Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management
PurposeThe purpose of this polyphonic paper is to report on interdisciplinary discussions on the ... more 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)...
This article proposes to identify the corporate governance system characteristics of a limited gr... more This article proposes to identify the corporate governance system characteristics of a limited group of public-private companies which operate in the local public services sector and are quoted on the Stock Exchange. The study's objective is to analyze the common tendencies and possible differences in the systems of governance adopted, with particular reference to the structure of capital, to the system of assignment and execution of management functions, and to the mechanisms of monitoring and managing information systems. The empirical analysis was conducted on the governance systems of quoted local public service companies via comparative analysis of data gathered from company Web sites and from official documentation available from CONSOB and Borsa Italiana SpA. The governance systems of the companies analysed, all structured according to ”traditional” models of administration and control, seem to guarantee a high degree of transparency. This may be the reason for which, in ...
This study investigates the process of modernising the management of elderly care services by usi... more This study investigates the process of modernising the management of elderly care services by using competitive contract tendering, referred to as CCT, for the first time in Finland. The conceptual approach is based on the framework of circuits of power. Data, based on document analysis, interviews, meetings observation and continuous interactions with key informants in their organisational settings, are from intensive field research conducted in a Finnish city from 2008 to 2013. Findings show that the process of introducing CCT to modernise management of public elderly care exposed that political decision makers and public managers lack professional skills to limit procurement risks in designing and implementing the CCT process. As a result, the total costs of using CCT to outsource aged care services became much higher than expected. A contribution is to show the ways in which modernisation of public services by using free market mechanisms, such as CCT, is a field of inter-organisat...
The relevance of the paper to the panel topic The management and governance of hybrid organizatio... more The relevance of the paper to the panel topic The management and governance of hybrid organizations involve a range of challenges and critical issues. One such issue concerns the people that embody ...
Purpose: The article explores changes in the institutional autonomy and accountability resulting ... more Purpose: The article explores changes in the institutional autonomy and accountability resulting from university reforms carried out over a period of 28 years under the influence of the traditional public administration and new public management logic. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study uses rich empirical material, which includes archival documents as well as 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with deans, professors, representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and HEI experts. For analysis, we used the general inductive approach. Institutional logic has been used as the theoretical framework to analyze changes in resource allocation, autonomy, and accountability of HEIs. Findings: Following the idea of reform as routine, our study shows that the implemented reforms have proven ineffective in comprehensively increasing the autonomy and accountability of HEIs and that they tend to turn into a routine. However, over the past 30 years, a certa...
Urbanisation is a global challenge where urban areas are growing while other areas shrink their p... more Urbanisation is a global challenge where urban areas are growing while other areas shrink their population. The challenges that arise with a globalised world affect city development practises (Vall ...
Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management
Purpose This paper aims to explore how the phenomena of corruption and fraud in the public sector... more Purpose This paper aims to explore how the phenomena of corruption and fraud in the public sector have been portrayed in the literature using the Audit Society Framework (Power, 1997). Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a structured literature review (Massaro et al., 2016) to unveil relevant literature in the area of corruption and fraud in the public sector. Findings Results highlight that the literature using “The Audit Society” theory is still scant. Notwithstanding the call for a more decisive role of auditors in fighting corruption and fraud, much is still to be discovered about consequences of auditing and what “good quality” is. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is that only literature in English has been included. Practical implications This paper helps practitioners and policymakers to take and implement informed decisions with regards to the fight against fraud and corruption. Social implications In calling for more research in the domain...
A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountabili... more A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountability. Studies in this area show how digital technologies are equipped to support more participative information-sharing and provide dialogic tools for interactions with forums. However, no research has yet examined how to engage forums and enable web-based accountability relationships. We address this gap by highlighting the need to adapt social media communication strategies for topic-specific discussions. Our analysis builds on a database containing 25,485 posts extracted from social media platforms used by 13 Polish municipalities and focuses on two different matters of discussion: posts related to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and non-COVID-19 related posts. Moreover, during the analysis, we consider two social media communication strategies: passive and participatory. Our findings indicate that both communication strategies can generate forum engagement, which subsequently supports web-based accountability. They also demonstrate that, to support forum engagement, municipalities should avoid one-style-fits-all approaches to communication and instead tailor strategies to the specific subject of discussion. This study contributes to expanding academic debates on web-based accountability by illustrating how the use of social media communication strategies can help engage citizens in public forums to enhance accountability relationships.
