scholarly journals Accounting and the post-new public management

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Steccolini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context. Design/methodology/approach The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines. Findings NPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research. Originality/value The paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.

scholarly journals Intellectual heritages of post-1990 public sector accounting research: an exploration

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 2077-2110
Author(s):  
Hans-Jürgen Bruns ◽  
Mark Christensen ◽  
Alan Pilkington
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Loosely Coupled ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting ◽  
Cumulative Knowledge

PurposeThe article's aim is to refine prospects for theorising in public sector accounting (PSA) research in order to capture the methodological benefits promised by its multi-disciplinarity.Design/methodology/approachThe study primarily employs a bibliometric analysis of research outputs invoking New Public Management (NPM). Applying a content analysis to Hood (1991), as the most cited NPM source, bibliographic methods and citation/co-citation analysis for the period 1991 to 2018 are mobilised to identify the disciplinary evolution of the NPM knowledge base from a structural and longitudinal perspective.FindingsThe analysis exhibits disciplinary branching of NPM over time and its imprints on post-1990 PSA research. Given the discourse about origins of NPM-based accounting research, there are research domains behind the obvious that indicate disciplinary fragmentations. For instance, novelty of PSA research is found in public value accounting, continuity is evidenced by transcending contextual antecedents. Interestingly, these domains are loosely coupled. Exploring the role of disciplinary imprints designates prospects for post-NPM PSA research that acknowledges multi-disciplinarity and branching in order to deploy insularity as a building block for its inquiries.Research limitations/implicationsCriteria for assessing the limitations and credibility of an explorative inquiry are used, especially on how the proposal to develop cumulative knowledge from post-1990 PSA research can be further developed.Practical implicationsA matrix suggesting a method of ordering disciplinary references enables positioning of research inquiries within PSA research.Originality/valueBy extending common taxonomies of PSA intellectual heritages, the study proposes the ‘inquiry-heritage’ matrix as a typology that displays patterns of theorisation for positioning an inquiry within PSA disciplinary groundings.

scholarly journals New public management and the rise of public sector performance audit

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 280-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee D. Parker ◽  
Kerry Jacobs ◽  
Jana Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
New Public ◽  
Performance Audit ◽  
Performance Auditing ◽  
Strong Control

Purpose In the context of global new public management reform trends and the associated phenomenon of performance auditing (PA), the purpose of this paper is to explore the rise of performance audit in Australia and examines its focus across audit jurisdictions and the role key stakeholders play in driving its practice. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a multi-jurisdictional analysis of PA in Australia to explore its scale and focus, drawing on the theoretical tools of Goffman. Documentary analysis and interview methods are employed. Findings Performance audit growth has continued but not always consistently over time and across audit jurisdictions. Despite auditor discourse concerning backstage performance audit intentions being strongly focussed on evaluating programme outcomes, published front stage reports retain a strong control focus. While this appears to reflect Auditors-General (AGs) reluctance to critique government policy, nonetheless there are signs of direct and indirectly recursive relationships emerging between AGs and parliamentarians, the media and the public. Research limitations/implications PA merits renewed researcher attention as it is now an established process but with ongoing variability in focus and stakeholder influence. Social implications As an audit technology now well-embedded in the public sector accountability setting, it offers potential insights into matters of local, state and national importance for parliament and the public, but exhibits variable underlying drivers, agendas and styles of presentation that have the capacity to enhance or detract from the public interest. Originality/value Performance audit emerges as a complex practice deployed as a mask by auditors in managing their relationship with key stakeholders.

G2C Marketing

2014 ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Babak Sohrabi ◽  
Amir Khanlari
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Relationship

Public administration has been challenged by “new public management” and “government redesign” paradigms. In addition, the relationship between government and citizen has been changed dramatically based on the mentioned paradigm shift. Customer orientation in the public sector is one of the changes originated from the private sector’s principles and paradigms. Nowadays, scholars emphasize applying concepts and techniques of customer orientation in e-government. In this text, firstly, customer orientation and its importance in government activities, especially e-government, is described. Then, principles, applications, and experiences of citizen relationship management as a technique of customer-oriented governments are described.

G2C Marketing

2015 ◽  
pp. 2183-2199
Author(s):  
Babak Sohrabi ◽  
Amir Khanlari
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Relationship Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
The Relationship

Public administration has been challenged by “new public management” and “government redesign” paradigms. In addition, the relationship between government and citizen has been changed dramatically based on the mentioned paradigm shift. Customer orientation in the public sector is one of the changes originated from the private sector's principles and paradigms. Nowadays, scholars emphasize applying concepts and techniques of customer orientation in e-government. In this text, firstly, customer orientation and its importance in government activities, especially e-government, is described. Then, principles, applications, and experiences of citizen relationship management as a technique of customer-oriented governments are described.

Accounting Reforms for Accountable Public Sector Management

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-64
Author(s):  
Chitra Sriyani De Silva Lokuwaduge ◽  
Keshara M. De Silva Godage
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

Accounting reforms in the public sector have become one of the most debated aspects of the public sector financial management during the last three decades. Following the steps of developed countries around the globe, Sri Lanka as a developing country made initiatives to adopt international public sector accounting standards (IPSAS). The purpose of this study is to analyse the progress and the challenges they face in adopting IPSAS as a new public management (NPM) reform in Sri Lanka to enhance public sector accountability. Public sector accounting reforms in the developing countries in Asia is relatively under researched. Using the NPM concept, this study attempts to fill this gap. This chapter argues that even though Sri Lanka has initiated the move towards adopting IPSAS, developing countries face practical problems in adopting reforms due to their contextual factors such as limited institutional capacity and resources, high political involvements in decision-making, and high informality.

