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Contextualizing politicians’ uses of accounting information: reassurance and ammunition
Abstract
This paper explores the use of accounting information by local government politicians. The authors examined three very typical council decisions in both their policy formulation and decision-making stages, which had different levels of political conflict. During policy formulation, accounting information was used mostly to provide answers—improving understanding. At the decision-making stage, the level of conflict influenced the quantity of information used, as well as the way it was used. Under low political conflict, accounting information primarily provided reassurance, whereas when there were conflicts between majority and opposition politicians, accounting information was used to (de)legitimize political positions and decisions. This paper is one of the first to contextualize politicians’ use of accounting information and has important implications for practice and future research.
... No seu papel de representantes dos cidadãos e dos contribuintes, e como decisores-chave no que diz respeito às políticas públicas, espera-se que os políticos sejam utilizadores da contabilidade e da informação financeira pública (Giacomini et al., 2016;Liguori & Stecollini, 2018). Essa expectativa é talvez ainda mais significativa no contexto do poder local, dada a proximidade entre políticos e cidadãos (Buylen & Christiaens, 2016;Giacomini, 2020). ...
... • as finalidades da utilização de informação financeira por políticos (que informação é utilizada e como é utilizada) (por exemplo, Buylen & Christiaens, 2016;Guarini, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016;van Helden & Reichard, 2019;Saliterer et al., 2019;Jorge et al., 2019;Bergmann, 2022;Budding & van Helden, 2022;Kroll, 2022;van Helden et al., 2023;Jorge et al., 2023). ...
... eGiacomini et al. (2016) sublinham que a forma e a extensão do uso da informação financeira dependem do processo de decisão política. Buylen e Christiaens (2016) apontam que os políticos usam a informação financeira de modo informal, recorrendo a fontes alternativas e diferentes (às vezes até não oficiais), em vez de relatórios financeiros decorrentes do sistema contábil, o que também é reiterado porJorge et al. (2019). ...
... Lastly, it seems that the intensity of financial information used by politicians also depends on the gap between information supply (information characteristics) and demand (politicians' needs), meaning that politicians tend to make selective use of financial information (Buylen & Christiaens, 2015;Grossi & Reichard, 2016;Ouda & Klischewski, 2019;van Helden et al., 2021;Faber & Budding, 2022), sometimes using it only symbolically (Giacomini et al., 2016;Liguori & Steccolini, 2018), and not as a function of its actual usefulness. ...
... As to the circumstances and purposes for using financial information, while some authors sustain they may be affected by the political decision-making process (Guarini, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016;van Helden et al., 2021), others argue that politicians hardly use financial information for decision-making. It is used essentially for accountability in parliaments (Caruana & Farrugia, 2018), namely for debates within the budget process and for the government's assessment (Buylen & Christiaens, 2015;Giacomini, 2020;Raudla, 2022). ...
... Guarini (2016) highlights a preference both in the production and in the interpretation of financial accounting information by newly-elected local politicians as ammunition to attack previous governments. Giacomini et al. (2016) analyze the uses of financial accounting information by local politicians, considering specific contexts, such as: different situations where decisions Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. ...
Applying quantitative and qualitative content and sentiment analysis, this study investigates the use of financial information by politicians in the Portuguese parliament, in a changing context.
There is clear preference for Budgetary Information. A change in the political majority in Parliament and an improvement in the country’s economic and financial situation affect the intensity and intentions of using financial information by politicians – the use with positive sentiments of those government-related, to legitimize their policies, and with negative sentiments when they pass to the opposition, using it as ammunition or to divert attention from measures implemented when they were in power.
... Although the active pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (and therefore SDG5, gender equality) may translate into a rather supportive introduction of gender-related aspects in budget debates, prior studies in the field of performance information use (PIU) have revealed different types of performance goals and associated PIU (Giacomini et al., 2016;Saliterer et al., 2019). ...
... Here, a particular stream of public performance management may offer valuable insights that assist in addressing this issue. Several scholars have explored how politicians use performance goals and other performance information in a budgetary context (e.g., Giacomini et al., 2016;Grossi et al., 2016;Raudla, 2012;Saliterer et al., 2019), and some have specifically looked at gender-related performance goals while explicitly referring to frameworks that have been developed in the public performance management literature (e.g., Moser and Korac 2021). ...
... While the mentioned studies have been conducted across different contexts, already early work on performance budgeting has argued that PIU may assist legislators in allocating funds, and thereby rationalize budgetary processes (Joyce, 1993;Moynihan, 2006). This "rational" or "purposeful" view (Joyce and Sieg, 2000), has later been nuanced by studies pointing to other types and purposes of PIU (e.g., ammunition, legitimizing; e.g., Giacomini et al., 2016). Based on an iterative blending of types of PIU discussed in prior literature with data from budgetary debates, Saliterer et al. (2019) identified four different types of how members of parliament (MPs) used performance information in the budgeting process at the central level: legitimizing, de-legitimizing, improving and understanding, and deflecting. ...
The paper explores how members of parliament (MPs) address gender-related aspects in the budgeting process at the central level in Germany, a country that pursues gender equality as a global objective but has not implemented gender budgeting (GB) (yet). Nevertheless, from a budgeting perspective the German context is interesting, as parliament has unrestricted powers to amend the budget draft. The study follows approaches in performance management literature streams that have explored different types of performance information use. Building on a qualitative analysis of parliamentary budget debates, our results show that gender-related aspects matter in budgeting even when GB is not implemented. However, resources are less often referenced than programmes and policies in the budget debates. We find that MPs address gender-related aspects in a differentiated way (reflected in four types of performance information use), and that this is affected by user characteristics: the MPs’ gender, their party affiliation, committee membership and in some aspects, their age. While it may not come as a surprise that female MPs act as advocates for gender-related aspects, it is interesting that female MPs are more likely to reference resources when addressing gender-related aspects than male MPs. Further, our analysis of types of performance information use shows that a party's position as either a part of a governing coalition or opposition, as well as party lines across the opposition, affect the way in which gender-related aspects are addressed: exerting supportive use types (i.e., legitimizing, highlighting) and rather challenging use types (i.e., de-legitimizing, deflecting).
Points for practitioners
Even in a context where gender budgeting is not implemented, members of parliament (MPs) reference gender equality in budget debates.
The frequency and the way in which gender-related aspects are referenced mirrors MPs’ stance towards gender equality (rather supportive/rather challenging).
Female MPs are more likely than male MPs to draw attention to the allocation of resources for gender-related issues.
More female MPs in parliament may strengthen advocacy for gender-related aspects, particularly if budget documents do not contain gender-related performance goals.
... Instrumental or purposeful use entails utilizing PI to improve budgetary decision-making and accountability (Korac et al., 2020;Nielsen & Baekgaard, 2015;Steccolini et al., 2020;van Helden & Reichard, 2019). Non-instrumental use can encompass political, rhetorical, symbolic, opportunistic, ceremonial, and passive uses (Askim, 2007;Giacomini et al., 2016;Micheli & Pavlov, 2020;Moynihan, 2009;Mutiganda, 2016;van Helden & Reichard, 2019;Moynihan, 2009;Steccolini et al., 2020). In such instances, PI use is not driven by considerations of economic or technical rationality; instead, PI is part of dialogue and discussions where politicians use PI as ammunition to legitimize (their own) or delegitimize (their opponents') actions (Demaj, 2017;Giacomini et al., 2016;Saliterer et al., 2019). ...
... Non-instrumental use can encompass political, rhetorical, symbolic, opportunistic, ceremonial, and passive uses (Askim, 2007;Giacomini et al., 2016;Micheli & Pavlov, 2020;Moynihan, 2009;Mutiganda, 2016;van Helden & Reichard, 2019;Moynihan, 2009;Steccolini et al., 2020). In such instances, PI use is not driven by considerations of economic or technical rationality; instead, PI is part of dialogue and discussions where politicians use PI as ammunition to legitimize (their own) or delegitimize (their opponents') actions (Demaj, 2017;Giacomini et al., 2016;Saliterer et al., 2019). In light of the insights of organizational institutionalism (for example Powell & DiMaggio, 1991), non-instrumental use can also encompass the utilization of PI in response to isomorphic pressures, whereby the usage signals that the politicians are in sync with the modern trends and this adds further weight and legitimacy to their position. ...
... Saliterer et al. (2019) conclude that the use of PI in the Austrian parliament was primarily non-instrumental. In a case study of an Italian municipality, Giacomini et al. (2016) examine the use of AI (including PI) by politicians in different phases of budgetary decision-making. They find that the level of conflict over a decision influences how much PI is used and for which purposes. ...
IMPACT
This article helps policy-makers and managers understand why politicians tend to make only limited instrumental use of performance information in the budget process. In order to encourage the use of performance information to improve budgetary decisions, performance measures should be more relevant for elected officials, politicians should be involved in developing performance measures and receive more extensive analytical support.
... The prior research addressing PI use has primarily examined whether or not PI has been used, along with how and why it has been used (e.g., Giacomini et al., 2016;Ter Bogt, 2004). Both high and low levels of information use have been reported, and according to previous research (Buylen and Christiaens, 2016;Raudla, 2012), many individual and contextual factors drive PI use. ...
... Political conflict and unstable cultures are examples of PI use drivers arising from political environments. For example, political conflicts can encourage PI use because it becomes ammunition for politicians (Giacomini et al., 2016). However, such conflicts can lower PI use if conflicts prevent measurement or joint interpretation (Rajala et al., 2018). ...
... The board had representatives from six of seven political parties that formed the municipal council, meaning budget proposals were accepted by six parties before final council approval in the budget meeting, which was effectively more an administrative formality than actual debate about municipal resource allocations. Thus, based on past studies, only limited use would be more likely in final budget meetings because absence of political competition (e.g., Giacomini et al., 2016) and lack of power to change the budget has been associated with low use (e.g., Raudla, 2012). ...
Purpose
Although politicians' use of performance information affects political decisions and, through them, the well-being of society, there is a lack of studies exploring what contextual factors are associated with annual active performance information use among politicians. Furthermore, past studies on this subject have been cross-sectional rather than longitudinal.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative case study, triangulation of observations and 10 semi-structured interviews were used to ensure the robustness of findings. The study was conducted in a Finnish municipality known as Kangasala.
Findings
A dialogue culture, constructive political climate, trusted information sources and high-quality information attained via accessible information channels explained the high information use in primarily unfavorable conditions to such use. The authors’ findings contradict many prior interview and survey studies that did not recognize the simultaneous contributions of the information provider, channel and quality, along with organizational and environmental factors to high performance information use. The results contradict to some extent the findings from other countries as these studies have explained high levels of use with unique combinations of drivers, whereas we identify common attributes of these combinations and talk about their meaning in the success of Kangasala's public financial management. However, the findings of this case study cannot be generalized.
Originality/value
This study describes a case organization that created a supportive environment for politicians' frequent performance information use that contributed to improvements. Past studies provide little knowledge about establishing sustained high levels of information use among politicians, so the case offers ideas and inspiration for improving this use.
