Governmental accounting reforms at a time of crisis: the Italian governmental accounting harmonization

Mussari, Riccardo; Cepiku, Denita; Sorrentino, Daniela

doi:10.1108/jpbafm-04-2020-0051

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Appropriate policies aimed at reducing wasteful expenditures become even more crucial in light of recent budgetary emergencies associated with COVID-19, as well as the potential for more economic volatility associated with fiscal crises (see, e.g., Liao et al, 2021;Nemec and Spa cek, 2020; also see Mussari et al, 2021). This research has made it clear that, even for above-threshold procurement contracts, variations in YESS are documented by country and contract type.…”

Section: Jpbafm 335mentioning

confidence: 91%

Examining year-end spending spikes in the European Economic Area: a comparative study of procurement contracts

McCue

Prier

Lofaro

2021

JPBAFM

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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze year-end spending practices in the European Economic Area (EEA) to baseline the pervasiveness of year-end spending spikes across countries in Europe.Design/methodology/approachThe Tenders Electronic Daily dataset is used to descriptively analyze above-threshold procurement contracts by country, year and contract type from 2009 to 2018. Proportional distributions are employed to compare percentages of spend across quarters. Analyses are run within each country on the number of years displaying a fourth quarter spike, as well as within each country and contract type.FindingsThe results show that while spending spikes for above-threshold contracts in the final fiscal quarter are not consistent across all countries, patterns emerge when the data are disaggregated by country. The most populous nations in the EEA are more likely to have years with the highest proportion of fiscal spend occurring in the fourth quarter. Further, the type of contract makes a difference – services and supplies contracts are more likely to display fourth quarter spikes than works contracts.Originality/valueThis article provides the first analysis of the year-end spending spike across countries in Europe using procurement data, as well as the first to disaggregate by year and contract type. Findings support the literature on the presence of year-end spikes; such spikes exist even for above-threshold public procurement contracts.

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Section: Jpbafm 335mentioning

confidence: 91%

Examining year-end spending spikes in the European Economic Area: a comparative study of procurement contracts

McCue

Prier

Lofaro

2021

JPBAFM

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“…To play a decisive role in the reform processes has been the advent of the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm (Hood, 1991), which has found its strength in the spread of new accounting practices that are more careful about the quantitative aspect of data, the final result (Lapsley et al, 2009;Lapsley, 1999), and the transparency of information for decision-making purposes. Although decades have passed since the advent of the NPM, it continues to be the main subject of public sector reform debates (Mussari et al, 2021) as well as the theoretical framework of reference for public accounting research (Steccolini, 2019). In fact, as pointed out by various authors (Pallot, 1992;Guthrie et al, 2005), the central role of the NPM has been to introduce accrual accounting in the public sector in order to make financial statements, accounting principles, and practices homogeneous, compatible and comparable through an ongoing process of harmonization (Nobes and Parker, 2012;Caperchione, 2015).…”

Section: Literature Review -"A Still Opened Debate"mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Path toward Accrual Accounting in the Public Sector from the Perspective of Italian Municipalities

Benfante,

Mozzoni,

Ferretti

2024

JAEPP

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The goal for the coming years set by the European Union to harmonize public sector accounting is to implement a single accrual-based accounting system for all public administrations. Italy is moving towards full adoption of this accounting system for all local authorities by 2026 and can be seen as an example of a country in transition from a modified cash accounting system to a full accrual accounting one. This research makes use of semi-structured interviews with key actors in the accounting departments of municipalities in Emilia-Romagna, one of the most economically developed regions in Italy, to assess whether the current public accounting system is ready to move to full accrual accounting and whether the transition would be considered beneficial for Italian municipalities. The results show that municipalities are still far from the full implementation of accrual accounting, both in terms of the maturity of the system and the usefulness of the information. The research contributes to understanding the level of accountingmaturity in the public sector and helps to identify the main critical issues for the full adoption of accrual accounting, finding new paths to be followed to make its implementation effective. At the international level, this work may be useful for all countries that are changing their accounting systems to understand what measures need to be taken to facilitate the transition to full accrual accounting in the public sector.

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“…The auditors themselves are a party to another agency relationship and the principal does not know whether the auditor is performing the level of service agreed upon (Streim, 1994, p. 178). In the NPG period, citizens are positioned as co-producers (Almqvist et al, 2013;Wiesel and Modell, 2014;Mussari et al, 2021;Ruggiero et al, 2021), and involved in the decision-making process (Wiesel and Modell, 2014;Innes and Booher, 1999;Himmelman, 1994), which increases the need for legitimacy, rather than a narrow focus on effectiveness as in the NPM period (Cordery and Hay, 2021;Hay and Cordery, 2021). Based on the concept of isomorphism, institutional theory incorporates three types of pressure: coercive, mimetic and normative (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983).…”

Section: Trends Across the Publicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring past, present and future trends in public sector auditing research: a literature review

Mattei

Grossi

Guthrie

2021

MEDAR

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Purpose Public sector auditing research has changed rapidly over the past four decades. This paper aims to reveal how the field has developed and identify avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a structured literature review following Massaro et al. The sample comprises papers on public sector auditing published in accounting and public sector management journals between 1991 and 2020. Findings The present analysis highlights that academic research interest in public sector auditing has grown and become more diverse. The authors argue this may reflect a transformation of the public sector in recent decades, owing to the developing institutional logics of public sector reforms, from traditional public administration to new public management and now new public governance. Originality value This paper offers a comprehensive review of the public sector auditing literature, discussing different perspectives over time. It also outlines the various public sector reforms introduced over the period of the study. In reviewing the existing literature, the authors highlight the themes for future research and policy settings.

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Governmental accounting reforms at a time of crisis: the Italian governmental accounting harmonization

Cited by 5 publications

References 49 publications

Examining year-end spending spikes in the European Economic Area: a comparative study of procurement contracts

Examining year-end spending spikes in the European Economic Area: a comparative study of procurement contracts

The Path toward Accrual Accounting in the Public Sector from the Perspective of Italian Municipalities

Exploring past, present and future trends in public sector auditing research: a literature review

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