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

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Mattei ◽  
Giuseppe Grossi ◽  
James Guthrie A.M.
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public

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

Exploring the New Public Management (NPM)-Based Reforms in the Public Sector Accounting

2016 ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chitra Sriyani De Silva Lokuwaduge
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Resource Dependence Theory ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

This Chapter aims to explore the process of adopting International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) as a New Public Management (NPM) based reform in Sri Lanka as a developing country. Based on institutional theory and resource dependence theory, framework was developed to highlight the importance of reforms and of changes in the area of public sector accounting specifically during the last three decades. It shows the extent to which Sri Lankan public sector has adopted IPSAS based accounting reforms and the limitations of adopting these standards in developing countries. This chapter argues that adopting reforms in developing countries is problematic due to limited resources and concludes that, significant changes towards adoption of IPSAS and implementing some of the reform ideas has taken place during the last decade. Relatively little is known about the NPM-based reforms in public sector accounting practices in developing countries. This is an attempt to fill this gap.

Reforms and identities

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Glinka ◽  
Przemyslaw G. Hensel
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Public Servants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Coding ◽  
New Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how the identities of the employees of Polish public administration are shaped in the process of public system reforms. Design/methodology/approach The findings are based on interviews with 40 employees of the Polish public administration. The authors have used open interviews as well as projective methods to discover and explore beliefs and attitudes of bureaucrats towards their work and the system of public administration. The selected sample was diversified both spatially and systematically to reflect the diversity of organisations that constitute the Polish public administration system. Grounded theory was used for data coding and interpretation. Findings The study indicates that organisational change initiatives designed to enhance the quality and efficiency of public administration may have negative impacts on the identities of public servants and may lead to their increased incapacity. Rather than sparking entrepreneurial behaviours and transforming bureaucrats into managers, introduction of the rhetoric of New Public Management and New Public Governance in the Polish public administration has contributed to strengthening of classical dysfunctions of bureaucracy. Research limitations/implications The results imply that the understanding of organisational changes in the Eastern European public sector – which are usually studied through the lenses of regulation and economy – would benefit from more sociologically and historically oriented studies. The limitations of our results are associated with the adopted qualitative subjective methodology. Practical implications Foreign-born templates of reforms may appear to be logical and coherent but they rest on certain assumptions about identities and value structures that are not necessarily congruent with the identities at the adoption site. For that reason, successful reform projects need to consider and problematise the content and shape of culturally conditioned identities. Social implications Understanding of public sector reforms’ implication should lead to the improvement of change programmes as well as to the evolution of public administration towards a form more desired by the society. It is especially important as Polish society considers public administration as one of factors influencing (in a negative way) the quality of life. Originality/value The paper provides insight into public administration reforms in Poland and their impact on public servants’ identities.

scholarly journals Public sector accounting in emerging economies: a review of the papers published in the first decade of Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan van Helden ◽  
Pawan Adhikari ◽  
Chamara Kuruppu
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

PurposeA review of papers on public sector accounting in emerging economies, as published in the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies' (JAEE) first decade.Design/methodology/approachA reflection on the issues covered and achievements made in the reviewed papers in the context of extant knowledge in this domain.FindingsA majority of the research in JAEE is dominated by accounting reforms inspired by New Public Management (NPM). Performance management, budgeting and accrual accounting are the main topics in the reviewed research. NPM claims, which can range from usability and use of a new accounting repertoire to desirable impacts on efficiency and service delivery, are often not fulfilled. Many papers attempt to explain failing accounting innovations by the local context in which they are embedded, including political instability, poor governance and a lack of capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reviews research in a niche journal, but the findings are related to wider public sector accounting literature.Practical implicationsPublic sector practitioners, but also researchers, need to move away from a focus on public sector reforms due to contextual circumstances leading to built-in failures and concentrate instead on understanding how the accounting repertoire works in practice, including routes for improvements therein.Originality/valueAn original framework for analysing public sector accounting research in emerging economies is proposed, which, among others, distinguishes between various ambition levels for achieving NPM reforms.

Progressive public administration and new public management in public sector accountancy

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Vivian ◽  
Warren Maroun
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate responses to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s proposed conceptual framework for evidence of support of new public management doctrines by key stakeholders, namely, accounting professionals, government agencies and international bodies. Design/methodology/approach The research uses a content analysis of response letters to select phases of the conceptual framework project to identify themes/principles pointing to acceptance or rejection of new public management principles by stakeholders. Findings Accounting professionals tend to support proposals that are consistent with principles of new public management providing evidence of normative and mimetic isomorphic pressure to align public and private sector accounting practices. Some government agencies and international organisations appear to have conformed but the majority resist efforts to incorporate a new public management discourse in public sector accounting. Research limitations/implications The study is based on a content analysis of publically available response letters. It does not engage directly with respondents. In addition, not all stakeholders have submitted an equal number of response letters, with the result that it was not possible to compare responses from the developed and developing world or according to variations in legal and governance systems. Originality/value The study provides empirical evidence of different perspectives of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s conceptual framework project, which have not been considered explicitly by the previous research. The findings support the view that the accounting profession, as an integral part of the capital market system, exerts pressure to drive standardisation of financialised accounting practices. In contrast, government agencies support accounting systems aligned with conventional accountability principles aligned with jurisdiction-specific contexts. The interaction of these opposing perspectives is a primary determinant of change in accounting practice in the public sector space.

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