... Quite often, input information is the most used one in the political sphere (e.g., Moynihan, 2005b). Many studies state that performance information use varies depending on politicians' attributes and the context where the elected official operates (e.g., Ho, 2005;Askim, 2009;Giacomini et al., 2016). However, important factors associated with performance information use have been omitted from all these studies. ...
... The research evidence in the article supported the already-established idea that performance information use can vary depending on the use context and users (e.g., Johansson & Siverbo, 2009;Giacomini et al., 2016). According to the article, performance information is being used more in conference contexts than ceremonies when the two presidents were observed separately. ...
... For example, the first article addressing why output information might be preferred over outcome information in some situations demonstrated how mental models interacted and were intertwined with the whole theoretical framework consisting of demographic factors, power, social pressures, information provider, information channel, and information. This type of investigation enriches our understanding of the interplay between the factors driving the use and nonuse of performance information, as past studies have not examined these in depth (e.g., Grossi et al., 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016;Van Helden, 2016). The articles also provided examples of how intertwined these concepts are in some empirical and theoretical cases. ...
Life in the information age includes encountering vast amounts of information. The era reflects how much time is being used for creating, processing, sharing, storing, and using information. In this flood of information, separating facts from fiction is not an easy task; neither is deciding what information should be used. Indeed, there is counter knowledge or fake news, and then there is knowledge that is either usable—or not. In the context of the public sector, fact checking and defining usable information is also part of everyday life, and problems in information use are as evident as they are in the surrounding society. The problematic nature of information use is the main source of inspiration for this thesis, which narrows its focus to the following research question: What reasons stimulate the use and non-use of public sector performance information?
This research question is not a new one, but it deserves revisiting because current theories of performance information use in the field of public management and administration are lacking in terms of coverage and cohesion. The coverage is lacking because the current research has largely neglected the non-use of performance information and the ambiguity associated with factors driving performance information use. Moreover, the studies have not dealt in depth with how intertwined these factors are. Therefore, this work attempts to broaden the current theory by examining the neglected research areas. Additionally, cohesion in the study field is lacking because there is no agreed-upon common theoretical ground for studies investigating performance information use in the public sector. Consequently, the researchers have adopted a wide variety of theories in a rather idiosyncratic manner, and this has created a disconnected stage where studies on performance information use do not have a common theoretical background that would be easy to identify. This disconnected stage affects the ability to aggregate the results and makes it difficult to see the big picture describing the current knowledge on performance information use in the public sector.
The thesis at hand is based on pragmatism, and it applies a mixed-method and interdisciplinary approach to construct a theoretical framework joining the disconnected studies. According to this framework, the reasons for performance information use relate to individual factors (i.e., demographic attributes, mental models, and power) and contextual factors (i.e., social pressures, information provider, information channel, and features of information). The four articles that are part of the thesis confirm the applicability of the framework and expanded the current theories of performance information use. As an implication, this thesis offers an archive of reasons that practitioners can use to understand and enhance performance information use. For scholars, the study opens new doors to expand the current theories of performance information use. These opportunities relate to non-use and its value, as well as ambiguous, intertwined reasons for use and non-use.
... Scholars have mainly focused on the demand side (Mbelwa 2014;Van Helden 2016;Giacomini et al. 2016), which is the use of information by users, and have neglected the supply side, which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (e.g., Mimba et al. 2007; Van Dooren and Van de Walle 2008) have focused on both the supply and demand sides. ...
... If the producers of accounting information are aware of these policies and the type of accounting information required to enable the users to promote and bring these policies to the attention of others (public and/or other politicians) and to put them into the political agenda, this will increase the opportunity of the actual use of accounting information, whether it is financial or managerial or both. The accounting information will be used to convince the others by the raised issue through reducing or removing uncertainty (Burchell et al. 1980;Giacomini et al. 2016). The learning alignment between the producers and the users of accounting information will likely make the producers more aware about the type of accounting information that is needed by the users for the agenda-setting stage. ...
... This of course will increase the degree of usefulness and the opportunity of actual use of accounting information. Accounting information can be used in the policy formulation stage to provide answers to improve understanding (Giacomini et al. 2016). Therefore, the use of accounting information will be increased when the accounting information provided in the policy formulation stage is matched with that demanded by the users for this stage. ...
Although the production and use of accounting information, to some extent, have received considerable attention in the public sector accounting literature, researching the production and actual use of accounting information in relation to the human and social agency involved has always constituted a negligible part of the research agenda. Incorporating human behavior into traditional accounting models and theories improves our explanation and predictions of the producers’ and users’ behavior, including the issue in focus which is the scarcity of actual use of accounting information by the politicians. This chapter aims at producing a practice-relevant information for the governing politicians by developing the Accounting Information Usefulness Theory (AIUT), which seeks to explain how cognitive aspects influence the use/non-use of accounting information by the politicians.
... Scholars have mainly focused on the demand side Van Helden 2016;Giacomini et al. 2016), which is the use of information by users, and have neglected the supply side, which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (e.g., Mimba et al. 2007; Van Dooren and Van de Walle 2008) have focused on both the supply and demand sides. ...
... If the producers of accounting information are aware of these policies and the type of accounting information required to enable the users to promote and bring these policies to the attention of others (public and/or other politicians) and to put them into the political agenda, this will increase the opportunity of the actual use of accounting information, whether it is financial or managerial or both. The accounting information will be used to convince the others by the raised issue through reducing or removing uncertainty (Burchell et al. 1980;Giacomini et al. 2016). The learning alignment between the producers and the users of accounting information will likely make the producers more aware about the type of accounting information that is needed by the users for the agenda-setting stage. ...
... This of course will increase the degree of usefulness and the opportunity of actual use of accounting information. Accounting information can be used in the policy formulation stage to provide answers to improve understanding (Giacomini et al. 2016). Therefore, the use of accounting information will be increased when the accounting information provided in the policy formulation stage is matched with that demanded by the users for this stage. ...
This book addresses the necessary developments and adjustments that can be regarded as a promising starting point for making accrual accounting more practice-relevant for the public sector entities. Specifically, the main focus is on reshaping the application of accrual accounting principles and assumptions to fit the context of public sector entities; developing a practice-relevant holistic accounting approach for governmental capital assets, which has been based on developing and reshaping the assets recognition criteria; scope of general purpose financial reporting from an accountability perspective; suggesting a sustainable accounting approach for reporting on the long-term fiscal sustainability; developing a dynamic model for making public sector accrual accounting a more user practice relevant; and finally, developing a theory of accounting information usefulness, which explains how cognitive aspects do influence the use/non-use of accounting information by the politicians. Fundamentally, this book has tackled these necessary developments and adjustments from both the producer’s and the user’s perspectives.
Hassan Ouda is Professor of Accounting at Faculty of Management Technology, German University in Cairo (GUC), Egypt. His research interests include public sector accounting and budgeting reform, particularly in relation to implementation of accrual accounting and budgeting, performance-based budgeting, and performance audit in public sector.
... In regard to process, output, outcome, efficiency and accounting information, the intensity of use varies from non-use to extensive use depending on the information type, context and the user (e.g. Ho, 2005;Askim, 2009;Charbonneau and Bellavance, 2015;Giacomini et al., 2016). Thus, the literature justifies the following research hypothesis: ...
... Because this study views the presidents as similar in terms of their political and financial context, education and employment background, powers, cohort and sex, it is assumed that the presidents use performance information similarly. However, as the contexts in which the two presidents give their speeches are different (see Table IV ); one would expect to see dissimilar performance information use according to Askim (2009) because similar people may use performance information differently when the context changes, as demonstrated by Giacomini et al. (2016). Moreover, the differences in characteristics presented in the Research context section can also anticipate different types of use. ...
... This supports the results of scholars who have argued that politicians use performance information (e.g. Askim, 2007;Kroll and Proeller, 2013;Giacomini et al., 2016). The intensive use found also supports researchers who have reported politicians as active performance information users (Ezzamel et al., 2004;Saliterer and Korac, 2013;Charbonneau and Bellavance, 2015). ...
Presidents have constitutional powers and are incentivized to use performance information that is essential to economic leadership practices. However, presidents have not previously been studied in this context. The purpose of this paper is to examine how two sitting presidents use numerical performance information in their speeches. A speech is a formal talk given to a large number of individuals at a particular instance.
Empirical data were obtained from 85 presidential speeches given by the president of Estonia and 35 by the president of Lithuania. The speeches were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Inductive inference, descriptive statistics and statistical tests were used to propose new theoretical ideas for future research.
Studied presidents used extensively numerical performance information, primarily outcome information. Also, the presidents used performance information differently, even though both presidents operated in a similar political context and had similar individual characteristics. The differences were in part explained by speech length but not speech context. Older age, doctoral degree, and longer administrative and political career were associated with lower use.
The study provides preliminary results on how presidents use performance information and what type of performance information is most useful in presidential speeches that address the nation and conduct economic leadership.
New analytical models are presented that can be used to study the intensity of performance information use in rhetoric. Conceptual definitions of the various levels of intensity in performance information use are also introduced. In general, presidential performance information use adds a new dimension to existing research.
... The implementation of performance measurement and PM has been investigated broadly (Ammons & Rivenbark, 2008;Askim, 2007Askim, , 2009Baekgaard & Serritzlew, 2018;Cepiku, Hinna, Scarozza, & Savignon, 2017;Julnes & Holzer, 2001;Kroll, 2015;Nielsen & Baekgaard, 2015;Petersen, Laumann, & Jakobsen, 2018). Evidence generally points to an underuse of performance information, particularly by elected officials (Grossi, Reichard, & Ruggiero, 2016;McDavid & Huse, 2012;Pollitt, 2006;Proeller, 2007), and to unintended effects caused by gaming, blame avoidance and other forms of opportunistic behavior (Arnaboldi, Lapsley, & Steccolini, 2015;Bevan & Hamblin, 2009;Bevan & Hood, 2006;Giacomini, Sicilia, & Steccolini, 2016;Nielsen & Baekgaard, 2015). The implementation of PM and the actual use of performance information seem to depend on the quality of available performance information, the involvement of managers and politicians in the development of performance measurement, and specific characteristics of the political-administrative system. ...
... The implementation of PM and the actual use of performance information seem to depend on the quality of available performance information, the involvement of managers and politicians in the development of performance measurement, and specific characteristics of the political-administrative system. For example, trust between administrational staff and politicians, as well as the politicization of decision-making, have been proved to be relevant for the implementation of PM, and these parameters are themselves interdependent (Giacomini et al., 2016;Hildebrand & McDavid, 2011;Kroll, 2015;Weiss, 2017). Strategic planning is understood as a "deliberative, disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is, what it does, and why" (Bryson, 2011;Bryson, Edwards, & van Slyke, 2018). ...
... Obviously, interview partners selectively remembered some situations, especially from discussions in the council, where performance information had been used for arguing. But as far as these cases could be analyzed using meeting records, performance information typically was used as "ammunition" (Giacomini et al., 2016) in particular cases and not in a structured way for every council decision. ...
