Management Accounting and Control Research in Public Organizations

Abstract

The majority of academic research studies on management accounting and control (MAC) practices have traditionally been conducted in the private-sector context, and the studies that have involved the public sector have mostly ignored issues unique to public organizations. Three comprehensive literature reviews of MAC research (Ittner and Larcker 2001, Luft and Shields 2003, Chenhall 2003) barely acknowledged the public sector but recognized that it provides potential future research opportunities. A more recent MAC review (Berry et al. 2009) recognized more explicitly unique public-sector circumstances and provided examples of MAC research in the public sector. Finally, the most recent review (Goddard 2010) focused on accounting research, including MAC, specifically in the public sector. These five literature reviews demonstrate increased interest in, and progress on, MAC research in the public-sector context during the 2000s, as discussed in the literature section.