Consolidation of public sector budgets, fulfilment of fiscal policy requirements and reforms in the provision of public services have made cooperation increasingly important on the international stage. From the perspective of agency theory, this has led to greater information asymmetries and has altered reporting requirements. However, representative empirical studies concerning the provision of information on the Internet on the types of cooperation under which public activities are performed are still not available. A census conducted for 498 websites at local, state and federal government levels for Germany, Austria and Switzerland shows that the reporting requirements have not been met in practice. At the local level in Germany, of the 414 towns with more than 30,000 inhabitants, cooperation reports were available online for 143, which corresponds to 34.5 percent. During the period of the investigation, no cooperation report was provided on the Internet by any town in Austria or Switzerland. Four main recommended actions are formulated for practical application. Points for practitioners Citizens must have opportunities to obtain with minimum effort information on the organizational status quo of public service provision. Moreover, a clear and transparent view of the organizational structure of the public authority, including its types of cooperation, is essential to enable a basis for decision-making for people such as politicians and professionals in administrations to guarantee the sustainable, effective and efficient provision of public sector activities. A cooperation report is a proven management tool in the private sector, and practitioners can gain rewarding cross-national insights if the general public has access to the required information. This could offer helpful approaches for many countries with comparable challenges.

In recent decades, the provision of public services in Germany has increasingly been transferred to institutions outside the core administration. The process has resulted in a considerably changed institutional landscape with multiple effects on its steering, governance and management. The aim of this chapter is to highlight experiences with the four different institutional arrangements of corporatisation, outsourcing, privatisation and re-municipalisation in Germany. Against this background, we provide some lessons learnt for public administration and finally shift attention to the discussion on public versus private service provision.

Regarding the immense real estate divestitures that have taken place over the last couple of years, some stakeholders have begun to wonder if these short-term activities may affect the long-term competitive advantage of a company. While it appears reasonable that property divestitures enhance the financial situation of a company from a so-called owner perspective, there is no equivalent quantitative evaluation for the loss in space utilisation and flexibility from a user perspective. Consequently, real estate decision making is based upon an insufficient information basis and is dominated

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International public financial management reform is mainly influenced by private sector accountancy concepts and characterized by a detailed discussion of technicalities. In the case of Germany, a critical assessment of the status quo shows that the public accounting and reporting system cannot meet its primary aims in an appropriate manner despite considerable reform steps. The article recalls the primary aims of financial accounting and categorizes prevailing shortfalls. It examines criteria for the consolidation basis and reporting requirements with regard to public sector specifics by considering risk structures and the strategic relevance of certain assets. In a wider context, it should also help to shift the reform debate back to its core objective: the effective, efficient and sustainable provision of public services. Points for practitioners In order to comprehend the significance of financial accounting, it may be helpful to recall its original, primary aims, thus enabling a steering and information system for government as well as public administration to be regained. Governments fulfil public services which should be provided effectively and efficiently. Public financial management plays a major role in meeting these requirements. Eliminating ‘escape from the budget’, preventing ‘quests for niches in the budget’ and enhancing the information value of the financial statement with regard to public sector specifics are the principal guidelines for any reforms. The article conveys the basic requirements of a financial accounting system and gives critical insight into developments and shortfalls of Germany together with concrete proposals. This provides an opportunity to draw conclusions and avoid similar shortfalls at earlier stages of the reform process.