By analyzing how public administrations in a rule-of-law oriented , continental European federal government system adopted managerial practices on a voluntary basis, this article contributes to the knowledge about actual managerial practices in public administration. Its main research question is about what local governments in Germany do when they claim to have implemented managerial practices. For ten municipalities which have been identified as good practices, actual managerial practices are characterized and analyzed based on a model using established theoretical concepts of performance management and strategic management. Data stem from systematic reviews of strategy documents and budget plans as well as additional interviews. It can be shown that these municipalities have implemented managerial practices which generally follow the ideas of popular German reform blueprints and comply with general ideas of public administration research. Results suggest an inherent connection between performance management and strategic management whereas actual practices, even between the ten cases under review, differ significantly. The conclusion argues that more qualitative research about managerial practices could substantially enrich public scholars' perspective on theoretical concepts such as performance management and strategic management and on the preconditions under which these concepts could create benefits for the public.
... Although at times acknowledged, the symbolic, legitimizing, social and political roles and uses of performance measurement have largely been downplayed in public administration empirical studies (Korac et al. 2019; see Moynihan et al. 2012a for an exception). Conversely, the interpretive accounting literature has recognized these features of accounting for a long time (see, e.g., Burchell et al. 1980;Boland and Pondy 1983;Markus and Pfeffer 1983;Ansari and Euske 1987) and in recent times there has been a resurgence of attention to the roles played by accounting in economy, society and organizations (Miller and Power 2013), as well as more specifically in the public sector (see Giacomini et al. 2016;Nitzl et al. 2018;Korac et al. 2019;Saliterer et al. 2019). Such studies have pointed to a variety of roles of accounting and to the need for contextualizing them; for example, looking at organizational culture, policy phases or other conditions influencing uses and their consequences on behaviours and performance. ...
... 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. ...
... It can be seen as a driver for change or being the subject of change itself. Moreover, it can become a 'learning' or 'ammunition machine' (Burchell et al. 1980;Giacomini et al. 2016), giving rise to purposeful, political, passive, or even perverse uses (Moynihan 2009). Finally, as pointed out by Miller and Power (2013), accounting can play significantly different roles in society and organizations, ranging from territorializing, to adjudicating, subjectivizing, and mediating. ...
The spate of public sector reforms which have taken place in the last 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 management 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 at extending the dialogue between accounting and public administration scholars in exploring how accounting, accountability and performance measurement considerations are connected to policymaking, public services and more generally the building and maintenance of modern states and democracies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... As representatives of citizens, and often major decision-makers, politicians are indeed expected to be users of public sector accounting information on the public sector (Giacomini et al., 2016). However, the reality in several jurisdictions seems to show that politicians, namely parliamentarians, are not interested in using this type of information for their activities (Liguori et al., 2012;Van Helden, 2016)the information is often quite complex, extensive and the decision-making process seems to be based on the political rationale that does not award much importance to accounting information. ...
... Buylen and Christiaens (2015) also highlight that the use of information by politicians is generally less formal and less direct than the information in the financial reports. The extent and type of use of the financial information may depend on the political decision-making process (Guarini, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016). Guarini (2016) emphasizes that the use of financial information by politicians for the budget debate aims fundamentally at highlighting only concrete political questions, whereas Askim and Baldersheim (2012) and Liguori and Steccolini (2018) consider that it is only intended to promote political debates, to set the political agenda and to relieve the informational asymmetry between the legislative and executive powers. ...
... If they are based on less credible information, or information that is likely to be controversial, debates will be deceitful and disappointing. In line with Giacomini et al. (2016), debates are naturally confronting situations, and accounting information may be used to better defend or attack an argument. In order to get reliable accounting information is it important MPs to resort not only to institutional intermediaries, but also to TAs with the adequate skills, which should be a mandatory practice within the PG in finance matters-related committees. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to research the use of accounting information by politicians. Based on the Portuguese Parliament setting, it seeks to understand how useful politicians consider this information to be, what type of budgetary and financial information they use, and for what purposes. Finally, the research also seeks to find out whether politicians resort to expert intermediaries or advisors help them in the use of this information.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative and interpretative methodology, the study draws upon interviews with Members of Parliament in Portugal (and their technical advisors (TAs)) from all political parties, in particular the members of the Budget, Finance and Administrative Modernization Committee (COFMA) of the Parliament.
Findings
Research shows that, due to the general lack of knowledge and the complexity of the accounting information, politicians in the Parliament do not use it frequently, only occasionally. To be better or worse informed for the debates and other activities depends on each Member of Parliament’s personal willingness to prepare oneself, notwithstanding some aggregated and previously analyzed information made available by official technical support units. Parliamentarians may also resort to TAs, who prepare the information at their request. Both intermediaries and TAs are deemed important to support parliamentarians’ understanding of more technical budgetary and financial issues.
Practical implications
This paper shows that politicians acknowledge there is room for improving the role of information intermediaries and advisors, who would support them to better understand and use accounting information. Parliamentary groups incharge of hiring advisors, as well as accounting professionals, in Portugal and in other countries, must be aware of the very useful role accountants play in this process.
Social implications
While allowing to understand whether and how politicians use accounting information, this research contributes to the process of public sector accounting reforms in Portugal, and at an international level, inasmuch as public sector accounting and reporting standards should better address these users’ information needs. Assuming that these reforms would foster more accurate, transparent and useful information for accountability and decision making, it is essential that politicians acknowledge and become real users of accounting information, in order to accomplish those objectives.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the general knowledge of how politicians use accounting information. Academic studies so far have not gathered enough evidence about the type of accounting information that is actually important for politicians. This paper highlights that use of such information by politicians depends on individual skills and their willingness to receive the appropriate advice.
... To date, however, whether, how and under what circumstances politicians actually use accounting information is significantly underresearched (Pollitt, 2006;Van Helden, 2015). Scholars have mainly focused on demand side (Mbelwa, 2014;van Helden, 2016 andGiacomini, et al 2016) which is the use of information by the users and neglected the supply side which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (for example: Mimba et al., 2007 andVan Dooren andVan de Walle, 2008) have focused on both the supply and demand sides. ...
... Despite the last three decades have witnessed the adoption and implementation of public sector accounting reforms which aim at creating an informative accounting system, the public sector accounting literature indicates the lack of actual use of accounting information in public organizations and many politicians do not use the available accounting information at all, or they use it under certain conditions (Ter Bogt, 2004, Askim, 2007, Mimba et al., 2007, Van Dooren and Van de Walle, 2008, Giacomini, et al 2016, Van Helden, 2016. While a considerable body of researches has been conducted on conceptualizing accounting information use by the politicians and public managers, these conceptualization attempts focused mainly on addressing this issue from the demand side and very few studies have focused on both the supply and the demand sides (Giacomini, et al 2016, van Helden, 2016, Guarini, 2016. ...
... Despite the last three decades have witnessed the adoption and implementation of public sector accounting reforms which aim at creating an informative accounting system, the public sector accounting literature indicates the lack of actual use of accounting information in public organizations and many politicians do not use the available accounting information at all, or they use it under certain conditions (Ter Bogt, 2004, Askim, 2007, Mimba et al., 2007, Van Dooren and Van de Walle, 2008, Giacomini, et al 2016, Van Helden, 2016. While a considerable body of researches has been conducted on conceptualizing accounting information use by the politicians and public managers, these conceptualization attempts focused mainly on addressing this issue from the demand side and very few studies have focused on both the supply and the demand sides (Giacomini, et al 2016, van Helden, 2016, Guarini, 2016. Even the studies (Van Dooren, 2005; Van Dooren and Van de Walle, 2008) that have addressed this issue from both supply and demand sides, they did not address this issue from a coherent, dynamic and comprehensive perspective. ...
This paper aims at developing a theory; Information Fit Theory (hereafter IFT), that explains the matching relationship between the producers and the users of public sector accounting information and matching between information provided in each stage of the policy decision making processes with that information required for each stage. The core aspects of the IFT (are: (1) Actors: The use of accounting information is basically a bilateral task between the producer and the user of information; (2) Stages of use and type of accounting information: The actual use of accounting information will be enhanced when it is specific to the problems the user face in each stage. Information that does not fit is likely to be disregarded, therefore, the extent and type of use of accounting information might depend on the policy-decision making process where different stages can be identified:-Agenda-setting;-policy formulation;-decision making;-implementation; and evaluation; (3) Factors influencing the quality of information provided: The quality of information provided can influence organizational performance and degree of the actual use of accounting information, therefore, the following factors that affect the quality of information provided should be taken into account:-competences of accounting specialists;-experiences with certain types of accounting information;-resources to develop new types of accounting information;-professional standards for propagating certain types of accounting information;-discretion in producing accounting information. (4) Matching: The actual use of accounting information and hence its usefulness will be enhanced when there is a cognitive fit (matching) between the information provided by the producer in each stage and that information required by the user for each stage; (5) Presentation: Like all people, politicians and managers have limited information-processing skills, therefore, proper presentation of information by the producers in a language and format understandable by politicians can contribute to both efficient and effective use of accounting information especially when the politicians have no business background. (6) Driving forces for use: The mere existence of information and its proper presentation does not mean that it will directly be used, therefore, there should be driving forces and accountability framework for the politicians to use the accounting information; (7) The way and purpose of use of accounting information: the way of use of accounting information whether it is symbolic, instrumental or conceptual can help in determining the purpose of using it; (8) Information use audits: Performs two tasks:-Show producers where, how and whether which information is used by users (Feedback for the producers-to close the theory-practice gap); and-Ensuring dynamic interplay between producers and users of accounting information.
... Taking a contrasting view, Moynihan (2006Moynihan ( , 2008 has therefore suggested that, in becoming part of the political dialogue, performance information may play a less technical role (Burchell et al. 1980) and is likely to be used selectively and strategically (Moynihan 2006) for purposes other than the search for improved economic-rational driven decision-making (see Joyce 1993;Ho 2018). Along these lines, Moynihan (2009), for instance, puts forward political uses of performance information (in terms of advocacy), and other scholars show that politicians use performance information to seek external approval and legitimacy, to (ex-post) rationalize or justify (legitimize), but also to delegitimize actions and decisions (see Giacomini et al. 2016). ...
... Taking into account this variety of use purposes may be particularly worthwhile when exploring legislators' use of performance information in the budget approval phase-a context where competing demands, mutual relationships between legislators and the executive branch, as well as political conflict over the allocation of resources are likely to surface (Giacomini et al. 2016;Grossi et al. 2016; van Helden 2016). As attempts to empirically identify and investigate different political performance information use purposes are still rare (see Pollitt 2006;Moynihan 2016), this contribution aims to paint a more nuanced picture of performance information use by legislators during the budget appropriation process. ...
... When it comes to uses and users of performance information, the present study uncovered an array of different purposes of performance information use by politicians. It thereby provides support for prior contributions that have not only challenged the predominant assumption of an economic-rational use of performance information but also developed contrasting perspectives which allows us to consider the multiple rationalities and logics that come into play when politicians use performance information during budget approval (see Moynihan 2006;Demaj and Summermater 2012;Giacomini et al. 2016). ...
