Giuseppe Grossi

• PhD in Public Management & Accounting
• Research Professor at Nord University

Purpose – In this paper, we analyse contributions to the book Global Warning: Debating Developments in New Public Financial Management, published by Olson et al. (1998). We also critique and overview the six papers in this Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management (JPBAFM) Symposium on Global Warning: Debating International D...

Purpose: This study explores how the sociotechnical imaginaries of smart city sustainability converge and diverge between creators and users. Design/methodology/approach: We built a theoretical framework using the lens of socio-technical imaginaries to demonstrate how creators and users perceive smart city sustainability based on the European Sma...

WHAT? Two full days with interesting discussions on qualitative research methods, mutual feedback, exchange, and the best pasta & pizza. HOW? Possibility to present in one of the following research formats: Full paper (max 10.000 words) in an “almost ready” stage, on which youwould like to get some feedback before submitting it to a journal. You g...

Purpose New Public Management (NPM) and New Public Financial Management (NPFM) have significantly influenced the transformation of several nation-states’ public sectors. This study examines the development of NPFM scholarship over the past 25 years, focusing on 3 foundational works that have substantially shaped this field (i.e. Olson et al ., 1998...

Purpose This paper aims to uncover the unaccounted effects of digital transformation on accounting, auditing and accountability. It explores the extant academic research and introduces the AAAJ Special Issue titled Accountability for a Connected Society: the Unaccounted Effects of Digital Transformation . Design/methodology/approach A methodologic...

This literature review aims to highlight the themes and the developments of public sector accounting (PSA) research over the last five decades (1970–2019), analyzing 2187 papers though a combination of bibliometric (co‐word) analysis and qualitative insights into the selected papers. The review shows that PSA scholarship has grown in significance o...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development and use of social sustainability performance measurement practices at the city level. This purpose is achieved by addressing the following research question: How do city actors translate social sustainability strategies into performance measurement practices? Design/methodology/ap...

This paper explores the imaginaries of public sector auditors on public value creation due to digital transformation (DT). The study is based on the case of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) in Norway – the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). We find diverging imaginaries regarding the potential impact of DT on creating public value through enha...

Hybrid organisations are organisational forms that use different resources, governance models and institutional logics derived from public, private, for-profit and nonprofit. Hybridity can be referred to on multiple levels of analysis: macro-level related to the society, meso-level related to specific organisational fields or organisations, or micr...

Expertly navigating the complex relationships between accounting and the development of hybridized public governance, this erudite Handbook critically analyses the most pressing challenges and limitations currently facing accounting and public governance research. Comprehensively drawing intricate links between accounting, public governance and hyb...

As a research domain, the smart city keeps growing, despite the remaining contradictions and ambiguity related to its conceptual aspects. We propose to dig deeper into the complex socio-technical nature of the smart city and examine the concept through the lens of different public governance paradigms, therefore aligning it with the sustainability...

Purpose: When the “linguistic turn” is replaced by the “visual turn”, there is a natural need for social scientists to embrace the new reality and incorporate visuals in their research. As a result, the importance of visual research, which centers on the use of visual sources, is growing. This paper provides an overview of how visual materials and...

Education undisputedly plays a central role in IPSAS-based PSA reforms. Using a socio-materiality perspective, the authors highlight a misalignment between human and technical aspects when implementing these reforms. Their analysis of past reforms in emerging economies suggests that the educational development of public sector accountants does not...

La présente analyse documentaire systématique examine l’ensemble des connaissances sur la pratique budgétaire connue sous le nom de budget participatif (BP). Cette étude identifie et analyse un ensemble de 139 articles en anglais concernant le BP dans le secteur public et publiés au cours de trois décennies (1989-2019) dans des revues universitaire...

Purpose This paper aims at reflecting on the changing boundaries of public sector auditing. In particular the paper focusses on the opportunities and challenges for performance auditing, for sustainable development auditing and digitalised public sector auditing. Design/methodology/approach Building from the papers in this special issue, the autho...

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-base...

This article draws on theories of person–organisation fit and leadership behaviour to explore how supportive leadership is related to communication practices, collaborative working practices and performance management practices and how these three practices, in turn, relate to public servants’ job satisfaction. A model of supportive leadership's di...

The local scientific committee for IRSPM Tampere edition 16-18 April 2024 in Finland invites panel proposals for the upcoming conference. In addition to the numerous questions of general relevance for the field of public management the conference welcomes panels investigating various forms of hybridity. https://events.tuni.fi/irspm2024/ https://w...

