Public Sector Accounting Research Research Articles

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: Exploring resilience in the third sector

AbstractThis Special Issue is based on a selection of papers initially presented at the conference on “Resilience and the Third Sector” (Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research, University of Edinburgh, November 2022). The third sector is pervasive in most societies and makes a distinctive and widely‐recognized contribution to the public good by building social capital, frequently affording a foundation for social cohesiveness. However, it is a fragile sector that is significantly affected by crises (the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune). These have the potential to curtail the capacity of third‐sector organizations (TSOs) to deliver societal benefits and, in the most extreme cases, even threaten their survival. Given this, the resilience of TSOs (albeit this term has multiple layers and manifold meanings) is critical. This paper explores a range of connotations linked to third‐sector resilience and explores contemporary evidence (including the papers in this Special Issue) as to how the sector identifies, manages, and learns from crises. In addition, it provides a brief outline research agenda as a basis for encouraging researchers to focus on resilience in TSOs and enhance knowledge. It is argued that more rigorous, evidence‐based research of this nature has the potential to positively influence practice in the sector, as well as policy formulation by government and others who steer TSOs.

Discipline and Punish: A Study Exploring the Adoption of NPM-Inspired Accounting Reforms in the Provincial Governments in the Solomon Islands

This presentation aims to illustrate part of my findings which capture the adoption of New Public Management (NPM)-inspired reforms at the provincial government level in the Solomon Islands. The overall aim of the study was to examine the adoption of two NPM-inspired accounting reforms (cash-based IPSAS – or International Public Sector Accounting Standards – and performance-based budgeting) and a participatory budgeting system in the Solomon Islands. The paucity of attention given to Public Sector Accounting Research (PSAR) in socio-cultural settings in developing countries motivated this study. Drawing on Foucault’s disciplinary power (Foucault, 1977) the study demonstrated how accounting as a ‘calculative infrastructure’ was able to transform the provincial governments in the Solomon Islands. The study applies the interpretive methodology that integrates with a critical theory to interpret the data (Chua, 1986b; Power & Laughlin, 1992). A total of 60 semi-structured interviews were held at both levels of government (national and provincial). Documents were also gathered, including historical data. Thematic analysis was employed and was guided by Foucault’s principles of critical interpretation. The presentation concludes by highlighting how accounting as a ‘calculative infrastructure’ plays an instrumental role in mediating conflict between political groups. In doing so, the study supports prior calls for an in-depth analysis of neoliberal reforms such as those inspired by the NPM in order to better understand the manifold implications of accounting in a wider social context.

Council’s Online Disclosure of Accountability Practices: Isomorphism Inquiries

The study aimed to explain the reasons for disclosing the accountability practices information on the Malaysian local councils’ websites using the isomorphism tenet. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with officers from 12 selected Malaysian local councils involved in the disclosure of accountability practices on websites. The interviews revealed that the reasons for disclosure of accountability practices information were classified into six themes – regulatory requirements, website administration, community, organisational goals, leadership, and others, which are subsequently linked to the three isomorphism pressures and strategic controls concept. This study demonstrates the effect of the isomorphic influences by local councils on the disclosure of accountability practices on websites. This paper contributes to the public sector accounting research on the use of the isomorphism concept to explain the disclosure of accountability practices on websites and subsequently linked to behavioural control and informational control concepts that are not commonly used in disclosure studies. The findings of this paper are helpful to local councils and policymakers in identifying the reasons for the disclosure of accountability practices on websites, hence, enabling them to improve in the future. Keywords: Accountability practices, local council, isomorphism, disclosure, websites, strategic controls

Voter rationality, the use of accounting information and voting behavior: evidence from a referendum

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether objective and subjective rationality affects individual voters’ use of accounting information and if such use affects voting behavior. While prior accounting studies assume voter rationality concerning financial performance and political outcomes, this study distinguishes between two types of voters: objective rational voters (who make voting decisions about multiple alternatives based on objective information) and subjective rational voters (who make decisions based on their subjective values, and thus do not explore information or explore only information biased toward one alternative). This study expects that accounting information can influence the voting behavior of objective and subjective rational voters. Design/methodology/approach Focusing on the 2020 Osaka Metropolitan Plan Referendum, this study used an online survey conducted on 768 respondents after the referendum. Findings This study finds that objective rational voters use accounting information more than subjective rational voters, voters who used accounting information were more likely to vote against the referendum, and voting behavior is not directly affected by the type of rationality of voters; rather, objective rational voters are more likely to use accounting information that has a mediating effect on voting behavior. Originality/value The results advance the understanding of public sector accounting research and practices by providing evidence of the individual voter’s use of accounting information and their voting behavior in political contexts.