This article looks at performance information use by legislators at the central level in a budgetary context. The multi‐method approach (interviews, quantitative and qualitative analysis of plenary speeches held during budget readings) allows drawing a broader picture of the use of performance information. The findings provide new insights into different purposes of performance information use. We identify four general use types, i.e. de‐legitimizing, legitimizing, improving and understanding, and deflecting, which together with the addressed subjects blend into different use purposes. Second, the study sheds light onto different factors affecting performance information use, i.e. the attributes of users of performance information, the properties of performance, and the role of institutional support.
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... Popularized by New Public Management (NPM) reforms as well as Good Governance models, performance management (PM) (Moynihan, 2008;van Dooren et al., 2015) and strategic management (SM) (Bryson and George, 2020;Ongaro and Ferlie, 2020) are seen as essential practices for public organizations today. However, public administration research has elaborated a lot of aspects that might hinder the implementation or adequate functioning of these practices, like for example difficulties measuring performance, the complexity of stakeholder involvement, and strongly asymmetric information in the blame-game triangle between administrations, politicians, and citizens (Arnaboldi et al., 2015;Conteh, 2014;Dimitrijevska-Markoski and French, 2019;Giacomini et al., 2016;Nielsen and Baekgaard, 2015;Weiss, 2017). In this context, three research gaps will be addressed in this article: first, the lack of data about the actual prevalence of PM and SM in Neo-Weberian administrations (Aoki, 2019); second, inadequate knowledge about how aspects of PM and SM are combined and linked in actual administrative practices (Manojlović, 2017); and third, the poor evidence of factors influencing the intensity of use of these instruments. ...
... There is extensive literature pointing to a large number of interdependent factors that are known to have an impact on the implementation of PM (Arnaboldi et al., 2015;Giacomini et al., 2016;Grossi et al., 2016;Kroll, 2015;Moynihan, 2016), yet this question seems to be less popular for research on SM. The following analysis focuses on four factors that might help to explain the implementation of PSOM in German local governments: the size and the financial situation of a municipality, normative and coercive isomorphism, as well as administration-council relations. ...
This study analyzes practices of performance management (PM) and strategic management (SM) and their prevalence in Neo-Weberian rule-of-law administrations. Based on data from Germany's local government sector, it is shown that after 30 years of New Public Management (NPM) reforms, no more than 20% of German municipalities have implemented the basic aspects of PM or SM. Actual practices combine ideas of PM and SM in quite different ways and can best be understood as variances of a performance- and strategy-oriented management. It is argued that even though patterns of normative as well as coercive isomorphism have existed in the organizational field, the influence of NPM ideas has led to a diversification of management practices within Germany's local government sector. But results also show that there is no tendency toward a broadly NPM-oriented administration and that typical models of Neo-Weberian administration do not truly align with actual practices.
Points for practitioners
The use of performance information and strategic goals are important management instruments for public organizations. This study shows that in public administrations adhering to more bureaucratic rule-of-law traditions, actual management practices combine aspects of PM and SM in various ways, often not aligning with the recommendations from the advisory literature. The presented insights may help practitioners to better understand the efforts and benefits of these management practices, as well as the trade-offs between them.
... Several prior studies explore the different factors that influence the use and usefulness of financial and performance information by stakeholders (including CFO) for decision-making and accountability purposes in the local government context (e.g. Askim, 2007;Budding and van Helden, 2022;Cohen and Karatzimas, 2017;Giacomini et al., 2016;Gomes et al., 2017;Liguori et al., 2012;Moynihan and Pandey, 2010;Nogueira and Jorge, 2017;Saliterer, I. and Korac, 2014;ter Bogt, 2004). More recently, the special issue of the Public Money and Use and usefulness of accounting information Management journal (Budding and van Helden, 2022) was totally dedicated to the politicians' use of accounting information which shows the relevance of the theme nowadays. ...
... Some studies evidence a greater preference by politicians and managers for non-financial and budgeting information (e.g. Giacomini et al., 2016;Liguori et al., 2012;ter Bogt, 2004), being accrual accounting preferred by politicians compared to managers, "probably because the adoption of accrual accounting retains a symbolic power and it signals an emphasis on managerialism, innovation and efficiency" (Liguori et al., 2012, p. 917). On the opposite hand, Grossi et al. (2016, p. 581) concluded that politicians are generally less interested in such information than top managers, particularly CFOs. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to research the reforms toward International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) implementation and the perceptions about the use and usefulness of accounting information in the context of local government in the Iberian Peninsula. The paper focuses on the perspective of chief financial officers (CFOs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Beyond the study of the context of the reform in both countries through the consultation of legislation and official documents, the authors collected primary data through a survey addressed to the local CFO to catch both countries' perceptions and beliefs toward the topic under research.
Findings
The authors' findings evidence that both countries have made strong efforts to adapt IPSAS to both countries' national standards. The coercive and mimetic isomorphism and the private accounting normative were important determinants in the reform. Looking at perceptions, budget information continues to be perceived as the king information for public management and decision-making. In a comparative way, the Portuguese CFO seems to be more optimistic concerning the use and usefulness of the new accounting system. The strong orientation of CFO to cash-basis and budgeting information is an important explanation of the lower use and usefulness, essentially in the Spanish context. The regression results show that individual perceptions and beliefs on the accounting reform influence the opinion about the usefulness and use of financial information.
Research limitations/implications
The use of the survey method has some limitations very discussed in the literature that are also applied in this study.
Practical implications
The paper has the potential to contribute to the academic, political and practitioner discussion of the core purposes of financial accounting information in the public sector and financial accounting information's impacts on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) framework.
Originality/value
The recent adoption of the new accounting system in local governments of both contexts contributes to knowledge on the public sector accounting reforms toward the transition to accrual accounting and the IPSAS. The innovative character of the paper contributes to better clarify how the perceptions of the accounting reform influence the usage level of public financial information.
... This critical stance on accounting information use also implies that we will be open to observe other influences on types of accounting information use than indicated in Figure 2, such as specific types of political accounting information use when one ruling executive is replaced by another (e.g. Guarini, 2016;Pernsteiner et al., 2016), or re-assuring types of accounting information use under low political conflict versus dialogical forms under increasingly conflicting situations (Giacomini et al., 2016). Annisette and Richardson (2011) point to even deeper-rooted antecedents for certain types of accounting information use, especially that diverging societal perspectives can influence actors' appreciation or disapproval of accounting information. ...
... Second, our study contributes to the area of systematic investigations of accounting information use, which distinguishes diverging extents of use. From our empirical investigations, a distinction emerges between passive and active use, in addition to non-use of accounting information, and we explored the antecedents of these types of use; as such it builds on other relevant studies in this respect, such as: Ansari and Euske, 1987;Catasús, 2008;Moynihan, 2009;Catasús et al., 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016. Our research shows in this respect that an active use of accounting information about controversial projects requires that financials belong to the domain of the actors and these actors see opportunities for impacting the decision about the project, by underpinning certain actions for revising or stopping it. ...
This paper investigates whether and how accounting information is used in debates and decision-making processes about controversial projects in public sector and non-profit settings in the Netherlands and Italy. The research is based on two case studies and relies on multiple methods of qualitative data collection, including documents, interviews with key actors and media reports. The research finds a more limited extent of accounting information use than expected given the controversiality of the projects. It raises various types of explanations for this limited accounting information use, especially that ruling groups of actors supporting the project do not give room to the opposing minority for putting forward their concerns and preferences. The power position of the ruling majority thus matters in mitigating opportunities for a dialogic use of accounting information leading to the decision-making about the projects. So, controversiality is a determining factor, but insufficient as an explanation for the extent to which accounting information is used. In addition, the type of accounting information use is depending on the actors’ appreciation of the project. Advocates and opponents concerning both projects were in general inclined to an ammunition type of accounting information use, whereas actors holding a neutral position used available accounting information in a more rational way.
... PI is expected to contribute to a more substantiated budget composition and to increased accountability of the responsible actors. In addition, forms of political use of PI are particularly relevant, for example as 'ammunition' for political struggles or to legitimize and to justify policies (for more details see Askim, 2007;Giacomini et al., 2016;Korac et al., 2020;Micheli & Pavlov, 2020;Moynihan & Pandey, 2010;van Helden & Reichard, 2019). ...
... In all these cases, the significance and relevance of provided PI in the budget will be moderate and their usability accordingly low. If politicians of the opposition use such data, they will, however, employ it primarily as ammunition to weaken the majority's power position (Giacomini et al., 2016). ...
IMPACT
German municipalities have prepared performance budgets for over 10 years. The incorporation of performance information into the budget is, however, still work in progress. Local politicians perceive the usability of non-financial information in the budget as low and do not use such information intensively for budget composition or other purposes. German municipal budgets are usually voluminous because of their highly detailed structure and the large amount of displayed performance data which rarely informs about outcomes. Such information does not meet the needs of councillors, for example in their struggles with political opponents. Some options for improving the usability of budgetary information are presented.
... All such purposes can be classified as purposeful use (Moynihan and Pandey, 2010). Apart from them, other purposes of information use may play a role: for instance, the "political" use of information, e.g. in a mere "ceremonial" manner of budget formulation (Mutiganda, 2016), as ammunition for supporting political interests (Giacomini et al., 2016) or for manipulating strategic decisions (Pernsteiner et al., 2016). ...
... Pettersen and Solstad, 2014;Vakkuri, 2010). More detailed empirical data are available with regard to politicians as potential AI users: here, a politician's role in legislation (member of majority or opposition party, member of budget committee or "outsider"), political ideology and political competition is seen as antecedents (Buylen and Christiaens, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016). ...
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.
... However, the interest in the use of accounting information has almost exclusively focused on managers and public servants, while not considering the use of accounting information utilized by politicians (Pollitt, 2006;Giacomini, Sicilia, & Steccolini, 2016;Guarini, 2016). However, most decisions made in the public sector are taken by politicians, which ascertains the need for adequate information to support decision-making. ...
... Secondly, it suggests that there are different uses and the stage of policy cycle will affect the quantity of information used, but also the types of uses. In the formulation stage the information is widely used like an answer and learning machine, i.e., to allow evaluation of different options to achieve the goal shared by all the members of the executive board (Giacomini, Sicilia, and Steccolini, 2016). Hence, a purposeful use of accounting information, in order to support better decision-making has been recognized consistent to what stated by Moynihan and Pandey (2010). ...
The use of accounting information in the public sector is gaining more attention in recent years, both in literature and among politicians. In particular, it is still necessary to shed light looking at those that have responsibility to make the final decision: politicians. This article attempts to help understand the role of accounting information in decisions made by mayors by analyzing the results of a national survey to which Italian mayors responded. The survey questioned mayors about their use of accounting information during the policy cycle. The use of accounting information by mayors is quite varied, especially if we consider the different phases of the political cycle. The clustering of the results led to the identification of three different groups of mayors with respect to different ways of using accounting information.
... The analysis of politicians' perceptions regarding the relevance and preferences of public sector FI (politicians' behaviour relating to their preferences and beliefs) (for example Liguori et al., 2012;Jorge et al., 2019;Sinervo & Haapala, 2019;Haustein et al., 2021;Pajković et al., 2023). . Politicians' purposes in using FI (what information is used and how) (for example Buylen & Christiaens, 2016;Guarini, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016;Van Helden & Reichard, 2019;Saliterer et al., 2019;Jorge et al., 2019;Van Helden et al., 2023). ...