PurposeThe paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers... more PurposeThe paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers' attention and responses to competing accountability demands over time.Design/methodology/approachThis is a longitudinal study of one Russian municipality's implementation of PB under central government pressures during 2013–2017. Using triangulation of 25 interviews, documentary analysis and field observations, we employed institutional logics to guide the study.FindingsThe paper demonstrates the dynamic properties of PB construction under competing accountability demands via the “creative distraction” metaphor. PB was a “distraction” mechanism, which, on one hand, strengthened external accountability, while, on the other, distracting the municipality from internal municipal demands. Nevertheless, this “distraction” was also “creative,” as it produced proactive responses to competing accountability demands and creative effects over time. Specifically, PB also led to elements of...
A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountabili... more A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountability. Studies in this area show how digital technologies are equipped to support more participative information-sharing and provide dialogic tools for interactions with forums. However, no research has yet examined how to engage forums and enable web-based accountability relationships. We address this gap by highlighting the need to adapt social media communication strategies for topic-specific discussions. Our analysis builds on a database containing 25,485 posts extracted from social media platforms used by 13 Polish municipalities and focuses on two different matters of discussion: posts related to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and non-COVID-19 related posts. Moreover, during the analysis, we consider two social media communication strategies: passive and participatory. Our findings indicate that both communication strategies can generate forum engagement, which subsequently supports web-based accountability. They also demonstrate that, to support forum engagement, municipalities should avoid one-style-fits-all approaches to communication and instead tailor strategies to the specific subject of discussion. This study contributes to expanding academic debates on web-based accountability by illustrating how the use of social media communication strategies can help engage citizens in public forums to enhance accountability relationships.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is ch... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is changing due to public governance development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts a traditional literature review based on selected studies in the fields of accounting, public administration and management. The aim of the review is to explain how diverse forms of public governance influence the fate of public sector accounting, including accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.FindingsPublic governance is developing into more inclusive but also complex forms, resulting in network, collaborative and digital governance. Consequently, the focus and practices of public sector accounting have changed, as reflected in new types of accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.Research limitations/implicationsDrawing upon literature from different fields enables a deeper understanding of the changes in public sector accoun...
How is the notion of public interest operationalised in the regulatory practices of the Internati... more How is the notion of public interest operationalised in the regulatory practices of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB)? A fundamental objective in setting international accounting standards for both the private and public sector is to serve the ‘public interest’. Who or what constitutes ‘public interest’ however remains a highly complex and controversial issue. Private sector financial reporting research posits that users (of financial information) are used as a proxy for the ‘public’ and users are further refined to current and potential investors - a small proportion of the public. The debates surrounding public interest are even more contentious in public sector financial reporting which deals with ‘public’ (tax payers’) money. In our study we use Bourdieu’s notion of semi-homogenous fields to show how autonomous and heteronomous pressures from the epistemic community of the accounting profession and political/government interests compete for the ...
Changes to the organizational composition of the public sector introduced by New Public Managemen... more Changes to the organizational composition of the public sector introduced by New Public Management-style reforms, leading to contracting-out and privatization in their various forms have led to an increased decentralisation of responsibilities in accounting in the public sector. These reforms have not only been done for the reasons of finding adequate forms of organizing public sector activities, but very often the in the German-speaking world used expression “escape out of the budget” was pursued for the purpose of hiding public debt. It has now become widely accepted by those investigating financial reporting requirements in the public sector, that the consolidated financial statement (CFS) is a useful instrument for governments dealing with publicly-owned entities, because it presents a clear picture of the current economic status and functioning of the whole inter-related Group (Chow et al., 2007; Grossi and Newberry, 2009; Wise, 2010). As in the private sector, also in the public sector a need for more harmonized accounting practices has arisen among countries. Maybe the best way to reach the aim of more harmonization of financial reports is to follow the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), issued by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), which provide rules for preparing both annual and consolidated financial statements. The IPSAS 6-8 suggest control as the leading criterion to define the scope of consolidation, and by operationalizing it adapt the concept for the specific characteristics of the public sector. With the rising importance of these single public sector accounting standards being used internationally, it can be expected that more and more countries also switch to the respective suggestions for CFS. But is it really this way? This paper therefore aims to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the state of CFS in OECD countries? 2. What consolidation methods are used? 3. Are they influenced in any way by the guiding principles to define the scope of consolidation or by the purpose CFS shall fulfil? The aim of this paper is to give an overview of actual consolidation practices in OECD countries and to identify major trends in consolidated financial reporting. Therefore, the paper will be structured as follows: section two will give a literature review of different consolidation approaches and the specific needs in the public sector. In section 3, the research-design and terms and concepts of consolidation will be introduced. Section 4 will present findings, which will be summed up in the conclusion, while the floor for further research necessities is opened
Over the last thirty years, institutional and socio-economic development and the phenomenon ofglo... more Over the last thirty years, institutional and socio-economic development and the phenomenon ofglobalization have played a crucial role in changes seen in the higher education sector. Thesechanges h ...
Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management
PurposeThe purpose of this polyphonic paper is to report on interdisciplinary discussions on the ... more 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)...