The future of public sector accounting research. A polyphonic debate

PurposeThe 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/approachThis 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.FindingsThis 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/implicationsExploring 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/valueIn 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.

Editorial – a plea for changing directions of public sector accounting research in emerging economies

Editorial – a plea for changing directions of public sector accounting research in emerging economies

The Development of Public Sector Accounting in Indonesia – A Bibliography Study

This study aims to provide an overview related to the development of public sector accounting research in Indonesia. The method used in this study is charting the field. Samples taken came from 11 journals in Indonesia and obtained 20 articles during 2010-2020. The results of this study indicate that the topic most widely used in public sector accounting research is the topic of agency performance and control systems. The topic of government agencies' performance in the public sector is the most researched topic because the government in Indonesia in managing public financial reports is still a special concern of the public. Meanwhile the least research topic is the topic of the accounting system.

Public sector accounting in emerging economies: a review of the papers published in the first decade of Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies

PurposeA review of papers on public sector accounting in emerging economies, as published in the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies' (JAEE) first decade.Design/methodology/approachA reflection on the issues covered and achievements made in the reviewed papers in the context of extant knowledge in this domain.FindingsA majority of the research in JAEE is dominated by accounting reforms inspired by New Public Management (NPM). Performance management, budgeting and accrual accounting are the main topics in the reviewed research. NPM claims, which can range from usability and use of a new accounting repertoire to desirable impacts on efficiency and service delivery, are often not fulfilled. Many papers attempt to explain failing accounting innovations by the local context in which they are embedded, including political instability, poor governance and a lack of capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reviews research in a niche journal, but the findings are related to wider public sector accounting literature.Practical implicationsPublic sector practitioners, but also researchers, need to move away from a focus on public sector reforms due to contextual circumstances leading to built-in failures and concentrate instead on understanding how the accounting repertoire works in practice, including routes for improvements therein.Originality/valueAn original framework for analysing public sector accounting research in emerging economies is proposed, which, among others, distinguishes between various ambition levels for achieving NPM reforms.

Public Sector Accounting in Europe: A Systematic Literature Review

There has been an increased interest in public sector accounting research due to the changing standards worldwide with harmonization on the horizon. Despite this trend, there is still a lack of comprehension of national and local governments’ role in adopting and improving the international standards to enhance accountability, transparency and developing a more consistent and evolved society. This article aims to systematically review the literature on public accounting in European countries by examining the research trends.The analysis is developed through a bibliometric study based on three keywords: “Public Sector”, “Accounting”, and “Europe”. We systematically analyze the articles in the Web of Science database.This work presents several articles through a bibliometric study based on defined keywords. To define the relationship between the articles and the most cited authors, we based the systematic analysis on the aggregation of articles by clusters.In the last twenty years, public accounting in Europe has undergone significant changes, adapting to needs and innovations, which the most prominent resides in new accounting standards.Adopting International Public Sector Accounting Standards can benefit countries that introduce them into their system, namely increasing the system’s responsibility and transparency.Research is inevitably limited by the impact of public accounting changes in Europe and governments’ responses to social, economic and fiscal environments.This systematic review shed light on the challenges that public management has faced recently.

