Search results

The analysis intends to clarify whether higher education institutions place as much value on internal transparency as on external transparency. This study aims to analyze the university budgeting process as a reflection of internal transparency. It also aims to identify the weaknesses of the budgeting process regarding transparency in order to improve decision-making.

A case study that applies mixed methods – documentary analysis, observations and interviews – has been conducted. To study internal transparency, the model of three levels of transparency of Biondi and Lapsley (2014) has been applied to the budgeting process of a university. Then, the results have been compared to the external transparency of this institution.

While external transparency is achieved, internal transparency in the budgeting process is far from optimal in the case of study. An improvement in transparency of the budget process can promote the engagement of stakeholders in the process and achieve better governance.

The general inductive approach is not as strong as other approaches in the area of theory or model development. However, it does provide a simple approach for deriving findings linked to this research’s questions.

Trust issues and external accountability appear to be more relevant than internal transparency for universities. However, improving the three levels of transparency along the budgeting process could motivate collegiate members to reinforce accountability, as it requires them to effectively communicate their actions and decisions to their represented.

This paper seeks to situate transparency as an attribute of university governance, contributing to the scarce literature on transparency, internal and external, in the university. The study compares the approach of this university to external transparency – which relates to accountability – with internal transparency – a concept that links to corporate governance. This study uses the novel lens of Biondi and Lapsley model (2014) to study internal transparency, focussing on university budgeting as a key management tool.

The new public management (NPM) agenda is transforming the public sector in many countries. However, there have been criticisms of NPM, particularly over its emphasis on quantification, results orientation and the measurement of performance to the possible detriment of service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to examine an important public service – the fire service – in differing contexts: the “mature” NPM setting of the UK, and a “late adopter” of NPM – Portugal.

This study is conducted by a combined methods approach. The principal focus of this study is on publicly available databases of performance indicators. The data are supported by additional material from operational officers in fire services, and from oversight bodies, obtained by interviews and by survey in Portugal.

This comparative study reaffirms the potential for NPM solutions to public service management. In particular, there is a case for carefully targeted key performance indicators in Portuguese fire services.

This paper makes an original contribution to ideas of NPM in action by focussing on performance measurement in different contexts. The comparative aspect of this paper is crucial as a means of assessing the portability of NPM ideas in different national settings.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of accounting on clinical practices.

This paper reviews existing studies of clinical budgeting; analyses publicly available data on cost‐effectiveness recommendations for the NHS; analyses publicly available data on the influence of accounting in medical dilemmas.

The paper finds that there is limited evidence of clinical budgeting dominating clinical decisions, but there is some evidence of central agency directions on appropriateness of treatments, but this is on a cost‐effectiveness basis. Numerous examples of adverse medical outcomes are cited in this paper – but with limited influence of accounting in these decisions.

The paper shows that the combination of accounting and medical data in a topical matter makes this an original and distinctive study.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how participatory budgeting (PB) as a democratic governance tool has been translated within the Russian public sector by addressing the local specifics of its design and mobilization through the formation of networks.

The paper is based on a case study of one pioneering municipality. Data have been gathered through triangulation of interviews, document search, video and netnographic observations. By relying on ideas from actor–network theory, the study focuses on the relational and rhetorical work of human (allies/inscriptors) and non-human (inscriptions) actors involved in the development of PB in Russia.

The findings indicate that the initial democratic values of PB underwent several stages of translation as a continuous inscription-building process and the formation of networks. The main finding is that putting democratic idea(l)s of PB into practice proved problematic, since PB depended on many “allies” which were not always democratic. Paradoxically, in order to launch democratic practices in Russia, PB relied largely on bureaucratic and even New Public Management inscriptions, which it was originally supposed to fight against. Notwithstanding, while these inscriptions can fog the democratic values of PB, they are also capable of uncovering its democratic potential over time, albeit not for a long time as the “external referee” is needed.

The paper juxtaposes PB development in Russia with the translation literature. Not only does the study emphasize the role of human, but non-human actors as well.