This article proposes to identify the corporate governance system characteristics of a limited gr... more This article proposes to identify the corporate governance system characteristics of a limited group of public-private companies which operate in the local public services sector and are quoted on the Stock Exchange. The study's objective is to analyze the common tendencies and possible differences in the systems of governance adopted, with particular reference to the structure of capital, to the system of assignment and execution of management functions, and to the mechanisms of monitoring and managing information systems. The empirical analysis was conducted on the governance systems of quoted local public service companies via comparative analysis of data gathered from company Web sites and from official documentation available from CONSOB and Borsa Italiana SpA. The governance systems of the companies analysed, all structured according to ”traditional” models of administration and control, seem to guarantee a high degree of transparency. This may be the reason for which, in ...
This study investigates the process of modernising the management of elderly care services by usi... more This study investigates the process of modernising the management of elderly care services by using competitive contract tendering, referred to as CCT, for the first time in Finland. The conceptual approach is based on the framework of circuits of power. Data, based on document analysis, interviews, meetings observation and continuous interactions with key informants in their organisational settings, are from intensive field research conducted in a Finnish city from 2008 to 2013. Findings show that the process of introducing CCT to modernise management of public elderly care exposed that political decision makers and public managers lack professional skills to limit procurement risks in designing and implementing the CCT process. As a result, the total costs of using CCT to outsource aged care services became much higher than expected. A contribution is to show the ways in which modernisation of public services by using free market mechanisms, such as CCT, is a field of inter-organisat...
The relevance of the paper to the panel topic The management and governance of hybrid organizatio... more The relevance of the paper to the panel topic The management and governance of hybrid organizations involve a range of challenges and critical issues. One such issue concerns the people that embody ...
Purpose: The article explores changes in the institutional autonomy and accountability resulting ... more Purpose: The article explores changes in the institutional autonomy and accountability resulting from university reforms carried out over a period of 28 years under the influence of the traditional public administration and new public management logic. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative study uses rich empirical material, which includes archival documents as well as 16 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with deans, professors, representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and HEI experts. For analysis, we used the general inductive approach. Institutional logic has been used as the theoretical framework to analyze changes in resource allocation, autonomy, and accountability of HEIs. Findings: Following the idea of reform as routine, our study shows that the implemented reforms have proven ineffective in comprehensively increasing the autonomy and accountability of HEIs and that they tend to turn into a routine. However, over the past 30 years, a certa...
Urbanisation is a global challenge where urban areas are growing while other areas shrink their p... more Urbanisation is a global challenge where urban areas are growing while other areas shrink their population. The challenges that arise with a globalised world affect city development practises (Vall ...
Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management
Purpose This paper aims to explore how the phenomena of corruption and fraud in the public sector... more Purpose This paper aims to explore how the phenomena of corruption and fraud in the public sector have been portrayed in the literature using the Audit Society Framework (Power, 1997). Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a structured literature review (Massaro et al., 2016) to unveil relevant literature in the area of corruption and fraud in the public sector. Findings Results highlight that the literature using “The Audit Society” theory is still scant. Notwithstanding the call for a more decisive role of auditors in fighting corruption and fraud, much is still to be discovered about consequences of auditing and what “good quality” is. Research limitations/implications The main limitation is that only literature in English has been included. Practical implications This paper helps practitioners and policymakers to take and implement informed decisions with regards to the fight against fraud and corruption. Social implications In calling for more research in the domain...
A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountabili... more A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountability. Studies in this area show how digital technologies are equipped to support more participative information-sharing and provide dialogic tools for interactions with forums. However, no research has yet examined how to engage forums and enable web-based accountability relationships. We address this gap by highlighting the need to adapt social media communication strategies for topic-specific discussions. Our analysis builds on a database containing 25,485 posts extracted from social media platforms used by 13 Polish municipalities and focuses on two different matters of discussion: posts related to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and non-COVID-19 related posts. Moreover, during the analysis, we consider two social media communication strategies: passive and participatory. Our findings indicate that both communication strategies can generate forum engagement, which subsequently supports web-based accountability. They also demonstrate that, to support forum engagement, municipalities should avoid one-style-fits-all approaches to communication and instead tailor strategies to the specific subject of discussion. This study contributes to expanding academic debates on web-based accountability by illustrating how the use of social media communication strategies can help engage citizens in public forums to enhance accountability relationships.