“The frog in the pan”: relational transformation of public values in the UK tax authority

PurposeThe authors aim to contribute to conceptual and empirical understanding of publicness in public sector accounting research by analysing how accounting technologies facilitated the transformation of public values of the UK tax authority.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a conceptual framework for analysing public values in terms of relational power. Combining governmentality and actor–network theory, the authors focus on the complex relationships through which human and non-human actors interact and the public values that emerge from these evolving socio-material networks. Based on a critical-interpretivist ethnographic study of interviews, documents and secondary survey data, the authors identify the emergent properties of accounting technologies in their case study.FindingsThe authors explain how accounting technologies facilitated the transformation of public values in the tax authority by reshaping relational power. Traditional public values were eroded and replaced by neoliberal values through a gradual change process (“frog in the pan”) of (1) disconnecting workers and citizens both spatially and socially; (2) losing touch with the embodied nature of tax administration; and (3) yielding to a dehumanising performance management system. Neoliberal accounting technologies transformed the texture of relationships in such a way that workers and citizens became disempowered from effective, accountable and humane tax administration.Research limitations/implicationsFurther research is needed that gains wider access to tax authority workers, extends the scope of the empirical data and provides comparisons with other tax authorities and public sector organisations.Social implicationsThe authors show that a relational approach to public values enables identification of what is “valuable” and how public sector organisations can become “value-able”.Originality/valueThe authors offer an interdisciplinary conceptualisation of publicness based on public administration literature, develop a relational conceptualisation of public values and provide original empirical evidence about the changing publicness of the UK tax authority.

Intellectual heritages of post-1990 public sector accounting research: an exploration

PurposeThe article's aim is to refine prospects for theorising in public sector accounting (PSA) research in order to capture the methodological benefits promised by its multi-disciplinarity.Design/methodology/approachThe study primarily employs a bibliometric analysis of research outputs invoking New Public Management (NPM). Applying a content analysis to Hood (1991), as the most cited NPM source, bibliographic methods and citation/co-citation analysis for the period 1991 to 2018 are mobilised to identify the disciplinary evolution of the NPM knowledge base from a structural and longitudinal perspective.FindingsThe analysis exhibits disciplinary branching of NPM over time and its imprints on post-1990 PSA research. Given the discourse about origins of NPM-based accounting research, there are research domains behind the obvious that indicate disciplinary fragmentations. For instance, novelty of PSA research is found in public value accounting, continuity is evidenced by transcending contextual antecedents. Interestingly, these domains are loosely coupled. Exploring the role of disciplinary imprints designates prospects for post-NPM PSA research that acknowledges multi-disciplinarity and branching in order to deploy insularity as a building block for its inquiries.Research limitations/implicationsCriteria for assessing the limitations and credibility of an explorative inquiry are used, especially on how the proposal to develop cumulative knowledge from post-1990 PSA research can be further developed.Practical implicationsA matrix suggesting a method of ordering disciplinary references enables positioning of research inquiries within PSA research.Originality/valueBy extending common taxonomies of PSA intellectual heritages, the study proposes the ‘inquiry-heritage’ matrix as a typology that displays patterns of theorisation for positioning an inquiry within PSA disciplinary groundings.

New development: Accounting recognition of public infrastructure—applying a practical control criterion approach

ABSTRACT The accounting recognition of public infrastructure can be extremely complex. This article explores and discusses the key IPSAS definitions and reviews the national accounting frameworks of some countries as regards their criteria for recognizing these assets. The author makes an important contribution to public sector accounting research by presenting a new way of recognizing public infrastructure as an asset based on the control criterion.

IPSAS for European Union member states as starting points for EPSAS

PurposeThe European Commission is pursuing an initiative to establish European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) as a common mandatory set of rules for financial reporting of all member states of the European Union (EU). As a basis for developing EPSAS, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) are being used. The purpose of this paper is to structure and analyze the discussion around EPSAS, with particular emphasis on the arguments that were brought forward by governments and other stakeholders of various EU countries regarding the suitability of IPSAS.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on several schools of thought in new institutional theory, how the prevailing institutional contexts in countries influence the debates is explored. Empirically, this research investigates the responses to a consultation on the suitability of IPSAS for EU member states and takes a closer look, via document analysis, at France and Germany as two critical cases.FindingsIt is found that, first, the majority of arguments from respondents are framed in a rational choice way. Second, skeptics of IPSAS tend to make arguments rather from positions closer to historical and/or sociological institutionalism.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper illustrates that while technical matters around EPSAS seem solvable, political, historical and cultural differences go deeper, and need to be addressed by change agents. Regarding limitations of the research, first, the analysis concentrates on financial reporting and does not deal with the implications for more reliable and comparable national accounts in the context of the European System of Accounts (ESA, 2010). Second, it is focused on debates in the context of the EPSAS proposal, and there is a need for an evaluation after the changes have gone live.Originality/valueThe study looks at a text genre that has so far received less attention in public sector accounting research: responses to consultations. The paper contributes to the literature by showing how institutional contexts matter in settings characterized by contestation of reform contents.

