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This paper aims to empirically investigate the impact that financial sector reforms have on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ghana.

Composite financial sector reform index was constructed, which was made up of various forms of reform policies that were implemented from 1987 to 2016. The auto regressive distributed lag bounds test was used to establish cointegration between variables. Having controlled for other covariates that affect FDI such as trade openness, exchange rate, gross domestic product per capita, inflation and by using the fully modified ordinary least squares method, the estimations are robust as it uses a semi-parametric correction to avoid for any possible issues of endogeneity and serial correlation.

Results from the paper reveal that financial sector reform deepening boost FDI with a 2.167% increase in FDI following from a unit percentage improvement of the financial sector reforms. Considering the various categories of reforms, the results reveal that competitive reforms have the highest impact on FDI followed by privatization reforms with positive and significant elasticity coefficients of 2.174% and 0.726%, respectively. Behavioral reforms revealed a positive effect on FDI, albeit insignificant.

The paper contributes to policy by providing empirical evidence on the effect of financial sector reform on FDI inflows in Ghana. As far as the review of literature is concerned, this paper provides the foremost empirical evidence on the subject with sole emphasis on Ghana. Thus, this paper suggests the deepening of the financial sector reforms, improving competition and maintaining macroeconomic stability.

This paper provides evidence that the banking sector reforms of 2004 and 2009 enhanced prudential performance of the banking industry and financial system stability in Nigeria.

This study uses regression analysis with regime shift to confirm results from tests of two means and variances model to examine the effectiveness of banking sector reforms in Nigeria.

Evidence from the regression model agrees with findings from the test of means model (not controlling for trend effects) that capital to assets ratio rose while non-performing loan ratio declined after the reforms, and that capital to earning assets ratio rose when trend effects were accounted for. Both the regression model and the tests of means model controlling for trend effects show that return on asset, return on equity and return on earning assets ratios declined after the reforms.

This paper evaluated the effectiveness of banking sector reforms in Nigeria using models that avoid weaknesses that besieged many previous studies. It however used data covering 1983–2020 period, due to data availability. A larger scope of data may improve the results, and future research may re-examine this theme as more data become available. Furthermore, banking stability issues could be examined using specialised techniques such as the generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model and related family.

These results suggest that the reforms led to improvement in the sector’s resilience (risks-absorbing capacity) and asset quality, and that profitability had not been the primary focus of the reforms.

The authors recommend that regulatory and supervisory authorities in Nigeria continue to implement and improve on banking sector reforms for a more resilient and functional banking system. As a contribution to social research, this study shows that studies on policy evaluation should be located within appropriate theoretical framework: the theory of change. It shows that an appropriate use of attribution analysis and contribution analysis within this theoretical framework engenders robust analysis and results. Otherwise, the analytical findings would be erroneous and policy advice misguided.

The statistical significance of our findings establishes that the banking sector reforms in Nigeria have been effective in promoting financial system stability in Nigeria. By deploying both the test of means with and without trend effects (an attribution analysis) and the multivariate regression analysis with regulatory shift (a contribution analysis), and relying more on the later for its superiority, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in that, it not only determined the true effects of banking sector reforms in Nigeria for appropriate policy guidance but also demonstrated that, in research, an inappropriate methodology produces results that may diverge from the more accurate ones that were derived from the correct methodology.

This paper examines whether public sector reforms in a developing country is consistent with the principles of new public management (NPM). It examines whether Indonesian public sector reforms from the late 1990s to 2015, specifically the adoption of accrual accounting, are motivated by NPM philosophy. Reviewing and analysing Government regulations and reports, the study finds that the reforms are an attempt to implement NPM, specifically in relation to five financial management aspects (i.e. market-oriented, budgeting, performance management, financial reporting and auditing systems). However, the reforms are inconsistent with the NPM philosophy of efficiency and effectiveness in public service provisions. By requiring the use of the existing system, the reforms actually created inefficiency. This research is novel in investigating the gap between 'ideal concepts' and examining practices in an emerging country context.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the reasons why Sri Lanka adopted International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) recently. Many less developed countries (LDCs) have introduced IPSAS during the recent past. However, little research has been conducted to study the New Public Financial Management and accrual accounting and their impact on LDCs.

Using a qualitative approach, the methods of this paper consist of interviews, a documentary review and participatory observation in the Ministry of Finance and Planning (MOFP) and Auditor General’s Department of Sri Lanka, and present a critical interpretation supported by the perspective of globalisation.

