Modernizing governments in Transitional and Emerging Economies through financial reporting based on international standards

Abstract

In the administrative reforms that countries with emerging and transitional economies are undertaking, the choice of the method to be used for government accounts evaluation is a crucial issue, as the replacement of historical cost by fair value evaluation could affect the success or otherwise of the administrative reforms in these countries. In this article, we analyse the opinions of the National Accounting Standards Setters (NASS) regarding the utility of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) proposed by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the development of administrative reforms in transitional and emerging economies. To achieve this, we perform a survey of the Official National Accounting Standards Setters in these countries, to study the relevance and reliability of financial government reports based on fair value model. Based on the opinions of NASS in sample countries, the findings show that the implementation of fair value in Transitional and Emerging Economies could contribute to administrative reforms, mainly through the enhancement of the usefulness of government financial statements for purposes of transparency and efficiency measurement. In addition, in countries in transition, NASS opinions show that the crucial factor for the usefulness of fair value is the type of assets held by public organizations, but in emerging countries NASS think that the main factor in this respect is the existence of markets where they can be traded. Points for practitioners For public managers in Transitional and Emerging Economies, the findings of this article may be useful. The findings show how the implementation of international accounting standards can contribute to successful administrative reforms, through the improvement of financial transparency and the evaluation of the efficiency of public sector services. In addition, we identify determining factors of the usefulness of financial information for administrative reform purposes in Transitional and Emerging Economies, on an individual basis.