity in the degree of compliance with IPSAS amongst DCs' governments, with an overall average level of 61%. They reveal that compliance with IPSAS is positively influenced by the level of citizen wealth, government political culture (degree of government openness) and the quality of public administration, whereas jurisdiction size, government financial condition and political competition are non-significant factors.
Practical implications
This research provides researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive framework for understanding the extent of New Public Management reforms in DCs with a focus on International Public Sector Accounting Standards implementation. It might assist policymakers in their accounting strategies and might be a signal for DCs with low compliance to tap lessons from governments with successful experience of IPSAS adoption.
Originality/value
Focusing on DCs' context, this paper brings new insights into the analysis of socioeconomic and politico-administrative incentives for government compliance with IPSAS. It is the first to investigate the impact of citizen wealth and political competition on IPSAS disclosures.
Details
Keywords
Patrícia Gomes, Isabel Brusca, Maria J. Fernandes and Estela Vilhena
This paper aims to research the reforms toward International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) implementation and the perceptions about the use and usefulness of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to research the reforms toward International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) implementation and the perceptions about the use and usefulness of accounting information in the context of local government in the Iberian Peninsula. The paper focuses on the perspective of chief financial officers (CFOs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Beyond the study of the context of the reform in both countries through the consultation of legislation and official documents, the authors collected primary data through a survey addressed to the local CFO to catch both countries' perceptions and beliefs toward the topic under research.
Findings
The authors' findings evidence that both countries have made strong efforts to adapt IPSAS to both countries' national standards. The coercive and mimetic isomorphism and the private accounting normative were important determinants in the reform. Looking at perceptions, budget information continues to be perceived as the king information for public management and decision-making. In a comparative way, the Portuguese CFO seems to be more optimistic concerning the use and usefulness of the new accounting system. The strong orientation of CFO to cash-basis and budgeting information is an important explanation of the lower use and usefulness, essentially in the Spanish context. The regression results show that individual perceptions and beliefs on the accounting reform influence the opinion about the usefulness and use of financial information.
Research limitations/implications
The use of the survey method has some limitations very discussed in the literature that are also applied in this study.
Practical implications
The paper has the potential to contribute to the academic, political and practitioner discussion of the core purposes of financial accounting information in the public sector and financial accounting information's impacts on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) framework.
Originality/value
The recent adoption of the new accounting system in local governments of both contexts contributes to knowledge on the public sector accounting reforms toward the transition to accrual accounting and the IPSAS. The innovative character of the paper contributes to better clarify how the perceptions of the accounting reform influence the usage level of public financial information.
Details
Keywords
Harun Harun, Ian R.C. Eggleton and Stuart Locke
The aim of this study is to critically evaluate the institutionalisation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Indonesia.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to critically evaluate the institutionalisation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
This case study approach relies on obtaining its data from document sources and interviews with relevant people and/or organisations involved in policy-making and implementation of IPSAS in Indonesia. To inform the study, we developed and used an integrated model of institutionalisation based on the work done by Dillard et al. (2004) and Dambrin et al. (2007).
Findings
Our model shows that dissemination of new ideals and the transformation of these new ideals into new discourses were institutionalised at the economic and political level. However, the creation of a new [accounting]technique took place in the organisational field, instead of organisational level. The internalisation of IPSAS in the organisational field is characterised by limited use of IPSAS-based reports for making decisions. Overall the institionalisation of IPSAS in Indonesia is dominated by actors external to local governments.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s results reflect the specific socio-economic and political contexts for a specific point in time.
Practical implications
Policy-makers in developing nations should consider the applicability of IPSAS in accordance with the actual needs and capacities of their local governments.
Social implications
The findings show that developing nations and international organisations have underestimated the technical and institutional issues of developing nations in the globalisation of IPSAS.
Originality/value
The study extends institutional theory by developing a new model to conceptualise the dynamic processes, the role of actors and outcomes of public sector accounting reforms in an emerging economy.
Details
Keywords
Saheed Adekunle Muraina and Kabiru Isa Dandago
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on Nigeria’s financial reporting quality.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the implementation of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on Nigeria’s financial reporting quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a survey research design to determine the effects of the implementation of the IPSAS on Nigeria’s financial reporting quality. Partial Least Square 3(SmartPLS 3) technique of analysis was applied to achieve the research objective.
Findings
The study found that accountability positively and significantly affects the quality of financial reporting in Nigeria. Specifically, IPSAS has improved the level of accountability, which in turn improved Nigeria’s financial reporting quality.
Research limitations
The study only explored two explanatory variables whereas other variables such as transparency, corruption minimization, comparability and faithful representation were not considered in this study. It is, therefore, recommended that further studies could expand the scope to cover some other variables not included in this paper.
Practical implications
IPSAS-Accrual has engendered the Nigerian Government to launch the Asset Tracking and Management Project (ATMProject) in order to easily track its assets for the purpose of accountability. Thus, accountability was discovered in this study to be the most essential factor to enhance the quality of financial reporting using accrual-based IPSAS in Nigeria.
Social implications
Accountability will impact positively on the lives of Nigerians in relation to the application of public funds to impact on the lives of the masses.
Originality/value
The statistical significance of accountability found in this study, using partial least square technique of data analysis, will further enhance financial integrity in the country.
