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1 – 10 of over 5000Mika Luhtala, Olga Welinder and Elina Vikstedt
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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Originality/value
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.
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I Made Pradana Adiputra, Sidharta Utama and Hilda Rossieta
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence about the influence of the size of local government, the quality of local government financial statements, the level of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence about the influence of the size of local government, the quality of local government financial statements, the level of local government response to the disclosure of financial information and the local political environment on the transparency of local government in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study sample consisted of 34 regional governments (provinces) in Indonesia in 2016, using purposive sampling and multiple regression analysis.
Findings
The results showed that the quality of financial reporting through the audit opinion and political environment have a significant positive effect on the transparency of local government in Indonesia. On the other hand, the size of the local government and local government response rate on the regulation do not affect the transparency of local government in Indonesia.
Originality/value
The agency, legitimacy and institutional theory have an important role in the underlying local government transparency practices in Indonesia. The results of this study should be used as the basis of thought and study to determine the factors that affect the performance of local governments from the financial and non-financial aspects.
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Local Government in Indonesia annually publishes Local Government Financial Statements (LGFS) for helping their stakeholders in making decisions. Audit Opinion of the LGFS for…
Abstract
Local Government in Indonesia annually publishes Local Government Financial Statements (LGFS) for helping their stakeholders in making decisions. Audit Opinion of the LGFS for counties and cities in East Java Province during the last 8 years (2006-2013) showed a quite astonishing result. From all of 301 financial statements, only 45 LGFS (14.95%) obtained Unqualified Opinion, other financial statements (256 or 85.05%) received Non-Unqualified Opinion. This study aims to analyze the accounts and problems in the accounts which cause LGFS obtain Non-Unqualified Opinion. Using content analysis with NVIVO10 applications, this study analyzed 256 audit opinions of the LGFS of counties and cities in East Java during 2006-2013 that obtained Non-Unqualified Opinion to identify the accounts and problems in the accounts which cause LGFS obtain Non-Unqualified Opinion. The results showed that the most frequent accounts as an exception in the audit opinion are the accounts on Budget Realization Report (BR) with the frequency of occurrence as much as 6628 times. The Balance Sheet (BS) accounts was at the second place with the total frequency of occurrence 4206 times. And last, there was a Cash Flow Statement (CF) account with the frequency of occurrence as much as 693 times. In BR, the most frequent account which appears as an exception is spending account (as much as 4198 times), while the assets are the most frequent accounts as an exception in the Balance Sheet (as much as 4206 times). The problem with the accounts that often appear as an exception was mainly due to the weakness of the Internal Control System (ICS), followed by non-compliance with the provisions of law and the last problem is in-economies, inefficiency and ineffectiveness.
Giuseppe Grossi, Ileana Steccolini, Pawan Adhikari, Judy Brown, Mark Christensen, Carolyn Cordery, Laurence Ferry, Philippe Lassou, Bruce McDonald III, Ringa Raudla, Mariafrancesca Sicilia and Eija Vinnari
The purpose of this polyphonic paper is to report on interdisciplinary discussions on the state-of-the-art and future of public sector accounting research (PSAR). The authors hope…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this polyphonic paper is to report on interdisciplinary discussions on the state-of-the-art and future of public sector accounting research (PSAR). The authors hope to enliven the debates of the past and future developments in terms of context, themes, theories, methods and impacts in the field of PSAR by the exchanges they include here.
Design/methodology/approach
This polyphonic paper adopts an interdisciplinary approach. It brings into conversation ideas, views and approaches of several scholars on the actual and future developments of PSAR in various contexts, and explores potential implications.
Findings
This paper has brought together scholars from a plurality of disciplines, research methods and geographical areas, showing at the same time several points of convergence on important future themes (such as accounting as a mean for public, accounting, hybridity and value pluralism) and enabling conditions (accounting capabilities, profession and digitalisation) for PSA scholarship and practice, and the richness of looking at them from a plurality of perspectives.
Research limitations/implications
Exploring these past and future developments opens up the potential for interesting theoretical insights. A much greater theoretical and practical reconsideration of PSAR will be fostered by the exchanges included here.
Originality/value
In setting out a future research agenda, this paper fosters theoretical and methodological pluralism in the interdisciplinary research community interested in PSAR in various contexts. The discussion perspectives presented in this paper constitute not only a basis for further research in this relevant accounting area on the role, status and developments of PSAR but also creative potential for practitioners to be more reflective on their practices and also intended and united outcomes of such practices.
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Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rossi, Xenia Mamakou and Isabel Brusca
Governmental financial reporting is prepared for accountability and decision-making purposes and is directed to a wide range of users, including citizens. However, this may sound…
Abstract
Purpose
Governmental financial reporting is prepared for accountability and decision-making purposes and is directed to a wide range of users, including citizens. However, this may sound easier than it actually is as citizens without specific accounting knowledge may find it difficult to understand the financial information prepared by governments. The study analyzes citizens' perceptions toward infographics as well as their ability to improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis conducted with the participation of a group of citizens in three European countries through a questionnaire.
Findings
The results show that infographics improve accounting understandability by nonaccounting experts compared to the traditional financial statements. However, infographics alone are not enough to succeed in making nonaccounting literate citizens experts in fully understanding accounting information.
Originality/value
The novelty of the research consists in its ability to give voice to citizens' preferences regarding the way the financial information is presented, which has been largely neglected by previous studies. In parallel, it analyzes the effect of accounting knowledge on accounting understandability. Moreover, it is the first study that analyzes the use of infographics in public sector financial reporting.
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Anna Białek-Jaworska and Agnieszka Krystyna Kopańska
This paper aims to determine whether local governments (LGs) use non-consolidated municipally owned companies (MOCs), excluded from public sector entities and, consequently, from…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine whether local governments (LGs) use non-consolidated municipally owned companies (MOCs), excluded from public sector entities and, consequently, from sub-national debt to avoid fiscal debt limits. This paper contributes to the literature by analysing the fiscal debt rule’s impact on the off-budget municipal activities in total and separate in different types of local government units.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses difference-in-differences and the system general method of moments model with the Blundell–Bond estimator for dynamic panel data analysis of MOCs owned by 866 Polish municipalities in 2010–2018.
Findings
This paper shows that the MOCs’ revenues support limited local public debt capacity by indebtedness restrictions imposed on municipalities in 2014. As a result, less indebted municipalities have higher off-budget revenues. The tightening of fiscal rules related to sub-sovereign indebtedness increased off-budget activities, but that effect is much stronger in rural and rural–urban municipalities than in urban municipalities and big cities.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by exploring the fiscal debt rule’s impact on the off-budget municipal activities in total and separate in different types of local government units. In this paper, the authors combine theories relating to private and public finance; this is a novel approach and one that is also necessary – as, in fact, the worlds of public and private actors intersect – as exemplified by the existence of MOC.
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Marco Bisogno and Pierre Donatella
Research dealing with earnings management in the public-sector context is expanding. This paper aims to review the existing literature to understand how research is developing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Research dealing with earnings management in the public-sector context is expanding. This paper aims to review the existing literature to understand how research is developing and points out gaps deserving further investigation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the structured literature methodology to investigate the state-of-the-art and future directions of the literature on earnings management in the public sector. In total, 78 articles were explored.
Findings
The critical analysis of the literature shows that different but related streams of literature are emerging, focused on both a macro- and a micro-level perspective (mainly local governments and state-owned enterprises).
Originality/value
This study is the first that offers a comprehensive review of the literature on the emerging topic of earnings management in the public-sector context. The structured literature review enables the identification of future directions for the literature in this field.
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