The findings of the research indicate that the public sector reforms and the transition from cash accounting to accrual accounting in the public sector have been strongly affected by the global pressures imposed by international agencies such as International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and the World Bank (WB). Empirical evidence shows the dysfunctional impact of globalisation in the public sector accounting standards as there are major structural issues yet to resolve. There are increasing doubts over whether the change to accrual accounting is worth the costs and the additional risks involved.

The results of the interviews are based on the knowledge and past experiences of interviewees. What is generalisable is an understanding of the processes and mechanisms that relate to the way the public sector accounting functions.

This paper adds new literature on public sector accounting in LDCs, which recognises the nexus and interests of international agencies and practice of public sector accounting.

This paper seeks to understand the evolution of financial intermediation in the course of China's economic transition.

The research is based on a unique data set collected by the authors and other collaborators from a 1998 survey of financial institutions, enterprises, and government officials in southern China.

Based on an empirical investigation of rural financial reforms, it is argued that China's two‐decade long financial reform was a gradual process that accommodates reforms in other sectors and responds to changing policy goals and the economic and institutional environment in which financial institutions operate. Although using standard measures of financial system performance may cast doubt on the effectiveness of China's rural banking system, when one understands the different roles that it has been asked to play, it can be argued that it has not operated so poorly.

In conclusion, it is found that China's rural economic environment is still changing. If the system continues to change in the future, responding to pressures in the economy, further financial reforms will almost certainly emerge in the coming years.

These findings, although primarily from the 1980s and 1990s, are still helpful in understanding the reform process that is currently ongoing.

This paper will help readers make sense of agricultural financial reforms and will allow for more discourse over what has been accomplished and what still is needed.

This is the first manuscript to comprehensively put China's rural financial reforms into the context of modern economic analysis, explaining why China's government proceeded as they did and why the reforms have unfolded in such a stop and start manner.

Many transition economies are former socialist planned economies and have undergone market reforms of their financial sector to signal their transition towards democracy. However, governments in these countries have been reluctant to relinquish the pre-existing controls on economy and have adopted nuanced and sophisticated approaches to retain control. In such context, scholars may find it challenging to investigate the role played by the state in the success or failure of attempted market reforms. This work investigates the different forms of state-induced accounting controls that may preserve the status quo within the economy during transition, using Myanmar as an example.

The authors adopted a longitudinal qualitative research method aiming to reveal the very processes and mechanisms used by the banks and their evolution over time. This method is in accordance with the historical institutionalist perspective that they have applied within this research.

The authors found that the Myanmar government embarked on the privatisation of their financial sector from 1990 to 2016 as a major public sector reform initiative. Under the guise of market reforms, it used both state-led and market-led controls to emulate and retain the socialist banking model where banks are used to fund the immediate government's budget deficits. This created a series of intended and unintended consequences, resulting in the ultimate failure of the government's market reforms.

Previously, research on public sector management accounting in emerging economies was not relying consistently on using theory. The relative limited theorisation led to gaps when attempting to understand and explain the opaque forms of state control mechanisms in transition economies. By applying historical institutionalist perspective, and a more theory-driven, reflective approach to the interpretation of the data collected, the authors have provided a deeper insight and understanding on how different forms of state controls can emerge, adapt and persist in transition economies such as Myanmar.

The authors demonstrated that though the state may have implemented market reforms to signal regimes change, this does not necessarily mean that the government has relinquished their control on the economy. The state could take a more sophisticated, covert approach towards state controls leading to both intended and unintended consequences. Thus, even if the state's preferences change, the decisions cannot be easily reversed, as path-dependent state controls may have become pervasive affecting any further institutional and policy developments. Thus, the authors suggest that governments in both transition and developed economies should be cautious when enacting regulations on corporate control.

In this paper, the authors have applied a historical institutional perspective in their analysis instead of the more widely used sociological, institutionalist approach. This allowed authors to harness rich longitudinal data indicating that market reforms and their success or failure should be examined as an ongoing process rather than a completed action. This is especially important in transition economies where the state may be unwilling to renounce the existing controls on the industry and may resort to more opaque forms of state control, eventually obstructing the intended reforms.

The purpose of this study is to discuss the most relevant literature related to the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the public sector in developed and developing countries, identifying the constraints and stimuli they represent in the implementation of the public accounting reform. It also presents future research proposals on the factors identified.

The methodology is based on a systematic review of the literature described by Moher et al. (2009). The final sample includes 90 academic papers published from 2000 to 2022.