Participatory budgeting (PB) is considered a suitable tool for supporting and promoting citizen engagement in government work. Previous studies of PB have deeply investigated its design and effects, but paid little attention to the underlying logics of adopting and implementing PB. The purpose of this paper is to, accordingly, investigate the development over time of the institutional logics of PB and attempt to explain their effect on PB.

Using a longitudinal multiple case study design, this research analyzes the evolution of institutional logics over time and across five municipalities in Italy. The analysis integrates documents with interviews conducted at two times to investigate the evolution of PB logics.

The development of PB is characterized by the spread of two emerging logics–i.e. managerial and community-building logics–that replace or coexist with the traditional political logic. Indeed, these different logics can coexist within governments, with different degrees of conflict or coexistence, resulting in what can be considered a hybrid logic.

Although the number of examined cases is limited, this research elaborates an original conceptual approach and provides new insights that could help in better designing and implementing PB.

This research builds knowledge of PB by shedding light on its different logics, linking them to diverse specific models of PB and exploring their changes over time.

The purpose of this research is to examine the accounting output of the reformed financial accounting system of municipalities in Belgium, particularly in Flanders. For the first time ever in Belgian governments, an accounting reform transferred from business accounting was imposed. The research hypothesizes that the level of material comparability of the accounting output is very poor in spite of the strict accounting regulations. The empirical results indicate that the annual accounts are actually incomparable in many respects and that these problems cannot be explained away by a lack of experience.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is changing due to public governance development.

This 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.

Public 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.

Drawing upon literature from different fields enables a deeper understanding of the changes in public sector accounting. Nevertheless, the intention is not to execute a systematic literature review but to provide an overview and resolve the scattered body of knowledge generated by previous contributions. The areas of risk management and auditing were not included and deserve further attention.

This paper discusses the need to continually redefine and reassess public sector accounting practices, by recognising the interdependencies between different actors, citizens and digital technologies.

The manifestations of managerialism in State and Federal public services have been discussed by Considine (1990), Guthrie (1993), and Zifcak (1997). While this literature is often critical of managerialism the reasons for its apparent failure are examined in a limited way. This paper looks at managerialism in Victorian local government by examining the introduction and impact of program budgeting and performance indicators. Two issues are focused on in this paper: 1) the limited success of Planning Programming Budgeting (PPB) and performance indicators; 2) the reasons for their ineffectiveness. The data used in this paper were gathered and analysed for a larger project. All 210 councils in Victoria were sent a questionnaire, of which, 60% were completed and returned. The findings suggest that the introduction and development of PPB and performance indicators is dominated by management. The findings also indicate that these technologies have little impact on resource allocation or decision making, however, there does appear to be a greater emphasis placed on planning. It is argued that the limited success of the managerialist technologies can be attributed to the domination of management over the development and implementation process.

Sustainability is a pressing challenge of governance and public financial management. One key element of sustainable governance is the role of citizens. Participatory budgeting (PB) is a participatory tool with which citizens can influence public administration. PB is a democratic process that grants people real power over real money and it has spread around the world. This special issue explores the role of PB in the context of sustainable governance. In this editorial, the authors aim to approach PB as a form of sustainable governance.

In this editorial, the authors collaborate in the analysis of how PB is implicated in the public management of complex social, economic and ecological issues. The authors identify key dimensions of internal and external sustainability based on prior research. The authors approach these dimensions as an internal–external nexus of sustainable governance in which organizational and financial sustainability are the internal dimensions and socio-political and environmental sustainability are the external dimensions.

Even though PB can be seen as one tool for citizen participation, it has the potential to foster sustainability in multiple ways. PB, as a form of sustainable governance, requires a financially and administratively sustainable organizational process that results in the institutionalization of PB. It also includes thorough consideration of socio-political and environmental sustainability impacts of PB.

Academics are actively studying PB from various perspectives. However, most of this work has approached PB from the viewpoints of design and results of PB, and less is known about its institutional settings. PB has not yet been adequately studied in the context of sustainability, and there is a need to scrutinize PB as a form of sustainable governance.