Details
Keywords
Andreea Cîrstea, Cristina Silvia Nistor and Adriana Tiron Tudor
Considering the worldwide importance granted to this topic, the purpose of this paper is to analyze, through a detailed pyramidal analysis, the intention of International Public…
Abstract
Purpose
Considering the worldwide importance granted to this topic, the purpose of this paper is to analyze, through a detailed pyramidal analysis, the intention of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) to respond better to the public sector characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology combines content analysis with the comparative and interpretive method, and also some statistical methods such as residual analysis, association coefficients, that come to bring added value to the public sector literature.
Findings
The main findings of the research concern the appreciation of consolidation approach in the public sphere under a dual aspect. The first one is theoretical, by presenting the evolution of the concept in literature, and the second one is empirical, by analyzing how IPSAS correlates with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), how the Exposure Draft 49 (ED 49) respondents perceive its content and implications, along with the extent to which the publication of IPSAS 35 took into account the exposure draft stage. In the authors’ opinion, the study manages to capture, theoretically and empirically, the evolution and the stage of consolidation in the public sector. The main results of the study lie in the combination in the empirical sphere of the content analysis with the mathematical and statistical methods, in order to assess the correlation IPSAS/IFRS, the responses to ED 49, but also the influences on the final version of IPSAS 35.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitations of the study are: the diversity of the received responses to ED and the number of comment letters submitted by the respondents.
Practical implications
The study addresses to a broad range of users: theoreticians, practitioners or professional bodies/legislators who will have a basis for analyzing what the acceptance and inclusion of IPSAS 35 in the national accounting rules would mean.
Social implications
The paper offers the possibility to understand the evolution of the concept of public sector consolidation.
Originality/value
The first originality aspect is revealed by the theoretical documentation and the second one lies in the combination of the empirical sphere of the content analysis with the mathematical and statistical methods.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of central government financial information disclosed in accordance with accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of central government financial information disclosed in accordance with accrual-based International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and to investigate the environmental factors affecting this level, drawing on the contingency theory framework.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a self-constructed checklist of 116 items to measure the IPSAS disclosure level by 100 public sector entities from different countries across the globe during the period 2015–2017. Panel regressions have been used.
Findings
The results show significant differences in compliance levels with IPSAS disclosures across nations. They reveal a positive influence of the degree of government openness (political culture), quality of public administration and management and prior experience with International Accounting Standards (IAS)/International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the public sector on this level, whereas government financial condition is a nonsignificant factor.
Practical implications
The research findings are potentially relevant to academics, researchers, practitioners, standard-setters and government policymakers. By examining the influencing factors of IPSAS disclosure level, this paper paves the way for further investigation of this topic with a more extensive set of micro and macroeconomic variables whether at the central or local government level in other jurisdictions
Originality/value
This study provides new insights into the assessment of the transparency and completeness of government accrual-based financial statements. Based on the contingency theory, this paper is the first to empirically investigate the factors affecting the level of disclosure under accrual-based IPSAS by central government entities in a cross-country analysis.
Details
Keywords
Salah Uddin Rajib, Pawan Adhikari, Mahfuzul Hoque and Mahmuda Akter
The purpose of this paper is to examine public sector accounting reforms, mainly the adoption and implementation of the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine public sector accounting reforms, mainly the adoption and implementation of the Cash Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS) in the Central Government of Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the ideas of new institutionalism, the paper investigates the factors which have forced the country to accept the Cash Basis IPSAS but have delayed its implementation in practice.
Findings
Different approaches towards the Cash Basis IPSAS are now distinct in the Central Government of Bangladesh. Differences between Bangladesh and other emerging economies have been narrowed as the potency of institutional pressures has increased, and there is a risk, as experienced in other emerging economies, that the very adoption of the Cash Basis IPSAS may remain more a rhetoric than a reality in Bangladesh. The paper demonstrates that the extent to which professional accountants and their associations participate in reforms determines the public sector accounting reform trajectories in emerging economies.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates that reforms driven by indigenous administrators can have the potential of becoming more instrumental in emerging economies than the externally propagated reforms, such as IPSASs and accrual accounting. What is important is to advance incrementally those public sector accounting reforms that local administrators have identified as important, that they could cope with their existing knowledge and capacity, and that they are interested in engaging with the reform process.
Originality/value
First, the study has contributed to extending neo-institutional theory by bringing out the responses of different stakeholders responsible for implementing public sector accounting reforms, mainly the Cash Basis IPSAS, in practice. Next, the paper has raised a question as to whether the Cash Basis IPSAS could be an appropriate reform measure for the central government of Bangladesh.
Details
Keywords
This study examines the controversial success of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) accrual implementation, using the case of Tanzania.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the controversial success of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) accrual implementation, using the case of Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews, documentary reviews and observations were used for data collection. This study draws on the spectacle theory for data analysis.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that IPSAS accrual was a spectacle during its production and consumption. The features and forms of the spectacle were revealed in IPSAS accrual during its production and affirmed by actors during its consumption. Further affirmation of IPSAS accrual as the spectacle was revealed through communication of good news and the hiding of bad news. The outcome was the alleged roles of IPSAS accrual.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited as it was conducted in only one country. The controversial success is global and calls for further research in other parts of the world.
Practical implications
The International Monetary Fund should stop recommending implementation of IPSAS accrual along with cash basis as the two systems are incompatible. Moreover, government officials should have alternative thinking presenting a different view of the world, so as to avoid being passive, and focus on reality rather than appearance.
Originality/value
This study is the first to explain the controversial success of IPSAS accrual implementation. It demonstrates the usefulness of spectacle theory in the field of accounting research, especially in the context of reform implementation. Moreover, this study confirms that IPSAS accrual is a spectacle (Uddin et al., 2011).
Details