IMPACT This article is aimed at policy-makers and contributes to the debate on the shift towards performance and non-financial auditing in public sector organizations. It offers useful insights that national regulators and standard setters can consider when introducing new rules and standards in the audit sphere. Regulators and standard setters int...

This chapter is about municipal corporatisation in Italy. We describe the local government context and the historical trends in corporatisation. We also discuss legal forms (public versus private law), the organisational characteristics and the various types of autonomy of municipally owned corporations (MOCs). Finally, we discuss the role and comp...

Purpose The 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 i...

CALL FOR PAPERS GOVERNING AND MANAGING HYBRIDITY

The current paper focuses on how multiple values shape accounting and accountability practices in hybrid organizations. It concentrates on the complex domain of academic spin-offs, more fully described as hybrid knowledge-intensive organizations, aiming to understand how accounting and accountability practices can be constitutive of hybrid academic...

This paper explores how the smart city idea unfolds in the bureaucratic context. Applying a qualitative approach and the Scandinavian stream of translation theory, we investigate the case of cities’ ‘smartification’ in Russia during 2017–2020. Tracking mechanisms and outcomes of translation, we see the encounter of the smart city idea and bureaucra...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is changing due to public governance development. Design/methodology/approach 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 expla...

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...

For decades, amalgamation has remained at the top of the international reform agenda. Seeking to enhance local governments’ economic efficiency and democracy, municipal mergers were encouraged in numerous countries. However, the results of such reforms remain controversial. The paper aims to extend the understanding of reasons for municipalities’ d...

IMPACT The authors recommend that politicians and public managers consider the possible benefits and critical issues connected to the creation of holding companies at the local government level. On the one hand, municipal holding companies can be useful for steering and controlling municipal corporations; on the other hand, they can have the downsi...

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...

IMPACT The article provides interesting insights and highlights tensions in the multiple international responses to supporting Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022. Humanitarian aid and donations were launched almost instantly, while military support varied from country to country. The pattern of immediate reactions enables the v...

IMPACT This article contributes to the policy debate on whether to standardize audit reports in public sector organizations. It offers useful insights that national regulators and standard-setters can consider when introducing new rules and standards in the audit regulatory space. Regulators and standard-setters interested in teasing out the profes...

https://patimes.org/multilevel-financial-responses-supporting-ukraines-fight-for-democracy/

This systematic literature review analyses the body of knowledge on the budgeting practice known as participatory budgeting (PB). This review identifies and analyses a dataset of 139 English-language papers focused on PB in the public sector published over three decades (1989–2019) in academic journals of different disciplines. The findings shed ne...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how internal auditors’ (IAs) roles have changed because of the diffusion of neoliberal ideologies in the Ukrainian public sector. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative methodological approach was applied. Data were collected from 29 semi-structured interviews with public sector auditors in Ukrain...

Purpose This paper explores how public audit institutions establish themselves as distinct actors on the public stage through communication practices. By focussing on the journey of the European Court of Auditors (ECA), this paper addresses the following research question: how does a transnational audit institution construct its actorhood through v...

Purpose This paper aims to explore whether and how contemporary rankings reflect the dialogic development of smart cities. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the synthesis of smart city (SC), rankings and dialogic accounting literature. It first analyses ranking documents and related methodologies and measures and then reflects on...

The article introduces the theoretical perspective on gradual institutional change to the corporatization literature. This is achieved via a longitudinal case study on the institutionalization of the Danish state guarantee model (SGM) for transport infrastructure based on archival document studies of seven infrastructure projects and 31 interviews...

Purpose Drawing upon theoretical insights on value creation perspectives, the authors aim to advance the understanding of performance and accountability in different hybrid organisations. Design/methodology/approach The authors conceptualise common theoretical origins of hybrid organisations and how they create and enact value, by reflecting on th...

Unintended consequences in implementing public sector accounting reforms in emerging economies: evidence from Egypt, Nepal and Sri Lanka This study investigates the implementation of public sector accounting reforms in Egypt, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Data for the article are derived through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with public a...

This study investigates the implementation of public sector accounting reforms in Egypt, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Data for the article are derived through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with public administrators, government accountants, and members of professional accountancy bodies. The article brings out the factors that have eith...

Purpose – Public sector auditing research has changed rapidly over the past four decades. Our literature review reveals how the field has developed and identifies avenues for future research. Design/Methodology/Approach – We use a structured literature review following Massaro et al. (2016). The sample comprises papers on public sector auditing pub...

This study provides new insights into how local governments (LGs) manage pandemic-related crisis communication with citizens on their social media (SM) profiles. We analyze over 3000 posts published on SM profiles of selected LGs in Poland to get insights on rhetorical communication strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. We document LGs as they g...