... accrual-based information (Liguori et al., 2012;Giacomini et al., 2016;Guarini, 2016;Haustein et al., 2021). Within the Burns and Scapens (2000) framework this can be explained with the fact that institutional actors need time to establish and pass on new routines (ter Bogt, 2008), which over time could become 'taken-for-granted' ways of thinking, i.e. institutions. ...
Purpose
By focusing on the perspective of politicians, this paper aims to question the change brought about by local government financial statements for accountability. It applies the Burns and Scapens’ (2000) framework of accounting change to explore politicians’ routines when using the accrual accounting information and which type of change was induced by financial statements on financial accountability to politicians and citizens.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering that accounting reforms take time to unfold their effects, this paper studies two countries that have 11 years of difference in the reform implementation and thus a different accounting maturity. A qualitative research approach was used based on 55 semistructured interviews in five Finnish and six German municipalities with 25 councilors from Finland and 30 from Germany.
Findings
Councilors with a longer period of time to adjust to the accounting reforms seem to have developed more routines in using financial statements to assess the financial situation and performance. The change induced in accountability to politicians is partly formal and more evolutionary than revolutionary. The complexity of financial statements can lead to regressive change, especially in financially distressed local governments. As for accountability to citizens, a real change is not observed, reflecting a regressive type of change.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the empirical studies on financial accountability in the public sector context by analyzing the use of financial statements in two-way accountability relations from the perspective of politicians. Thereby, the paper adopts a transnational comparative approach and draws on old institutional economics.
... The literature shows that researchers have observed the use of accounting information in the management process (Kroll, 2014;Liguori et al., 2012) and only a few exceptions have deepened the use of accounting information reported in official documents (Askim, 2007;Giacomini et al. , 2016;Guarini, 2016;Ter Bogt, 2003, 2004, information barely considered by politicians (Ezzamel, Robson, Stapleton and McLean, 2007;Ter Bogt, 2004, Ter Bogt, H., & van Helden, G ., 2011. ...
... Prior research has elaborated on the ideas held by academics, standard setting bodies and politicians. In the case of the latter, research delves deeper and examines how politicians use (or not) financial reporting and accrual data (for example Caruana & Farrugia, 2018;Giacomini et al., 2016;Guarini, 2016;Jorge et al., 2016;Pernsteiner et al., 2016). Very little research has explored the views of accounting practitioners who carry out the day-to-day government accounting duties. ...
... In their article on 'Usability and actual use of performance information in German municipal budgets', Jethon and Reichard (2022) add further evidence to a large number of findings which show that politicians do not regularly use performance information (PI) for managing public organizations. There is plentiful knowledge about deficits in the supply of PI (Bleyen et al., 2016), as well as about the under-use (Moynihan, 2016) or misuse of available PI (Giacomini et al., 2016). Actual performance-driving use of PI depends on a large number of interdependent factors (Kroll, 2015). ...
This debate article emphasizes three points for the future
debate on (performance) management in public
organizations:
. First, existing research might be missing relevant aspects
of PIU.
. Second, more knowledge about the supply costs of PI
would be helpful to understand the deeper logics of PIU
and demonstrate the relevance of qualitative PI.
. Third, a broader understanding of actual management
practices might bring a new perspective to the concept
of performance and its relevance for public sector
organizations.
... The stream of literature that addresses the dysfunctional effects of NPM-based performance measurement has also acknowledged that the expected and desired effects of such measurement on rational decision making and control/accountability cannot be taken for granted (e.g., Arnaboldi et al. 2015;Bevan and Hood 2006;Hvidman and Andersen 2014;Modell 2009;Speklé and Verbeeten 2014;Walker et al. 2011). As Steccolini et al. (2020) note, it is important to complement functionalists research that focuses on either the success or the dysfunctions of the purposeful design, adoption and use of performance measurement systems with interpretivist research that focuses on the symbolic, legitimizing, social and political role(s) of performance measurement (Giacomini et al. 2016;Korac et al., 2019;Miller and Power, 2013;Nitzl et al., 2018;Saliterer et al., 2019). Such complementing research offers a deeper understanding of how performance measurement is shaped by, and, in turn, shapes organizational, psychological, economic, social and political values and realities (Steccolini et al, 2020, p. 4). ...
... In order to empirically investigate the new level of political accountability found in the local authorities' financial statements renewed by the accounting reform, a multiple case study has been developed. Case studies are useful for describing and expanding the understanding of a phenomenon (Stake, 1995;Giacomini, Sicilia, & Steccolini, 2016). ...
The issue of accountability, particularly with regard to the use of public resources, represents one of the most significant and necessary aspects faced by a public administration. This work, therefore, focuses on the transparency of information with regard to the economic viability of a public administration, paying specific attention to the local and regional authorities which have been subject to major reforms in accounting systems. Harmonised accounting is the term given to the complex and multifaceted process of reforming public accounting, as provided by Italian Law No. 196, Article 2, December 31, 2009, and is aimed at unifying, comparing and aggregating the public administration financial statement, carrying out the operations with the same methods and accounting policies, and seeking to satisfy the necessity for information and accountability relating to the coordination of public finances. Several studies have analyzed the effects of accounting reforms on accountability. However, there is still a lack of studies addressing the effects of the Italian accounting reform on accountability in Italian local authorities. This article contributes to research in this area by examining the question of whether, in the first 18 months since the Italian reform’s introduction, accountability has become more or less apparent between the local politicians who use the financial reports both as a method for checking public finances and in order to help inform their own decision-making. Through two case studies, this work analyses the perceptions of local politicians with respect to the level of accountability displayed as part of the accounting reform.
... The literature on the use of accounting information by politicians acknowledges that this information is critical to decision-making (van Helden, 2016). Scholars usually debate about the influence of the information content (Hyndman, 2016), the context (Giacomini et al., 2016), psychological factors (George et al., 2020), and the characteristics of the decision-maker (Reichard, 2016) on the potential use of such information. ...
IMPACT
Local government politicians in Brazil were found to perceive the reports and referrals from legislative finance committees as trustworthy depending on the political scenario in which the report was generated. Information usage by politicians then depended on partisan demands—whether they were in opposition or in government. The quality of the accounting information delivered by finance committees needs to be improved and councillors should be encouraged to consider and use financial information more widely: not just in debates in council. Council finance committees could usefully include external specialists to validate referrals and tighten ties with audit institutions.
... One prominent research finding is that politicians consider accounting information as potentially important, but the actual use lags behind this potential, and politicians seem to prefer non-financial and informal verbal information above accounting information (Liguori et al., 2012;Sinervo & Haapala, 2019). Some antecedents for the actual use of accounting information that have been described in the literature are the role of politicians in legislation (as a member of the governing or an opposition party), political ideology, political competition, political experience, and financial expertise (Buylen & Christiaens, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016;Hyndman et al., 2008;Sinervo & Haapala, 2019). Additionally, in political science the difference in behaviour between members of established and new political parties has also been an area of research (see for example Otjes, 2012). ...
IMPACT
This article looks at how the roles and personal characteristics of politicians affect their use of accounting information. The findings in this article suggest that it is very likely that the quality of debates in parliament correlate with use of the accounting information provided. Political parties should consider age and experience in their selection of candidates and in terms of whether to retire MPs, because age and experience do seem to affect the extent to which politicians substantiate their statements and decisions with hard accounting information.
... The above considerations show that there is a tendency to increasingly recognize the potential of accounting to represent the heterogeneous and plural values expressed by societies, organizations and individuals, support decisions among these values, and to contribute to transformation of values over time. Exploring this potential further is of particular relevance in the public space, where even the very concept of public performance is subject to interpretation, deliberation, discussion, becoming ambiguous, politically charged, and being multi-faceted Rautiainen, 2010), and the use of information will also reflect underlying conflicts or differences in perspectives (Giacomini et al., 2016). As pointed out by Vosselman (2014), "accounting is not an essence in itself, but can only exist in processes of knowing in networks, and is in politics" (p. ...
Purpose–This paper aims to highlight the importance of (public) value(s) and publicness in accounting andaccountability research. It pinpoints a range of issues that scholars need to contemplate when reconsideringpublicness in accounting research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach–The paper adopts an interdisciplinary literature review associated with aconceptual discussion of the actual and future challenges of public service accounting and accountability inconsidering public value(s).
Findings–The paper illustrates the centrality of (public) value(s) at the individual, organizational and societallevels in shaping and being shaped by calculative practices, and shows that looking at the interconnectionsbetween values and accounting is a fruitful research avenue. Moreover, it highlights the power of embracinginterdisciplinary approaches to illuminate these interconnections and relate them to complex and currentphenomena.
Originality/value–The paper’s originality lies in the reconsideration of (public) value(s) for public serviceaccounting scholars, providing a critical reflection and setting new research avenues
... To date, however, whether, how and under what circumstances politicians actually use accounting information is significantly under-researched (Pollitt, 2006;Van Helden, 2015). Scholars have mainly focused on demand side (Mbelwa, 2014;Van Helden, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016) which is the use of information by the users and neglected the supply side which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (e.g. ...
Although the production and use of accounting information, to some extent, have received considerable attention in the public sector accounting literature, researching the production and actual use of accounting information in relation to the human and social agency involved has always constituted a negligible part of the research agenda. Incorporating human behavior into traditional accounting models and theories improves our explanation and predictions of the producers’ and users’ behavior, including the issue in focus which is the scarcity of actual use of accounting information by politicians. This chapter aims at producing practice-relevant information for the governing politicians by developing the Accounting Information Usefulness Theory (AIUT), which seeks to explain how cognitive aspects influence the use/nonuse of accounting information by politicians.
... Future research could examine the persons who have the responsibility to make final decisions on accrual accounting usage: politicians. When doing so, it is important to bear in mind that politicians may play different roles and have different degrees of power in the various stages of the policy cycle (Giacomini 2019;Giacomini et al. 2016). ...
Despite its benefits, municipalities frequently struggle to take advantage of accrual accounting as a basis for managerial decisions. We assume that the reason for this is that municipalities technically implement accrual accounting but sometimes keep it decoupled from daily decision making. To identify factors that facilitate a more sophisticated usage of accrual accounting in German public administrations, we examined the influence of the municipality's contextual situation, organizational structure, and resource provision on the degree of sophistication in the use of accrual accounting. We found that the most relevant driver for a more sophisticated use of accrual accounting is the contextual situation in which the municipality is embedded. In our research model, a municipality's contextual situation consists of fiscal stress, its political competition and culture, and the relevant legal system. Another important factor is the adequate provision of resources, such as an IT system that delivers easily accessible and accurate accounting information. Notably, the specific organizational structure of the municipality, which is often regarded as highly bureaucratic and the main obstruction to reforms, is not significant.
