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1 – 10 of over 6000Mihaela Onofrei and Florin Oprea
In the spirit of ‘Europe of the Regions’, local authorities are responsible for responding to the main interests, needs and preferences of the country’s citizens. Regional and…
Abstract
In the spirit of ‘Europe of the Regions’, local authorities are responsible for responding to the main interests, needs and preferences of the country’s citizens. Regional and local administrative authorities provide citizens with the necessary public goods, which reflect the trend towards ‘glocalisation’ in public administration at the European level, more significantly in the states in which the political system recently became democratic. With this background, the effectiveness of local self-government depends not only on local authorities’ decision-making freedom but also on (financial) support for it through decentralisation, and the member states of the European Union (EU) employ different strategies to achieve the same goal, with varying degrees of success. Within this context, our chapter offers a comparative analysis of the administrative, financial and local self-government decentralisation in member states, which include the southern and eastern regions on the outer edges of the EU. The general goal of our study is to identify the main trends in the present administrations and their challenges, as well as best practices that can offer lessons to other member states which are reforming their administration through decentralisation. In addition to the identified challenges, solutions and best practices, our study reveals a tendency towards consolidation at the level of regional government not only in the terms of legal responsibility but also of administrative budgets, thus generating an assumption of improvement in the general quality of governance in the member states.
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Francesco Badia, Elena Borin and Fabio Donato
The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of co-governance and its implications on public value, with particular reference to local authorities in the Italian context.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of co-governance and its implications on public value, with particular reference to local authorities in the Italian context.
Design/methodology/approach
The research aim is pursued by means of a literature review and an empirical research. The empirical research is developed through a questionnaire, sent to the 119 municipalities of the Italian provincial capitals. The overall response rate was 41.18% (49 responses).
Findings
In Italian local authorities the process of increasing citizens’ participation and citizens’ involvement as co-producers of public value by means of co-governance and participatory governance tools is still ongoing. More than 50% of the local authorities of the research sample have introduced co-governance or participatory governance tools and activities but they are still facing problems in implementing them.
In general, the level of citizens’ participation seems not to be fully developed.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical part of the research focuses only on the application of co-governance and participatory governance tools in the Italian context, therefore the main limitation lies in the difficulties of extending their application to the international context. In addition, the questionnaire was designed only for medium- to large-sized local authorities. Thus, the research does not consider the possible implications for small municipalities.
Practical implications
This article considers some of the possible difficulties of implementation of co-governance and participatory governance tools.
Social implications
This article highlights the link between the creation of public value and the adoption of public policies based on citizens’ involvement and consultation.
Originality/value
This article underlines the link between public value creation and co-governance. It also offers a broad empirical survey on the presence of co-governance and participatory governance tools and activities in the Italian context; this topic was not examined in prior studies.
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Manila Marcuccio and Ileana Steccolini
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of voluntary extended performance reporting (EPR) by Italian local authorities (LAs) by exploring the patterns of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of voluntary extended performance reporting (EPR) by Italian local authorities (LAs) by exploring the patterns of financial and non‐financial disclosure and the factors affecting those patterns. More specifically it aims to analyse hypotheses drawing from contingency and legitimacy approaches against the content of the reports and findings discussed consistently.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper takes the form of a content analysis conducted on all EPRs prepared by Italian LAs. The classification scheme is based on the literature on social and environmental disclosures content analysis and is specifically designed to investigate EPR practices by governmental entities.
Findings
From the empirical analysis an extremely differentiated picture emerges. A common model of EPR does not exist; nevertheless EPR represents a significant effort by LAs in communicating performance to external stakeholders, with specific reference to the results achieved in social and economic development. Even if there is not a unique set of factors which can explain the differences in the reporting choices by Italian LAs, the analysis shows that the type of activities performed and the LAs' strategic priorities influence significantly the content of the reports.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on an interesting phenomenon for Italian LAs, namely the shift from a reactive compliance of law‐driven managerial reform process to a proactive adoption of managerial practices. The paper explores the under‐investigated field of voluntary social reporting in LAs. It discusses the influence of a set of external and internal factors in shaping the patterns and contents of EPR disclosure in Italian LAs. If empirical findings confirm the explicit influence of only a limited set of factors, they provide a valuable insight into how LAs use (voluntary) EPR in order to legitimise strategic and management choices.
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Monir Zaman Mir, Bikram Chatterjee and Ross Taplin
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” by New Zealand local governments.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” by New Zealand local governments.
Design/methodology/approach
The research method includes a longitudinal analysis of environmental reporting by New Zealand local governments in their annual reports for the financial years 2005-2006 to 2009-2010. “Content analysis” was used to attach scores to the extent of environmental reporting. The “number of candidates divided by the number of available positions at the previous election” was used as the proxy for “political competition”.
Findings
The study reports a positive relationship between “political competition” and “environmental reporting” in 2007-2008. The number of local governments reporting voluntary environmental information increased in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 compared to 2005-2006, followed by a reduction in such numbers following the 2007-2008 financial year. This trend in disclosure can be attributed to the local government elections in October 2007. This finding is consistent with the expectation of “agency theory” and provides insight into the pattern of perceived agency costs. The study also finds a dearth in reporting “monetary” and “bad” news.