This research adds to sparse accounting literature on immigration by problematizing the intertwined relationship between accounting and ethics in the neoliberal era. It explains ethical paradoxes inherent in the neoliberal project and how these unfold in the accounting practices deployed by the Italian state to handle the ongoing refugee crisis. Ou...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the usefulness of popular reporting (PR) in an Italian city as a dialogic accounting tool for promoting citizens’ engagement with digital platforms. This study aims to contribute to the debate on democratic accounting technologies with a focus on PR and digital platforms, using the theoretical lens of...

This article draws on theories of person–organisation fit and leadership behaviour to explore how supportive leadership is related to communication practices, collaborative working practices, and performance management practices and how these three practices, in turn, relate to public servants’ job satisfaction. A model of supportive leadership’s d...

The concept of smart city has been studied in a variety of forms and contexts. While previous studies highlight the extensive use of indicators of smartness, another stream of literature advocates the role of citizens in city transformations. In this viewpoint, we call for an extension of this dichotomous understanding and highlight the cross-secto...

As part of introducing accrual accounting in the public sector, many governments have – voluntarily – implemented the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for financial reporting. Amongst other claimed benefits, IPSAS have been argued to facilitate comparison of adopters’ financial reports and to lead to favourable conditions on...

Purpose Employing institutional logic and institutional work as its theoretical framework, this study analyzes scholars' reactions to performance measurement systems in academia. Design/methodology/approach Large datasets were collected over time, combining both quantitative and qualitative elements. The data were gathered from a two-wave survey i...

The aims of this chapter are to take stock of the diffusion of common public sector accounting standards and to set the scene for the subsequent chapters in this book. First, the goals and challenges of harmonization attempts in public sector accounting are outlined. Next, light is shed on the current state of diffusion of the International Public...

This chapter provides an overview of the organization of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB), with a focus on historic developments, pursued goals and standard-setting processes. Second, light is shed on the conceptual framework as issued by the IPSASB. Here, contents and the debate around the framework are scrutiniz...

The aim of this study is to investigate how multiple values in non-profit hybrid organisations influence the adoption of management accounting practices. The empirical analysis centres on hybrid organisations established as co-production and co-management initiatives in social care. Pragmatic constructivism, centred on the role of values, informs t...

You are warmly welcome to submit your abstract to our online IRSPM panel. The atmosphere has been supportive and the discussion is lively.

The topics of the papers may be associated with, but are not limited to the following: • Shared ownership between public and private owners in different settings • Governance and accountability of State-owned enterprises at all government levels, described with different terms (SOEs and MOCs) • Goal incongruence and different institutional logics...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review previous research on public appointments to systematize existing knowledge, identify gaps and discuss implications for future research in this field. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on a systematic literature review, carried out using the Scopus database. We selected academic articles...

The era of hybrid governance is here. More and more organizations occupy a position between public and private ownership. And value is created not through business or public interests alone, but through distinct forms of hybrid governance. National governments are looking to transform their administrative systems to become more business driven. Lik...

This paper focuses on a process of citizens and stakeholders’ engagement promoted by a local authority to co-design the city vision with multiple actors (politicians, public managers, consultants, citizens and other external stakeholders). The setting for this research is provided by a municipality in Sweden and our theoretical perspective is the d...

Purpose This study analyses how the implementation of PPPs to operate rural water infrastructures and deliver water to local population has led to a new accountability archetype. Design/methodology/approach The archetype theory is used to analyse the process of implementing PPPs as a new archetype and setting up systems and structures of accountab...

How can we conceptualize, evaluate and measure the value and performance of hybrid governance and organizations? This book offers a comprehensive overview of how hybrids produce value. It explores the drivers, obstacles and complications for value creation in different hybrid contexts: state-owned enterprises, urban policy-making, universities and...

Purpose – the aim of this paper is to analyze articles already published in accounting and public sector management journals on the topic of public sector auditing. This paper also aims to propose a future research agenda for scholars and practitioners interested in the research field of public sector auditing. Design/Methodology/Approach – To ach...

This paper shows how the Brazilian Treasury has developed strategies to build legitimacy in a civil law context where the legislature left a vacuum regarding the accrual accounting standard-setting mandate. While the accounting ‘rule-enforcers’ neglected to require compliance with the rules, the ‘rule-makers’ co-operated with each other to build no...

Corruption in migration management : a network perspective This article explores the relation between networks as an emerging mode of public governance and corruption. Adopting the theoretical lens of actor-network theory, the article investigates an Italian episode of corruption related to the awarding of government contracts for the management of...