... Zu Verfügbarkeit und Nutzung von Performance Informationen (PI) auf der operativen und der strategischen Ebene liegen zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen vor (Julnes und Insgesamt stellt die verwaltungswissenschaftliche Forschung eine geringe Nutzung von PI für operative wie auch für strategische Entscheidungen fest, gerade auf der kommunalen Ebene. Daneben lassen sich unerwünschte Formen der Nutzung von PI ausmachen (Baekgaard und Serritzlew 2018;Bevan und Hood 2006;Giacomini et al. 2016;Moynihan 2008;Petersen et al. 2018;Wang und Berman 2001). ...
Die Beiträge des Bandes stellen Grundlagen aus den Bereichen Verwaltungsmanagement und Verwaltungsinformatik sowie Ergebnisse der empirischen Forschung zum strategischen Management in kleinen und mittleren Kommunen dar. Fallbeispiele aus Kommunen in Österreich, Italien, der Schweiz, der Slowakei und Deutschland zeigen praktizierte Managementsysteme, Einführungsprozesse und Aspekte der informationstechnischen Unterstützung.
Der Inhalt
Theoretische, konzeptionelle und informationstechnische Grundlagen – Ergebnisse der empirischen Forschung - IT-gestützte Konzepte zur Ausbildung von Verwaltungsbeschäftigten - Fallstudien.
Die Zielgruppen
- Lehrende und Studierende der Verwaltungswissenschaften und der Verwaltungsinformatik sowie Wissenschaftler*innen aus den Bereichen Verwaltungswissenschaften, Verwaltungsinformatik, Regionalentwicklung und Weiterbildung
- Praktiker*innen aus kommunalen Verwaltungen, Ministerien und Aufsichtsbehörden
Der Herausgeber
Dr. Jens Weiß ist Professor für Verwaltungswissenschaften an der Hochschule Harz in Halberstadt.
... Zu Verfügbarkeit und Nutzung von Performance Informationen (PI) auf der operativen und der strategischen Ebene liegen zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen vor (Julnes und van Dooren 2005van Dooren , 2008 Insgesamt stellt die verwaltungswissenschaftliche Forschung eine geringe Nutzung von PI für operative wie auch für strategische Entscheidungen fest, gerade auf der kommunalen Ebene. Daneben lassen sich unerwünschte Formen der Nutzung von PI ausmachen (Baekgaard und Serritzlew 2018;Bevan und Hood 2006;Giacomini et al. 2016;Moynihan 2008;Petersen et al. 2018;Wang und Berman 2001). ...
Dieser Beitrag fasst vorliegende Erkenntnisse der internationalen verwaltungswissenschaftlichen Diskussion zur Implementierung von Performance Management und strategischem Management mit besonderem Interesse für Kommunalverwaltungen in Westeuropa zusammen und zeigt Bedarfe für eine praxisbezogene verwaltungswissenschaftliche Forschung und die verwaltungswissenschaftliche Ausbildung auf, die sich aus diesem Forschungsstand ergeben. Dabei wird insbesondere der potenzielle Nutzen einer qualitativen empirischen Erforschung von Management-Praxen deutlich, ohne die die vorherrschende, survey-orientierte quantitative Forschung ein erhebliches Risiko impliziert, Artefakte statt Verwaltungspraxis zu studieren.
... To date, however, whether, how and under what circumstances politicians actually use accounting information is significantly under-researched (Pollitt, 2006;Van Helden, 2015). Scholars have mainly focused on demand side (Mbelwa, 2014;Van Helden, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016) which is the use of information by the users and neglected the supply side which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (e.g. ...
*Purpose: How do cognitive aspects influence the use/non-use of accounting information by the politicians? Our research seeks to conceptualize and theorize the readiness to use and the actual use of accounting information in relation to the human and social agency involved.
*Design/methodology/approach: Applying Cognitive Fit Theory and Social Cognitive Theory, we explain how cognition of accounting information producers and users relates to their tasks and their environment. Analyzing cognitive matching, we develop accounting information usefulness as a function of the cognitive match between the accounting information producers and the politicians.
*Findings: Our theoretical findings posit that cognitive fit increases with the degree of matching between the cognition of accounting information producers and the cognition of accounting information users. The theory proposes that enriching and matching the various cognitive factors lead to formation of more aligned mental representations to govern the processes of accounting information production and use as a prerequisite for the accounting information usefulness.
*Research limitations/implications: By theorizing human cognition, behavior and learning, we seek to contribute to the explanation and prediction of accounting information use. Future research needs to empirically validate and/or further develop the propositions.
*Practical implications: Practically, our conceptualization can be used to align individual and collective learning on both sides and to introduce information use audit as an instrument for supporting collective learning.
*Originality/value: The Theory of Accounting Information Usefulness is the first attempt in public sector accounting literature to explain the relation of production and consumption of accounting information in relation to the cognition of the actors involved.
... To date, however, whether, how and under what circumstances politicians actually use accounting information is significantly under-researched (Pollitt, 2006;Van Helden, 2015). Scholars have mainly focused on demand side (Mbelwa, 2014;Van Helden, 2016;Giacomini et al., 2016) which is the use of information by the users and neglected the supply side which is the provision of information by the producers. Very few studies (e.g. ...
... Altre indagini, focalizzate sull'Italia, forniscono evidenze di un uso delle informazioni contabili limitato a scopi strumentali . Giacomini et al. 2016 legano tale utilizzo al livello di conflittualità esistente tra maggioranza e opposizione: in presenza di bassa conflittualità le informazioni vengono utilizzate con una funzione di rassicurazione , mentre in condizione di alta conflittualità lo scopo la legittimazione o delegittimazione di particolari posizioni e decisioni politiche. Guarini 2016 , invece, ha analizzato l'uso delle informazioni contabili durante e immediatamente dopo la campagna elettorale in alcuni enti locali italiani, mettendone in luce l'utilizzo puramente propagandistico anche dovuto alla scarsa qualità dei sistemi di produzione di tali informazioni. ...
... Although the literature on the use of financial and performance information in the public sector is quite extensive as, for instance, a special issue of Public Money & Management (van Helden, Argento, Caperchione, & Caruana, 2016) and a literature review by Kroll (2015) show, only a small number of empirical research examines politicians' use of performance information (Askim, 2007;Bogt, 2004;Johnson & Talbot, 2007) or their use of financial information (Giacomini, Sicilia, & Steccolini, 2016;Guarini, 2016;Jorge, Jorge de Jesus, & Nogueira, 2016). Furthermore, the small number of papers dealing with the use of financial information by politicians paint a bleak picture. ...
In a multiple-step reform process, the city-state of Hamburg introduced a full accruals accounting and budgeting system. Based on a document analysis, this paper describes how the reforms were implemented, who the supporters were, and what the motivation behind their support was. It also analyses what benefits users of financial information have gained from the reforms by using responses resulting from semi-structured interviews. The authors find that the main actors were the state parliament and the state government, whose primary aim was to increase transparency about public resources and their consumption. These actors benefitted from the reforms because they now have information available that enables them to fulfil their respective roles within the budget process, and to achieve their political objectives. The authors conclude that under these conditions information use is encouraged and, thus, contribute to a better understanding of how reforms in public sector financial management succeed.
Cet article explore la manière dont les députés abordent les aspects liés au genre dans le processus budgétaire au niveau central en Allemagne, un pays qui défend l’égalité des genres en tant qu’objectif global, mais qui n’a pas (encore) mis en œuvre une budgétisation sensible au genre (GB, pour « gender budgeting »). Néanmoins, du point de vue budgétaire, le contexte allemand est intéressant, car le Parlement dispose de pouvoirs illimités pour modifier le projet de budget. L’étude suit des approches proposées dans les courants de la littérature sur la gestion des performances qui ont exploré différents types d’utilisation de l’information sur les performances. S’appuyant sur une analyse qualitative des débats budgétaires parlementaires, nos résultats montrent que les aspects liés au genre sont importants dans la budgétisation, même lorsque le GB n’est pas mis en œuvre. Cependant, les ressources sont moins souvent mentionnées que les programmes et les politiques dans les débats budgétaires. Nous constatons que les députés abordent les aspects liés au genre de manière différenciée (ce qui s’observe dans quatre types d’utilisation de l’information sur la performance), et que cela est affecté par les caractéristiques de l’utilisateur : le genre des députés, leur appartenance à un parti, leur participation à une commission et, à certains égards, leur âge. Bien qu’il ne soit pas surprenant que les députés de sexe féminin agissent en tant que défenseuses des aspects liés au genre, il est intéressant de noter que les femmes députés sont plus susceptibles de faire référence aux ressources lorsqu’elles traitent des aspects liés au genre que leurs homologues de sexe masculin. En outre, notre analyse des types d’utilisation de l’information sur la performance montre que la position d’un parti en tant que membre d’une coalition gouvernementale ou d’une opposition, ainsi que les lignes partisanes à travers l’opposition, influent sur la façon dont les aspects liés au genre sont abordés : en exerçant une utilisation de type favorable (c.-à-d. légitimer, souligner) et des types d’utilisation plutôt contestataires (c.-à-d. délégitimer, dévier). Remarques à l’intention des praticiens Même dans un contexte où la budgétisation des questions de genre n’est pas mise en œuvre, les députés font référence à l’égalité des genres dans les débats budgétaires.
This paper develops a performativist metaphysical grounding of NPM‐based performance measurement as a radical alternative to a representationalist grounding, an alternative that turns performance measurement on its head. Performance measurement turns from an act of representation characterized by a metaphor of reflection into an ethical practice of mattering characterized by a metaphor of diffraction. In performativism, performance measurement does not (imperfectly) represent performance as a base for knowing and intervention from afar (both in terms of space and time) but is somehow performative of who and what come to count in the world. Its exclusionary character makes it an inherently ethical practice. We contrast a performativist grounding of performance measurement with a representationalist grounding and rework concepts of responsibility and accountability. We illustrate a performativist grounding of performance measurement with examples from academia and healthcare and provide a direction for future research.
In recent decades, many countries have introduced gender budgeting initiatives both at the national and subnational levels. Gender budgeting aims to enhance the gender responsiveness of government spending by integrating gender-disaggregated analyses and gender equality outcome targets into the budgetary process. Although gender budgeting has been practiced for decades, empirical studies on the topic (including on the potential determinants of gender budgeting practices) have been scarce. This paper exploits a unique data set from South Korea. In that country, a gender budgeting system was uniformly introduced to local governments in 2013, but the extent of its use was left to the discretion of municipalities. Drawing from the gender budgeting statements of 66 municipal governments during 2013–2018, I find significant variations in the amount and types of gender budgeting across municipalities. I further find that the amount and types of gender budgeting are significantly influenced by political factors, institutional support, pro-equality climates of civil society, and the socioeconomic and fiscal conditions of the municipalities. Overall, the results suggest that, both inside- and outside-government conditions that are conducive to budgetary reform facilitate the implementation of gender budgeting.
This paper explores the use of accounting information at the local and regional government level in Croatia. Accountants provide cost accounting information mainly on request from internal users. The usefulness of this information is observed from the accountant viewpoint, in order to perceive accountants’ understandings of how decision-makers use accounting data. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument in order to assess the level of accounting information use and usefulness among governing politicians and other public managers. Empirical results indicate that the legal representatives of the budgetary users (public managers) are more inclined than governing politicians to use accounting information in decision-making. Cost accounting information is most useful for planning and control and least beneficial when prices of public services are being set. Public sector cost accounting in Croatia is well implemented and constraints on its further development are not highly in evidence.