Originality/value
The study contributes towards the previous literature on environmental reporting by concentrating on the public sector and New Zealand, together with investigating the relationship of such reporting with “political competition” through a longitudinal analysis. The theoretical contribution of this study is the adoption of “agency theory” in the context of public sector voluntary reporting and investigating the significance attached by agents to environmental reporting to minimise agency cost. The practical contribution of the study is in the area of future development of reporting standards in regards to environmental reporting.
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Silvia Gardini and Giuseppe Grossi
The paper focuses on the potential benefits of fair value accounting (FVA) in the public sector and the shift towards the entity theory of consolidation supported by international…
Abstract
The paper focuses on the potential benefits of fair value accounting (FVA) in the public sector and the shift towards the entity theory of consolidation supported by international accounting standards. The analysis of the Italian cases shows neither adjustments of the assets to their fair value, nor any recognition of intangibles other than goodwill in consolidated financial statement (CFS), maintaining the configuration of a municipal corporate group based on historical costs. These findings suggest a lack of focus on FVA by local governments (LGs), which is in contrast with international accounting standards. Using a combination of sources (such as annual reports and interviews), part of this paper is based on multiple-case studies of Italian LGs on the voluntary adoption of CFS.
The 2008 economic and financial crisis has particularly hit Italy, forcing governments to cope with unprecedented shocks affecting their financial conditions. Drawing on the…
Abstract
The 2008 economic and financial crisis has particularly hit Italy, forcing governments to cope with unprecedented shocks affecting their financial conditions. Drawing on the resilience concept, the chapter aims to investigate what capacities are deployed and developed by Italian local governments to respond to such shocks. Based on a multiple case study, it explores the role of organisational features and capacities, as well as the characteristics of the external environment, in affecting responses and the related results. From the analysis it emerges that different capacities have been deployed by Italian municipalities to anticipate and cope with financial shocks in recent years, leading to four main patterns of financial resilience: proactive and internally driven, fatalist, constrained and contented resilience. The contribution highlights that simply relying on (past) wealthy conditions, or accumulating resources, is not sufficient for coping with shocks. By contrast, it emphasises the importance of investing on anticipating the consequences of negative events.
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Emidia Vagnoni and Laura Maran
The paper seeks to suggest an application of the benchmarking technique on the content evaluation of the health district activity plans (HDAPs).
Abstract
Purpose
The paper seeks to suggest an application of the benchmarking technique on the content evaluation of the health district activity plans (HDAPs).
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review on benchmarking leads to the definition of a benchmarking process, which is utilized to evaluate and compare the contents of the HDAPs. These documents link the planning activity of the health districts of a region to the objectives comprehensively established at higher levels. Consequently, to define a common level of comparison of the HDAPs, the contents of the texts are evaluated through an in‐depth study of the specific law prescriptions and the adoption of an hermeneutic point of view. The HDAPs collected among the health districts of a single Italian Region represent the empirical data set and their specific benchmarking involves the definition of benchmark scales and placement of “best practices”.
Findings
Benchmarking can improve planning capabilities of the health districts pointing out their most positive differences. Its specific application on the HDAPs highlights its flexibility and usefulness; whilst at the same time, it opens new insights on the recent evolution of the health care systems towards accountability, cost consciousness and efficiency.
Practical implications
The results of the benchmarking comparison will lead to the design of an empirical blueprint for framing health district planning data and improve the understanding of the region.
Originality/value
The paper highlights the role of benchmarking both in providing a comprehensive lecture key of the reality of district planning and suggesting cues from the best practices observed.
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This paper illustrates the aims and the contents of the 1995 Local Government Accounting Act, which introduced an accrual-based financial reporting for Italian municipalities and…
Abstract
This paper illustrates the aims and the contents of the 1995 Local Government Accounting Act, which introduced an accrual-based financial reporting for Italian municipalities and provinces. To this end, this paper focuses on a sample of 23 local governments that produced these reports for the first time in 1998, and highlights a series of problems that emerged with regard to both communicational efficacy and fair presentation. The conclusions summarize the major gaps between the reform’s objectives and actual effects, and explain the reasons for these gaps and formulate some suggestions in order to re-design the system.
Floriana Fusco, Renato Civitillo, Paolo Ricci, Sylwia Morawska, Katarzyna Pustułka and Przemysław Banasik
That on accountability in public organizations is quite an old debate. Its introduction in judicial systems is, however, still viewed with some suspicion, due to its potential…
Abstract
Purpose
That on accountability in public organizations is quite an old debate. Its introduction in judicial systems is, however, still viewed with some suspicion, due to its potential trade-off with independence and impartiality. Nevertheless, the need to respond to the demands for greater transparency and accountability has also pushed judicial organizations to establish a dialogue with a wide range of subjects. This study aims to explore the understanding and the current practices of sustainability reporting currently in place in judicial systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a comparative approach, conducting an online survey in two European countries (Italy and Poland). The survey was built around the research questions and literature and administered between February and March 2020. Specifically, 804 courts were involved, of which 430 are in Italy and 374 in Poland.
Findings
Findings show that the current practices are still not widespread and there is still a lack of understanding of what sustainability reporting is, and therefore, of what its potential usefulness within the courts could be. Moreover, many differences between the two countries are pointed out, so it is possible to assume that the different cultural and institutional settings influence sustainability reporting practices. Finally, some interesting implications for policymakers are provided.
Originality/value
Judicial organizations are still poorly investigated in the literature, despite being at the center of a wide public and political debate. Moreover, the international comparative perspective adopted constitutes a further aspect of novelty.
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