Purpose The paper explores how the implementation of performance budgeting unfolds public managers' attention and responses to competing accountability demands over time. Design/methodology/approach This is a longitudinal study of one Russian municipality's implementation of PB under central government pressures during 2013–2017. Using triangulati...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore inter-organizational interactions that might result in prolonged decoupling between central governments' ideas and local governments' practices during the reform of an institutional field (i.e. healthcare). Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a qualitative study of the centrally directe...

Our exploration of three bodies of literature – public management, accounting and urban governance – shows that three views on these new technological practices of ‘urban auditing’ are present in the literature: a technocratic, a critical and an emergent view. We use these three views to introduce the six papers in this special issue. We conclude...

Purpose This article analyses the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Design/methodology/approach Conceptual elements of the theory of communicative action and the literature on routines were used to conduct a field study in two hospital districts in Finland, from 2009 to 2015. Data were based on interviews,...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight and compare insights from research conducted in different disciplines on the effects of the use of calculative practices in academia. It also acts as an introduction to the special issue on “Governing by numbers: audit culture and contemporary tales of universities’ accountability”. Design/method...

This study contributes to the current debate on competing institutional pressures and logics and performance measurement practices in hybrid universities and examines how shifts in logics have affected performance measurement practices at the organizational and individual levels. It draws upon the theoretical lenses of institutional theory and adop...

Purpose – This paper explores the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government in the operationalisation of smart city programmes. It answers the research question: how do the development and use of performance measurement systems support smart cities in the achievement of their goals? Design/methodology/approach – This pap...

This study investigates the implementation of public sector accounting reforms in Egypt, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Data for the article are derived through document analysis and semi-structured interviews with public administrators, government accountants and members of professional accountancy bodies. The article brings out the factors that have either...

This keynote speech will focus on how the boundaries of Public Sector Accounting have become unstable due to ongoing changes in the public sector. Previous inter-disciplinary accounting studies have shown how the transition from New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG) has affected the boundaries of public sector organizations (Br...

accounting reforms in three emerging economies - Egypt, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Data for the paper are derived through document analysis and semi structured interviews with public administrators, government accountants and members of professional accountancy bodies. The paper brings out the factors, including the bundling process, pro-innovation biase...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the content of the sustainability reports of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the factors influencing the sustainability information they disclose. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing upon the literature on sustainability disclosure, institutional logics and hybrid organizations, several hypoth...

This paper investigates consolidated financial statements (CFS), which have been implemented by several countries. In Italy, CFS implementation was preceded by a testing period in which local governments could participate on a voluntary basis. This paper explains why this was a useful preliminary step to implementing CFS: the local governments that...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to synthesize insights from previous accounting, performance measurement (PM), and accountability research into the rapidly emerging field of knowledge-intensive public organizations (KIPOs). In so doing, it draws upon insights from previous literature and other papers included in this special issue of Accounti...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a deeper understanding of the uses and users of performance measurement (PM) in the university context. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical data were gathered from four universities. This approach allows for a multilevel and comparative analysis based on the neo-institutional theory. The resu...

This paper defines and then observes processes of glocalization surrounding the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for public sector financial reporting. Glocalization can be best understood using sociological institutionalism, because this theory focuses on the retention of identity, and processes of legitimacy, d...

The five papers included in this special issue provide interesting debates that will further our understanding of performance management in various organizational and conceptual arrangements.

This chapter offers insights into the governance of Swedish state-owned enterprises performed by civil servants in cooperation with the minister and state secretary in the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation. The authors take particular interest in the practices and thinking of the few but powerful civil servants who work with board appointment....

Between patronage and good governance: Organizational arrangements in (local) public appointment processes This article investigates whether certain organizational arrangements in (local) public appointment processes could encourage the use of appointments as a tool of good governance rather than as a tool of patronage. Specifically, we studied the...

Under a corporatization trend, traditional financial reporting is generally considered unable to offer a complete view of the economic and financial activities of a group of public entities. Consequently, several reforms and standards have been introduced related to consolidated financial reports. Through interviews with key actors, the authors ana...

Purpose The present systematic literature review aims at analysing the body of knowledge on the budgeting practice known as Participatory Budgeting (PB). After its origins in praxis, PB has stimulated a growing international debate among scholars and practitioners because of its potential ability to address current challenges, as the call for stren...

Purpose 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...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the literature on consolidated financial statements (CFS) in the public sector published from 1980 to 2015 in public sector accounting and management journals, and propose a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a structured literature review methodology, the autho...