Purpose - This paper studies the usability of local government (LG) financial
statements as perceived by local councillors. By drawing on a comparative view
of two countries with different periods of accrual accounting use in the public
sector, the authors investigate how local councillors assess the usability of LG
financial statements in order to question accounting reform success. Determinants
that influence the usability assessment are explored.
Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory design: data were collected from
questionnaires with 24 local councillors from five Finnish LGs and 30 local
councillors from six German LGs. An adjusted variant of the System Usability
Scale was analysed with descriptive statistics and non-parametric group
comparisons.
Findings – In both countries, the usability assessment of financial statements
seems to be positive, indicating a successful reform process. In Finland, where
the accrual government accounting reform has had a longer time to settle in,
councillors seem to assess usability only partially better than German councillors.
Several determinants of the usability assessment were detected, such as size and
debt level of the LG as well as local councillors’ gender, political orientation and
education. Generally, councillors need more assistance and training in using
financial statements.
Originality/value – The study is the first to conduct a quantitative assessment of
the usability of LG financial statements as perceived by councillors. The System
Usability Scale was adjusted to a public sector reporting context. The paper
adopts a transnational comparative approach.
Keywords: usability; local governments; financial statements; politicians; local
council; citizens
Purpose
The study aims to show how the public interest has been argued to justify the political interference in the accounting of financial entities as a tool to face a critical financial situation in a country. And to offer a different perspective of the publicness notion that focuses on the field of financial accounting for private entities.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on legal and political arguments referred to the public interest that consider the balancing approach, and so goes beyond the traditional agency framework, to explain politicians' influence on financial reporting. The behavior of the newly elected Spanish government, which issued accounting impairment rules for banks is described, and the accounting practices of a highly politically connected financial entity—Bankia—are used to illustrate the consequences of that intervention.
Findings
The paper evidences that the government intervention, which implied non-compliance with IFRS, was in line with its economic goals, led to the financial sector bailout and avoided the rescue of the country. This is what we call “breaking rules to achieve the public interest”, which is also consistent with a big-bath behavior to justify the bailout and legitimate the decision to breach IFRS. The silence of enforcers is consistent with the balancing approach that suggests compliance costs from a breach of rules are perceived less relevant after a high-level decision.
Research limitations/implications
This is a country-specific study based on a single case study that limits the generalizability of the findings.
Originality/value
This research provides a new angle to consider the political motivations to intervene in accounting in the private sector, as well as the enforcers' motivations to allow it. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it shows how politicians have argued the “public interest” to use (and abuse) to intervene in accounting rules, as well as to influence the accounting practice of a highly politically connected bank. It also highlights the potential long-term unintended consequences of these actions.
This paper offers a unique perspective on NPM enactment. NPM is the key means by which neoliberal policies penetrate society and there is now a considerable literature on NPM in many economies. The influence of NPM tends to be depicted as significant, embedded, and irreversible. This study offers findings of resistance and rejection of NPM by a cadre of politicians who did not accept the trappings of NPM. The importance of accounting and metrics was rejected by politicians in this study. These actions also influenced the actions of professionals in health care organizations.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of budgeting in the monitoring functions of the Tanzanian Parliament, specifically the monitoring functions of the Parliamentary Budget Committee (PBC).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses Burchell et al. ’s (1980) accounting “machines” framework and its development as a theoretical lens to interpret the research findings. Interviews, document analysis and observation were used for data collection.
Findings
The findings reveal that budget documents were used as learning and answering machines, as they served as the basis for questioning, for checking variances, for reviewing and for conducting monitoring visits. Budgeting procedures were utilized as ammunition machines, as they were used as the basis for expressing legislative officials’ positions and understanding the logic of executive officials’ actions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper investigates the role of budgeting in a parliamentary setting. However, comparative analysis is missing. Nevertheless, the results provide a foundation for future studies and the opportunity to investigate the role of budgeting in the monitoring functions of other parliaments, especially in emerging economies.
Practical implications
The study has practical implications directed toward governments, especially in emerging economies. This study suggests that budgeting documents and procedures can be used to overcome the complexities of the PBC monitoring functions. Budgeting is, therefore, essential in the monitoring functions of the PBC, especially in emerging economies.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the understanding of the role of budgeting in monitoring functions in a parliamentary setting in emerging economies, where such research is lacking. The study also contributes by introducing an “ammunition” role to the theoretical literature on budget use (Simons, 1990, 1991; Abernethy and Brownell, 1999), which is argued to be relevant to politicians and organizations of a political nature, including parliaments.
This study looks at purposeful and legitimizing types of performance information use in local governments. Drawing on a survey of Austrian mayors who are at the politico-administrative apex of local government, the paper shows that purposeful and legitimizing uses of performance information coexist, but they appear to be negatively associated. In exploring the contextual and organizational conditions under which legitimizing uses prevail over purposeful ones, the analysis shows that oversight (coercive) and political (normative) pressures, hierarchical culture, and low-performance information availability foster the dominance of the legitimizing use type over the purposeful one.
Dieser Beitrag fasst vorliegende Erkenntnisse der internationalen verwaltungswissenschaftlichen Diskussion zur Implementierung von Performance Management und strategischem Management mit besonderem Interesse für Kommunalverwaltungen in Westeuropa zusammen und zeigt Bedarfe für eine praxisbezogene verwaltungswissenschaftliche Forschung und die verwaltungswissenschaftliche Ausbildung auf, die sich aus diesem Forschungsstand ergeben. Dabei wird insbesondere der potentielle Nutzen einer qualitativen empirischen Erforschung von Management-Praxen deutlich, ohne die die vorherrschende, survey-orientierte quantitative Forschung ein erhebliches Risiko impliziert, Artefakte statt Verwaltungspraxis zu studieren.
This chapter discusses challenges of managing the financial sustainability of government pension schemes under an intertemporal paradox dominated by a short-term cognitive frame. We rely on organizational and paradox theory to suggest that the emergence of forward sensemaking depends on the dominant set of frames operating in the public financial management system. Furthermore, tensions from this intertemporal paradox require approaches to accommodate diverse stakeholders’ interests. We analyze the setting of the Brazilian government pension schemes for public sector employees, wherein financial sustainability is under intense debate but is constrained by a short-term budgetary logic. We observed relevant stakeholders’ responses to accommodate the paradox segregating the effects of the accounting framework from the budgetary dynamics. A practical implication is a necessity of accounting and fiscal authorities to be aware of imminent frictions among financial reporting, budgetary dynamics, and fiscal thresholds to accommodate the tensions among different stakeholders in different contexts.
Recent research on politicians? use of financial and performance information is reviewed. Survey-based studies overestimate the frequency of this use; observational studies present a more accurate picture. A new and challenging research agenda is presented that will improve our understanding of the use and usefulness of accounting information. Implications for the real world of practice are discussed.
Tackling the key topics of reform and modernization, this important new book systematically examines performance in public management systems. The authors present this seminal subject in an informative and accessible manner, tackling some of the most important themes.
Performance Management in the Public Sector takes as its point of departure a broad definition of performance to redefine major and basic mechanisms in public administration, both theoretically and in practice. The book situates performance in some of the current public management debates; discusses the many definitions of ‘performance’ and how it has become one of the contested agendas of public management; examines measurement, incorporation and use of performance information; and explores the challenges and future directions of performance management.
A must-read for any student or practitioner of public management, this core text will prove invaluable to anyone wanting to improve their understanding of performance management in the public sector.
Performance information has long permeated the public sector. The actual use of performance information however has long been taken for granted. This book is one of the first to bring together an international team of acclaimed academics focusing on how and whether politicians, public officials, and citizens use public sector performance information. Combining practical experience with academic analysis this book explores the social and organizational dynamics of performance indicators. It moves beyond the technicalities of measurement and indicators and looks at how performance information is changing the public sector.
The challenges facing international management researchers conducting research in foreign contexts are increasingly well understood. However, for a growing group of researchers, the problem is very different: Rather than being foreign researchers researching in an unfamiliar context, they are insiders conducting research in their own cultural context for publication in international journals. In this article, the authors draw on their own experiences and on the literature on autoethnography to illustrate the strengths and challenges of researching “back home.” In particular, they argue that autoethnographic approaches have four important strengths— ease of access, reduced resource requirements, ease of establishing trust and rapport, and reduced problems with translation—but at the same time pose three important challenges— lack of critical distance, role conflict, and the limits of serendipity.
I use rhetorical theory to reconceptualize the diffusion of managerial practices. Specifically, I argue that the diffusion of a practice depends on the discursive justifications used to rationalize it. When such justifications are accepted and taken for granted, a practice reaches a state of institutionalization. Furthermore, I propose that changes in justifications and diffusion provide a basis for explaining institutionalization as both a process and a state. I then develop several propositions from this model.
Performance measurement is not an end in itself. So why should public managers measure performance? Because they may find such measures helpful in achieving eight specific managerial purposes. As part of their overall management strategy, public managers can use performance measures to evaluate, control, budget, motivate, promote, celebrate, learn, and improve. Unfortunately, no single performance measure is appropriate for all eight purposes. Consequently, public managers should not seek the one magic performance measure. Instead, they need to think seriously about the managerial purposes to which performance measurement might contribute and how they might deploy these measures. Only then can they select measures with the characteristics necessary to help achieve each purpose. Without at least a tentative theory about how performance measures can be employed to foster improvement (which is the core purpose behind the other seven), public managers will be unable to decide what should be measured.
This paper builds on the view that too much attention in the management, management control and management accounting literatures has been given to ex post performance measurement as distinct from ex ante performance management. The paper develops a conceptual model of Performance Management Systems (PMS) building on the work and insights of primarily Otley (1999) and
[12] and [13] who share similar concerns. Particular attention is given to analysing the underlying factors that influence the nature of any PMS, which
[12] and [13] address only to a limited extent in their model. This analysis into these factors leads to the development of Ferreira and Otley's conceptualisation into a ‘middle range’ (
[27],
[28] and [6]) model of the alternative nature of PMS lying on a continuum from ‘transactional’ at one end to ‘relational’ at the other built on respectively underlying instrumental and communicative rationalities and guided by a range of contextual factors.
This paper shows in what sense a performance budget of a Dutch province can be aligned to the specific task characteristics of the programs in this budget: (1) by allowing differentiation between standardized and complex programs; (2) by focusing on the politically most important programs in order to avoid information overload; and (3) by differentiating the type of performance information of programs according to the provincial role (facilitator versus executor) and the stage in the policy making cycle (policy development, policy elaboration and policy execution). These ideas challenge the overly simple NPM rationale of performance budgeting in which standardized outputs are related to resources. Our research shows on the one hand that a redesigned program budget according to above principles is faced with substantial approval by its users, i.e. the provincial councillors. On the other hand, a diffuse picture arises about the use of this redesigned program budget, i.e., a majority indicates that they use the information rather intensively, but its formal use in official council and council committee meetings remains limited.
