Legitimating the standard-setter of public sector accounting reforms

ABSTRACT

This paper shows how the Brazilian Treasury has developed strategies to build legitimacy in a civil law context where the legislature left a vacuum regarding the accrual accounting standard-setting mandate. While the accounting ‘rule-enforcers’ neglected to require compliance with the rules, the ‘rule-makers’ co-operated with each other to build normativity for accounting rules and eventually attempted to develop new forms of enforcement, which the ‘rule-appliers’ lobbied against.     

Sustainability accounting regulation in Spanish public sector organizations

In 2011, the Spanish government made sustainability accounting mandatory for public sector organizations. This paper documents why, despite the new legislation, the quantity and quality of sustainability accounting practices remains low.     

New development: The conceptual underpinnings of international public sector accounting

The conceptual underpinnings of accounting standards are potentially very important for the future of public sector accounting internationally. The authors explain why and comment on the implications for public sector accounting.     

Strategic management accounting and strategy practices within a public sector agency

Empirical strategic management accounting (SMA) research has paid insufficient attention to the practices through which strategising occurs. SMA research has also overlooked the importance of strategy in the public sector and the specificities of this context that problematise existing knowledge of techniques that might make up SMA. Consequently, this study examines the role of management accounting in organisational practices through which strategy is enacted, and does this by way of a longitudinal study of a public sector agency. It is informed by the strategy-as-practice perspective that increasingly features in strategy research. The study identifies roles for management accounting in strategising that extend beyond the typically ascribed functions of decision-facilitation and decision-influencing. Its main contribution is the detailing of specific ways in which management accounting is constitutive of strategising through specific organisational practices. The findings of particular management accounting techniques being used for strategising by entities in the public sector provide a useful counter-point to the private sector orientation that has dominated SMA research to date. The study also outlines particular directions that a rebalanced SMA research agenda might take.     

Harmonizing public sector accounting in Europe: thinking out of the box

A broad debate about the harmonization of public sector accounting standards in Europe is underway. The authors provide arguments in favour of harmonization, but they also acknowledge the existing pluralism and diversity by taking stock of the state of play in 14 European countries. The paper makes a proposal for a way forward for policy-makers and standard-setters, in which the benefits of harmonization can be obtained without obliging EU member countries to necessarily abandon their current public sector accounting systems.     

New development: The protective role of conservatism in public sector accounting

This article picks up a discussion in international business accounting about the appropriate definition and use of conservatism (or prudence) and calls for a similar discussion in public sector accounting. If financial reports present an overly optimistic situation, politicians might use them to justify spending public money that is not there, risking the sustainability of services and ‘borrowing’ from future generations.     

The diffusion of management accounting innovations in the public sector: a research agenda

There have been numerous studies of the transformation of the public sector. This paper has a different focus: the dissemination and adoption of management accounting practices within the new public sector. The aim of the paper is explore the manner and means of diffusion, the obstacles to adoption and to establish a research agenda. The paper discusses findings of a survey on diffusion sent to public sector financial managers. The results of the survey indicate, inter alia, that adoption of accounting innovations by public sector organisations is largely affected by government influence. This study has interesting findings, but also points to the need for a new research agenda on the diffusion of management accounting practices in the public sector.     

A theoretical basis for public sector accrual accounting research: current state and perspectives

ABSTRACT

Public sector or government accounting has been the subject of many research endeavors. However, scholars have repeatedly criticized the lack of a consistent and well-defined theoretical basis for international research. So far, most researchers have drawn from various streams of theoretical perspectives with often unsatisfactory results. The goal of this paper is to put forward the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s (IPSASB) Conceptual Framework as a point of reference for establishing a better-fitting theoretical basis for public sector accrual accounting research.     

