Improving public accountability by aligning reporting to organizational changes in public service provision - an empirical Internet study of all Austrian, German and Swiss towns and states from an agency-theory perspective

Abstract

Consolidation of public sector budgets, fulfilment of fiscal policy requirements and reforms in the provision of public services have made cooperation increasingly important on the international stage. From the perspective of agency theory, this has led to greater information asymmetries and has altered reporting requirements. However, representative empirical studies concerning the provision of information on the Internet on the types of cooperation under which public activities are performed are still not available. A census conducted for 498 websites at local, state and federal government levels for Germany, Austria and Switzerland shows that the reporting requirements have not been met in practice. At the local level in Germany, of the 414 towns with more than 30,000 inhabitants, cooperation reports were available online for 143, which corresponds to 34.5 percent. During the period of the investigation, no cooperation report was provided on the Internet by any town in Austria or Switzerland. Four main recommended actions are formulated for practical application. Points for practitioners Citizens must have opportunities to obtain with minimum effort information on the organizational status quo of public service provision. Moreover, a clear and transparent view of the organizational structure of the public authority, including its types of cooperation, is essential to enable a basis for decision-making for people such as politicians and professionals in administrations to guarantee the sustainable, effective and efficient provision of public sector activities. A cooperation report is a proven management tool in the private sector, and practitioners can gain rewarding cross-national insights if the general public has access to the required information. This could offer helpful approaches for many countries with comparable challenges.