The main findings indicate that there are differences between constraints and stimuli in the implementation of accounting standards between developed and developing countries. In terms of constraints, the main factor in developed countries is the lack of training, whereas in developing countries it is the limitation on financial resources. In addition, the results demonstrate that in developed countries the factors that most encourage the implementation of accounting standards are modernization and improvement of accounting, while in developing countries, encouragement comes mainly from external and internal pressure.

This study helps countries and institutions to learn from experience and better prepare for the accounting reforms of public administration that they will undertake. Managers of public organizations may be willing to make decisions in the adoption of IPSAS if they take into account the factors established herein.

This study helps countries and institutions to learn from the experience, better prepare for the public administration accounting reforms that they will undertake and add greater transparency in the accountability of public accounts to citizens.

In addition to previous studies, this study addresses a number of factors perceived by those involved in the implementation of IPSAS in developed and developing countries and provides a robust research agenda to pursue during the coming years, as there are several important unexplored questions that invite further research.

The purpose of the paper is to review the issues involved in determining the appropriate speed of adjustment and the sequencing of economic reforms, and to develop a checklist of key guidelines for policymakers as a basis for their decision‐making process.

The paper develops a conceptual framework based on a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature, and the practical experience of the authors in this area.

The analysis in the paper shows that the optimal speed and sequence of reforms is country‐specific. But key policy considerations can help guide policymakers in the design of their reform strategy.

The arguments favoring a shock approach or a gradual approach are not absolute. Each country has to choose the proper speed of adjustment and sequencing of reforms by examining country‐specific factors. A thorough case‐by‐case analysis is needed before a decision on the appropriate timing and sequencing of reforms can be made.

The analysis in the paper leads to key reform guidelines for policymakers – covering areas such as prerequisites and resource constraints, political economy considerations, credibility and sustainability of reforms – that are instrumental in developing a well‐sequenced strategy.

In this study, we use neoinstitutional sociology to explore how institutional pressures exerted on Ghana influenced the government’s decision to adopt, implement and use integrated financial management information systems (IFMIS) for the management of public financial resources.

Based on a case study of Ghana’s Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD), the study uses a qualitative interpretive case approach as the methodological stance, and some key officials involved in the implementation of the IFMIS project were interviewed and documentary evidence was also analyzed to achieve triangulation of data and results.

The results show that the IFMIS reform was instigated by two main forces. One is the pressure from external stakeholders like the World Bank related to funding relationships. The other is the indigenous pressures coming from internal stakeholders who felt dissatisfied with the outcomes of previous reforms. The findings also suggest that many contingencies for successful reforms to IFMIS were present in Ghana, such as the commitment of internal stakeholders, the training programs for improving the needed skills of employees, and the will to get inspired by best practices abroad. Nevertheless, ultimate users mostly were hesitant to use IFMIS due to fears of losing their jobs because of institutionalized practices and a lack of IT skills. The study further revealed that, even if many conditions for a successful reform, especially regarding adoption and implementation, are in place, the reform may ultimately fail due to the impact of other factors that particularly regard the use of the newly developed accounting repertoire.

The findings of this study can be considered as a blueprint to emerging economies yet to adopt and implement similar IT-based Public Financial Management Information System (PFMIS). Moreover, given that some ultimate users exhibited resistance to the use of the new system, the results will prompt emerging economies that have not yet implemented IT-based PFMIS to recognize that cultural change management is an inevitable condition for successful implementation and use of IT-based PFMIS.

This study contributes to studies on public sector accounting reform in emerging economies by highlighting how the adoption of public sector accounting reform was instigated by both development partners and indigenous institutions responsible for ensuring effective and transparent management of public funds. Furthermore, unlike previous studies, the implementation team imported business case ideas from the private sector to augment the IFMIS implementation.

New Zealand is widely recognised as extreme in its New Public Financial Management reforms. Scrutiny of the reformed financial management system reveals its consistency with a controversial political agenda: trade liberalisation of even core social services such as social welfare, health and education. Further, the detailed requirements are systematically biased towards withdrawing from government services (by running them down) and/or privatising them (by artificially inflating reported costs, thus projecting an appearance of inefficiency). The legislation underpinning the New Zealand model was shepherded through parliament by a Minister of Finance who publicly opposed exposing social services to market forces. Drawing on archival records, this article provides a historical account of how this legislation came into being. The legislation handed key levers of power to extend the reforms to the Treasury. Particular attention is paid to the friction within the government of the time over extending the reforms to social policy, and the role of the Treasury. Possibly, some ministers who drove the reforms through did not appreciate their nature. Alternatively, the handover of the levers of power could be perceived as an attempt to avoid blame.