Contextualizing politicians’ uses of accounting information: reassurance and ammunition

Giacomini, Davide; Sicilia, Mariafrancesca; Steccolini, Ileana

doi:10.1080/09540962.2016.1237128

Cited by 45 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In their case study of two English public sector organizations, they explore both the diversity of uses of performance information (passive, purposeful), and how such uses intertwine and combine. This article, therefore, adds to the (still) low number of studies that focus on exploring the drivers of and relationships between different performance information use types (Giacomini et al 2016;Nitzl et al 2018;Korac et al 2019;Saliterer et al 2019). In contrast to the predominantly quantitative studies in public administration that have explored performance information use, the authors apply a qualitative approach for investigating the dynamics between passive and purposeful use.…”

Section: The Articles In the Symposiummentioning

confidence: 99%

The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration

Steccolini

Saliterer

Guthrie

2020

Public Administration

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The spate of public sector reforms which have taken place in recent decades has triggered the development of a new body of research around public sector accounting and performance measurement both in public administration as well as in the (public sector) accounting literature. However, studies in accounting and public administration have at times ignored each other, proceeding in parallel. This symposium encourages the adoption of interdisciplinary perspectives in exploring the myriad roles played by accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration. Emphasizing that accounting and performance measurement systems are socially, politically, culturally constructed and, in turn, are implicated in the creation of organizations, society and political values, this symposium aims to extend the dialogue between accounting and public administration scholars in exploring how accounting, accountability and performance measurement considerations are connected to policy‐making, public services and, more generally, the building and maintenance of modern states and democracies.

show abstract

Section: The Articles In the Symposiummentioning

confidence: 99%

The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration

Steccolini

Saliterer

Guthrie

2020

Public Administration

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…in a mere 'ceremonial' manner of budget formulation (Mutiganda, 2016), as ammunition for supporting political interests (e.g. Giacomini et al, 2016) or for manipulating strategic decisions (Pernsteiner et al, 2016).…”

Section: Purposes Of Ai-usementioning

confidence: 99%

Making sense of the users of public sector accounting information and their needs

Helden

Reichard

2019

JPBAFM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to dismantle the complex issue of “use of accounting information (AI)” by pointing to different groups of information users, diverging interests and needs of these user groups and various influential factors on the usability and the actual use of AI. Design/methodology/approach This paper includes a literature review and conceptual reflections. Findings The review of recently published articles on the issue of “use of accounting information” presents an actual picture of the academic debate on purposes of use, user types, needs of various user groups and factors influencing the usability and the actual use of AI. The subsequent conceptual reflections deal with so far less regarded user groups, with options to strengthen the user perspective in budgeting and financial reporting, with approaches for engaging users in the content of accounting documents, with interrelations between user needs, usability and use intensity, including various antecedents of the different variables of the information-use issue. Research limitations/implications This paper presents promising routes for future research. Practical implications The paper emphasizes the importance of paying more attention to the specific information needs and the motivations of various stakeholder groups generally interested in using financial information. Originality/value The paper presents results of reviewing recent literature on the issue of “use of accounting information” and provides some insight into specific aspects of this issue.

show abstract

“…Furthermore, in particular, the councilors had a very limited role in the control process of the outsourced activities. According to the interviewees, the councilors simply did not have the time or knowledge to fully control the tasks, which might be the reason why they had to fall back on “attention by exception.” Only in the case of political conflicts and “incidents” that drew attention (Burchell, Clubb, Hopwood, & Nahapiet, ; Giacomini, Sicilia, & Steccolini, , p. 488; Moynihan, , p. 480) did they show a more urgent interest in financial and sometimes also in other accounting information. The findings additionally indicate that the councilors had contacts with citizens, in other words their voters, but that they did not give them specific accounts of how they controlled the outsourced tasks (cf.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

NPM's “Ideals” About the Accountability and Control of Outsourced Activities: Tough, But Realizable, Or A Utopian Dream?

Bogt¹

2018

European Policy Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Based on 25 cases, the accountability and control processes of activities outsourced by municipalities in the Netherlands are analysed. The focus is twofold: on the accountability and control processes between the external party and the municipality, and on the role played by councillors (elected politicians). The research shows that the typical accountability and control relationship in this context is characterised by a low emphasis on outputs. However, detailed financial information and frequent informal contacts between civil servants (on behalf of the Executives) and the external party are very important. Furthermore, the accountability and control relationship with respect to (activities and) outputs seems to be rather loose, also when ‘proper’ output information is available in accounting documents. Finally, trust is crucial in the relationship, a notion which is not advocated by NPM and its underlying principal‐agent theory.

show abstract

Contextualizing politicians’ uses of accounting information: reassurance and ammunition

Abstract: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License Newcastle University ePrints-eprint.ncl.ac.uk Giacomini D, Sicilia M, Steccolini I. Contextualizing politicians' uses of accounting information: reassurance and ammunition.

Cited by 45 publications

References 30 publications

The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration

The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration

Making sense of the users of public sector accounting information and their needs

NPM's “Ideals” About the Accountability and Control of Outsourced Activities: Tough, But Realizable, Or A Utopian Dream?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About