Transforming the public sector: 1998–2018

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of public sector research in the 1998–2018 period.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the extant literature of this era to study the theorisation of, and the findings of, public sector research.FindingsThis is a vibrant field of a study in a wide range of study settings and with many interdisciplinary studies. The influence of new public management is pervasive over this period. There are numerous instances of innovations in study settings, in key findings and the approach taken by investigators.Research limitations/implicationsThis is not a comprehensive review of all literature in this period.Practical implicationsThis study also explored the relevance of academic research of this era to policymaking by governments.Originality/valueThis paper offers a distinctive critique of theorisation of public sector accounting research. It reveals the dominant theoretical reference points in use during this period and observes the increasing tendency for theoretical pluralism to investigate complex study settings.

Debate: The practical relevance of public sector accounting research; time to take a stand—A response to van Helden

As with his previous commentaries on the ‘research-practice’ gap as it relates to accounting in the public sector, van Helden’s observations on our book, The Research–practice gap on accounting in public services; an international analysis, are both insightful and required reading for public sector accounting researchers seeking to contribute to bridging this divide. In this brief rejoinder, we take the opportunity to respond to what we consider to be an integral perspective raised by van Helden - one succinctly articulated within the title of his article, ‘time to take a stand’.

Financial statements disclosure on Indonesian local government websites

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment influence the disclosure of financial statements on the official website of local government. Design/methodology/approach The data of this research comprise 68 financial statements during the period 2015–2016 collected from 34 local governments across Indonesia by employing the census method. The data then are analyzed using logistic regression. Findings The results of this study show that audit opinion has a positive significant influence on the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites in Indonesia, while the audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment have no significant influences on the disclosure of financial statements local governments’ websites across Indonesia. Originality/value The study contributes to the public sector accounting research by enhancing our understanding to the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites.

Modes of timing and spacing professional decisions: On the relationship between costing and caring in child protection work

AbstractWithin public sector accounting research, the question of how “costing” is implemented and how it transforms professional “caring” work has been widely studied and debated. Studies have, for instance, pointed to contextual variables that make cost information more or less useful in professional decision making. However, in doing so, scholars also assume that decision making follows a linear path that can be informed and transformed by cost information. In this paper, I take it as my starting point that both costing and caring vary as they are combined in professional decision‐making processes. I use the broad and processual definition of calculation from the work of Callon and Muniesa to analyze how distinctions about vulnerable children's situations are made relevant for the choice and delimitation of social services. This allows me to investigate how, when, and where distinctions between costing and caring are drawn rather than assuming that costing and caring are preexisting and stable practices that can be put to use or not.

New development: The practical relevance of public sector accounting research; time to take a stand

ABSTRACTThis article discusses three major themes that challenge researchers to focus more on practice-relevant public sector accounting research: How to combine practice-oriented research with being an impartial scholar? Which types of research themes have practical relevance? How can research contribute to societally-relevant issues?

Public value and public sector accounting research: a structured literature review

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role and impact of accounting within the fragmented field of public value theory literature.Design/methodology/approachThe work develops a structured literature review (SLR) and seeks to shed light on the state of public value research, with particular emphasis on the role of accounting scholarship.FindingsThe lack of empirical research and the limited number of accounting papers reveal how accounting scholars need to achieve a deeper understanding of the public value conceptualization, creation and measurement process.Originality/valueThe paper develops the first wide-ranging SLR on public value accounting. It is a starting point to develop new research avenues, both in the fields of accountability/external reporting, and management accounting and performance management.

Accounting and the post-new public management

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context.Design/methodology/approachThe paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines.FindingsNPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research.Originality/valueThe paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.