Accounting policies in the public sector: Characteristics and consequences of accounting for capital assets

We study the evolution of American state and local governments’ capital asset accounting policies from the initial adoption of Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 34 through the fiscal year ending in 2016. We document substantial cross-sectional and time-series variation in capital asset accounting policies, which potentially diminishes the comparability of capital asset accounting information across governments and over time. We also explore the economic implications of those policies in terms of capital investment decisions and capital asset condition ratios, as reported in governments’ annual financial reports. Our findings, which are relevant to the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and its constituents, extend prior research examining the adoption and application of generally accepted accounting principles in the public sector.     

Attitudes of new appointees to accounting and finance departments in the higher education sector

Holland [Holland, K., 1991. Recruitment by accounting departments in the higher education sector: an analysis of recent employees. British Accounting Review 23, 49–66] and Weetman [Weetman, P., 1993. Recruitment by accounting departments in the higher education sector: a comment on the Scottish experience. The British Accounting Review 25, 287–300] reported studies of appointees to accounting and finance (A&F) departments in the UK and Scotland, respectively. This investigation uses a questionnaire survey, and an analysis of the British Accounting Review Research Register to examine five research questions: (i) the characteristics of recent appointees to UK A&F departments across three time periods, 1998—1999 (N=46), 2000–2001 (N=40), and 2002–2003 (N=55); (ii) subsequent job changes of the populations of appointees in 1998–1999 and 2000–2001; (iii) respondents' motivations for becoming A&F lecturers; (iv) their sources of current occupational discontent; and (v) their proposals for making A&F lecturing posts more attractive. Herzberg's [Herzberg, F., 1968. One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review (reprinted 2003)] motivation–hygiene dual-factor theory is used to conceptualise job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In turn, issues relating to occupational discontent are described by Rousseau's [Rousseau, D., 1990. New hire perceptions of their own and their employer's obligations: a study of psychological contracts. Journal of Organisational Behaviour 16, 389–400] psychological contract.The findings identify differences in the characteristics of the appointees in both pre-1992 and post-1992 universities. Overall, staff joined with an expectation of flexible hours of working and a desire to carry out research. The most important source of job discontent was the widening salary gap between academe and industry and the profession. Improved salary levels, more time for scholarly activity and better promotion prospects were seen as the most important factors in making the job more attractive. The implications of our findings for new appointees and institutions are discussed, along with suggestions for future research.     

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

ABSTRACT

This 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?     

Attitudes of accounting practitioners towards accounting faculty and accounting education

The purpose of this study is to assess how accounting practitioners view accounting faculty, accounting education, and the contributions of accounting faculty to the accounting profession. In general, the results of the survey indicate that practitioners have a favorable view of accounting faculty in that accounting faculty are viewed as honest, highly competent, and up-to-date, and their research as being useful to the profession. However, accounting faculty are viewed as not being very helpful in providing guidance towards solving the day-to-day problems of the practitioner. Moreover, the attitudes of the respondents towards accounting education appear related in many cases to the respondents' backgrounds, including their level of education, current position, and previous college teaching experience.     

The first steps towards harmonizing public sector accounting for European Union member states: strategies and perspectives

This paper analyses the process that led the European Commission to the decision to develop European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) for harmonizing public sector accounting practices within the European Union. The paper finds that there was limited scope in terms of stakeholder participation in the public consultation that served as a basis for the decision. In addition, the decision to adopt EPSAS for EU member states raises questions on the relationship between regional and global governance in the area of public sector accounting.     

Strategy in the public sector

The public sector, including its non‐trading organisations, has to face complex demands and is subject to increasing competition in various forms. Nevertheless, the sector, particularly central government, finds strategy difficult. The findings of the Efficiency Unit's ‘Next Steps’ report provide an added impetus to the development of strategic thinking. The agencies proposed, as well as their sponsoring Departments, will require a strategic framework.     

Review: Time machines,ethics and sustainable development: accounting for inter-generational equity in public sector organizations

This review paper explores the key challenges associated with effective inter-generational equity accounts in relation to the governance of public sector organizations and sustainable development transformations. Three different approaches to inter-generational equity accounting are evaluated and an outline for future research is provided.