Performance Management is the challenge confronting public service managers. However, the enduring research focus on performance measurement in public services, without resolution, does not offer neat solutions to performance management in public services. This drawback of measurement difficulties has not abated interest in performance management. But there are significant adverse outcomes associated with the clumsy use of performance management systems in public services, particularly negative effects on staff morale. The lack of ready-made answers to performance management makes this task complex and demanding for public service managers. This paper identifies critical dimensions of effectiveness in performance management systems.
Performance management techniques are presented as control mechanisms to save money and hold bureaucrats accountable, consistent with negative agency theory assumptions of bureaucrats. We propose an alternative theory of performance management that rests on prosocial values. This theory argues that public servants who see the social impact of their work are more likely to use performance metrics. We operationalize performance information use in terms of purposeful use for internal organizational means, and political use for external legitimation. Those who perceive that their work has a strong social impact are likely to pursue both types of uses, to improve both the effectiveness of their services, and to maintain resources. The data come from a cross‐sectional survey of U.S. public and nonprofit employees.
This article examines the use of performance information by public managers. It begins with a systematic review of the literature which concludes that we know relatively little about the individual characteristics of managers who report a frequent use of these data. Studies that have focused on people-related explanations have mostly tested socio-demographic variables but have only found inconclusive evidence. This article suggests theorizing more complex individual explanations. Drawing from other fields' middle-range theories, the article speculates about the effects of thus far disregarded manager-related factors. An empirical test based on survey data from German cities reveals the following preliminary findings: performance information use is explained by a high level of data ownership, creative cognitive learning preferences, the absence of cynicism, and a distinct public service motivation. Identity and emotional intelligence were found to be insignificant along with the managers' socio-demographic characteristics.
My intention is to consider political science as a discipline and as a profession in relation to the impact of the physical and biological sciences and of engineering upon the life of man. I propose to inquire into the possible reconciliation of man's mastery over Nature with freedom, the overriding goal of policy in our body politic.
In the interest of concreteness I shall have something to say about past and potential applications of science in three areas: armament, production, and evolution.
It is trite to acknowledge that for years we have lived in the afterglow of a mushroom cloud and in the midst of an arms race of unprecedented gravity. Here I shall support a proposition that may at first evoke some incredulous exclamations. The proposition is that our intellectual tools have been sufficiently sharp to enable political scientists to make a largely correct appraisal of the consequences of unconventional weapons for world politics.
Over the last decades the process of modernization in the public sector has fostered the adoption of new accounting techniques, such as accrual accounting and non-financial performance measurement systems. The purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses on the different perceptions of politicians and managers as to the importance of performance information. Our findings suggest that politicians’ and managers’ views on the importance of performance information are more similar than expected. They also show that accounting innovations are in some cases embraced with enthusiasm (non-financial performance), whereas in other cases they are hardly recognized (e.g. accrual accounting).
Based on survey research, a picture is given of the sources which were used by 262 aldermen of Dutch municipalities to obtain information about developments in and performances of their organizations and aldermen's opinions on the available performance information in output‐oriented planning and control documents. The aldermen, who were elected politicians, made much use of information which they obtained during verbal consultations with professional managers. Performance information in planning and control documents was not greatly used by aldermen. Their opinions on available performance information in planning and control documents and its use slightly differed, depending on the policy fields for which they are responsible. This might be related to differences between policy fields with respect to uncertainty, measurability of outputs, and knowledge of transformation processes, although this relationship is not unambiguous.
This article examines research into the use of performance information by ministers, parliamentarians and citizens. These ‘end users’ are of crucial importance to the claim that performance information is not merely managerially useful, but also contributes to the quality of democratic debate and to the ability of citizens to make choices. A literature review indicates that research into use by these groups has been very patchy, and that much of what we do know suggests that evaluations and performance reports and audits are seldom highly valued by politicians or citizens. Possible reasons and remedies for this apparent state of affairs are discussed, and areas for further research are suggested.
This article aims to improve knowledge of performance information's role in political decision-making. Two research questions are addressed, with data from a national survey of councillors in Norway: first, how important is performance information for councillors? The article disaggregates decision-making into three stages and assesses performance information utilization at each stage. The results show surprisingly high levels of utilization. Second, why do some councillors use performance information more than others? The article compares utilization across policy sectors and the results show two contrasting groups: utilization is higher among councillors working with elderly care, administrative affairs, and educational affairs than among councillors working with other sectors. Possible reasons for this pattern are discussed.
Formal theories of rational choice suggest that information about the possible consequences of alternative actions will be sought and used only if the precision, relevance, and reliability of the information are compatible with its cost. Empirical studies of information in organizations portray a pattern that is hard to rationalize in such terms. In particular, organizations systematically gather more information than they use, yet continue to ask for more. We suggest that this behavior is a consequence of some ways in which organizational settings for information use differ from those anticipated in a simple decision-theory vision. In particular, the use of information is embedded in social norms that make it highly symbolic. Some of the implications of such a pattern of information use are discussed.
This paper examines the impact of the implementation of Local Management of Schools (LMS) in the UK on the discursive practices that help construct institutions of ‘accountability’ in a particular organizational field. The paper examines the institutionalization of accountability processes by analyzing discourses on accountability in the education field. It explores the extent to which the focus on financial discourses of accountability introduced by state legislation, and underpinned by the promotion of the market ethos, mediates the enactment of non-financial understandings and beliefs about the institutionalized accountability of schools and their staff. We focus upon two discourses of accountability: those introduced by organizations requirements under recent legislation to legitimate themselves within their field (regulatory institutions of accountability) and how organizational actors legitimate themselves with each other in the enactment of their everyday activities (‘folk’, or old, institutions of accountability). The paper argues that, in their strategic response to regulatory institutions of accountability, school staff struggled to disentangle the ‘rational’ or ‘legitimate’ notions of their accountability from the folk, tacit or private institutional norms to which they have held themselves accountable in the past. Although different informants have tended to emphasize different dimensions of accountability, discourses of financial accountability were the key rationale for the explanations of conduct, even when informants were discussing seemingly non-financial or ‘folk-based’ institutions of accountability.
This article proposes that understanding public employee use of performance information is perhaps the most pressing challenge for scholarship on performance management. Governments have devoted extraordinary effort in creating performance data, wagering that it will be used to improve governance, but there is much we do not know about the factors associated with the use of that information. This article examines the antecedents of self-reported performance information use from a survey of local government managers. The results show that public service motivation, leadership role, information availability, organizational culture, and administrative flexibility all affect performance information use.
In the public sphere, a management by measurement (MBM) movement can be traced. Practitioners attempt to strengthen the transparency and effectiveness of administrative systems by introducing rational measurement cycles. When issues are managed, ambitions must be stated, options must be assessed, optimal options must be chosen and performance must be monitored and evaluated. This cycle rests upon assumptions that are often untenable. When issues are ambiguous, interpretative spaces exist; when interpretative spaces exist, strict measurement cycles do not work because required conditions and assumptions cannot be met. This article explores the nature of interpretative spaces by identifying three types of public management practice. In this typology of public management, practices differ in terms of the extent to which issues can be classified, as well as the extent to which standards are contested. Management by measurement fits canonical practices where issues are known and standards are shared, it is argued, but is less appropriate for evaluating non-canonical practices and practices-in-transition where such a classification of issues is weak and consensus on standard is absent. MBM focuses on data; the other practices require dialogue in order to manage ambiguity and interpretative spaces.
Traditional approaches to management control usually fail for public and not-for-profit activities.1 The type of control applicable to such activities depends on four criteria: are objectives unambiguous, outputs measurable, effects of interventions known, and is the activity repetitive? Depending on where activities stand with regard to these criteria, the control applicable corresponds to one of six different types: routine, expert, trial-and-error, intuitive, judgemental, or political control. The first three types can be represented by cybernetic models; the other three ask for more complex and less deterministic models. For these, a “political” and a “garbage-can” model are described. Key elements in the latter models are the values and the culture of the actors. As an example, the topology for management control is applied to the area of budgeting, covering regular budgeting as well as such techniques as PPBS, MBO, and ZBB and distinguishing between investment budgets, operations budgets for input centers, and operations budgets for input-output centers. Coming back to management control in general, the paper discusses the consequences of choosing the wrong model for a given management control situation: it distinguishes between “Type I” and “Type II” errors. It finally relates management control to organizational adaptation and suggests how to avoid control systems which prevent an organizational system from learning.
This paper is concerned with performance evaluation of top professional managers by local politicians. Based on the opinions of a small group of experts and a written survey of 262 aldermen, it examines criteria and performance evaluation styles which are used by aldermen of Dutch municipalities—elected politicians—to evaluate performances of professional managers. The paper examines to what extent the large number of aldermen who participated in the survey displayed characteristics of politicians using the ‘operations-conscious’ (or ‘facilitating’) performance evaluation style. Based on previous case research, this style was added to three evaluation styles for the government sector which originated from Hopwood’s evaluation styles for the profit sector. The survey shows that, in a general sense, aldermen judge whether professional managers and their organizations function in a ‘businesslike’ manner. In this respect, evaluation of top managers may be in line with more businesslike and performance-oriented control of government organizations, which is essential to New Public Management. However, aldermen are usually not only or mainly interested in the way managers function in a businesslike manner and in concrete and ‘objective’ data on outputs, costs, and efficiency. Aldermen actually evaluate top managers’ performances on a rather wide range of criteria. Subjective impressions of these criteria play an important part in their evaluations. The outcome of the survey is a more detailed description of local politicians’ performance evaluation style and a refinement of the operations-conscious style.
This paper reports the results of a longitudinal field study of information use in a public sector organization. The investigation focused on the extent to which the use of cost accounting data by military repair facilities in the U.S. fits one of three conceptual models of information use. The models reflected the technical-rational, socio-political and institutional perspectives on organisations. Data were obtained by visiting 14 military installations, interviewing 95 people in depth, examining archival data, and conducting in-depth studies of problem areas within the cost system. The study included data covering a period of 22 years. Results indicated little use of the cost data consistent with the technical-rational perspective. Most uses of the data were consistent with either the social-political or institutional perspectives. The study also revealed interesting dynamic properties of the system over time such as the change in the patterns of data use from socio-political and institutional to technical-rational, and the creation of new users for the system.
The paper seeks to contrast the roles that have been claimed on behalf of accounting with the ways in which accounting functions in practice. It starts by examining the context in which rationales for practice are articulated and the adequacy of such claims. Thereafter consideration is given to how accounting is implicated in both organizational and social practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for accounting research.
- S Burchell
Burchell, S. et al. (1980), The roles of accounting
in organizations and society. Accounting,
Organizations and Society, 5, 1, pp. 5-27.
Some like it non-financial … politicians’ and managers’ views on the importance of performance information
- M Liguori
- M Sicilia
- I Steccolini
Liguori, M., Sicilia, M. and Steccolini, I. (2012),
Some like it non-financial…politicians' and
managers' views on the importance of
performance information. Public Management
Review, 14, 7, pp. 903-922.
- Dooren W. van