PurposeThe paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers... more PurposeThe paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers' attention and responses to competing accountability demands over time.Design/methodology/approachThis is a longitudinal study of one Russian municipality's implementation of PB under central government pressures during 2013–2017. Using triangulation of 25 interviews, documentary analysis and field observations, we employed institutional logics to guide the study.FindingsThe paper demonstrates the dynamic properties of PB construction under competing accountability demands via the “creative distraction” metaphor. PB was a “distraction” mechanism, which, on one hand, strengthened external accountability, while, on the other, distracting the municipality from internal municipal demands. Nevertheless, this “distraction” was also “creative,” as it produced proactive responses to competing accountability demands and creative effects over time. Specifically, PB also led to elements of...
A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountabili... more A growing body of research has explored the emergence of new digital forms of public accountability. Studies in this area show how digital technologies are equipped to support more participative information-sharing and provide dialogic tools for interactions with forums. However, no research has yet examined how to engage forums and enable web-based accountability relationships. We address this gap by highlighting the need to adapt social media communication strategies for topic-specific discussions. Our analysis builds on a database containing 25,485 posts extracted from social media platforms used by 13 Polish municipalities and focuses on two different matters of discussion: posts related to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic and non-COVID-19 related posts. Moreover, during the analysis, we consider two social media communication strategies: passive and participatory. Our findings indicate that both communication strategies can generate forum engagement, which subsequently supports web-based accountability. They also demonstrate that, to support forum engagement, municipalities should avoid one-style-fits-all approaches to communication and instead tailor strategies to the specific subject of discussion. This study contributes to expanding academic debates on web-based accountability by illustrating how the use of social media communication strategies can help engage citizens in public forums to enhance accountability relationships.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is ch... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is changing due to public governance development.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts a traditional literature review based on selected studies in the fields of accounting, public administration and management. The aim of the review is to explain how diverse forms of public governance influence the fate of public sector accounting, including accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.FindingsPublic governance is developing into more inclusive but also complex forms, resulting in network, collaborative and digital governance. Consequently, the focus and practices of public sector accounting have changed, as reflected in new types of accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.Research limitations/implicationsDrawing upon literature from different fields enables a deeper understanding of the changes in public sector accoun...
How is the notion of public interest operationalised in the regulatory practices of the Internati... more How is the notion of public interest operationalised in the regulatory practices of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB)? A fundamental objective in setting international accounting standards for both the private and public sector is to serve the ‘public interest’. Who or what constitutes ‘public interest’ however remains a highly complex and controversial issue. Private sector financial reporting research posits that users (of financial information) are used as a proxy for the ‘public’ and users are further refined to current and potential investors - a small proportion of the public. The debates surrounding public interest are even more contentious in public sector financial reporting which deals with ‘public’ (tax payers’) money. In our study we use Bourdieu’s notion of semi-homogenous fields to show how autonomous and heteronomous pressures from the epistemic community of the accounting profession and political/government interests compete for the ...
Changes to the organizational composition of the public sector introduced by New Public Managemen... more Changes to the organizational composition of the public sector introduced by New Public Management-style reforms, leading to contracting-out and privatization in their various forms have led to an increased decentralisation of responsibilities in accounting in the public sector. These reforms have not only been done for the reasons of finding adequate forms of organizing public sector activities, but very often the in the German-speaking world used expression “escape out of the budget” was pursued for the purpose of hiding public debt. It has now become widely accepted by those investigating financial reporting requirements in the public sector, that the consolidated financial statement (CFS) is a useful instrument for governments dealing with publicly-owned entities, because it presents a clear picture of the current economic status and functioning of the whole inter-related Group (Chow et al., 2007; Grossi and Newberry, 2009; Wise, 2010). As in the private sector, also in the public sector a need for more harmonized accounting practices has arisen among countries. Maybe the best way to reach the aim of more harmonization of financial reports is to follow the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), issued by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), which provide rules for preparing both annual and consolidated financial statements. The IPSAS 6-8 suggest control as the leading criterion to define the scope of consolidation, and by operationalizing it adapt the concept for the specific characteristics of the public sector. With the rising importance of these single public sector accounting standards being used internationally, it can be expected that more and more countries also switch to the respective suggestions for CFS. But is it really this way? This paper therefore aims to answer the following research questions: 1. What is the state of CFS in OECD countries? 2. What consolidation methods are used? 3. Are they influenced in any way by the guiding principles to define the scope of consolidation or by the purpose CFS shall fulfil? The aim of this paper is to give an overview of actual consolidation practices in OECD countries and to identify major trends in consolidated financial reporting. Therefore, the paper will be structured as follows: section two will give a literature review of different consolidation approaches and the specific needs in the public sector. In section 3, the research-design and terms and concepts of consolidation will be introduced. Section 4 will present findings, which will be summed up in the conclusion, while the floor for further research necessities is opened
Over the last thirty years, institutional and socio-economic development and the phenomenon ofglo... more Over the last thirty years, institutional and socio-economic development and the phenomenon ofglobalization have played a crucial role in changes seen in the higher education sector. Thesechanges h ...
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