1,720,984 research outputs found
Explaining budget transparency through political factors
No full textThis study analyses various factors that can affect the level of budget transparency. It focuses on several political characteristics, investigating a pool of 95 countries for the years 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2015. Findings from this study indicate that both govern- ments’ characteristics and the characteristics of political and electoral systems affect the level of budget transparency. These results extend findings from previous literature on determinants of open budgets by using a more extended period and additional political and electoral features, and also by adopting an international comparative approach
How to Manage the Components of Financial Sustainability in Local Governments
No full textThis study aims to evaluate three dimensions proposed by the IFAC (International Federation of Accountants) in relation to impact financial sustainability. These dimensions are service, revenue, and debt. In 2017 and 2018, a regression analysis was conducted for Italian local governments on the different components of financial sustainability. Based on goal-setting theory, and in combination with the ambition to pursue adequate good financial sustainability, significant results were demonstrated. It was seen that these local governments would have to maintain a good level of autonomy with current revenue. They would also need to control the quantity and quality of service in order to pursue financial sustainability. This study suggests practical implications for policymakers and the managerial class, and it seeks to identify methods to drive and keep financial sustainability under control. It also seeks to define current and future management strategies that focus on pursuing intergenerational equity in local governments
Environmental and sustainability accounting, budgeting and reporting: a structured literature review
No full textPurpose Research dealing with environmental and sustainability challenges in the public-sector accounting context is progressively expanding. This article aims to review the existing literature to understand how research is developing and points out gaps that deserve further investigation.
Design/methodology/approach This study uses the structured literature methodology to investigate the state-of-the-art and future directions of the literature in the public sector. In total, 136 articles were explored.
Findings The critical analysis of the literature shows that several areas, such as auditing and budgeting, deserve further attention. The contents of sustainability reports should also be investigated further to avoid overlapping with similar reports, such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reports, and to understand the role of standard setters in this context. Furthermore, it is suggested to find a balanced view where non-monetary information coexists with monetary information.
Originality/value This study offers a comprehensive and holistic review of the literature on the emerging topic of environmental and sustainability accounting, budgeting and reporting in the public-sector context. The structured literature review enables the identification of future directions for the literature in this field
Intellectual capital in Italian healthcare: senior managers' perspectives
No full textPurpose: This study investigates the perceptions of intellectual capital (IC) among senior managers at Italian local healthcare units (LHUs) and the interrelations among IC components. It also provides a comprehensive definition of IC in the healthcare context and managerial guidance on improving IC to enhance LHU performance. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was carried out to investigate perceptions among LHU senior management and identify characteristics of each primary IC component. The pilot study's results were examined using principal component analysis. Findings: The findings illustrate senior management's perceptions of IC in LHUs and the extent to which management identifies and manages IC. A comprehensive definition of IC components in the healthcare sector is derived from these findings. Research limitations/implications: The research provides a better understanding of IC in the healthcare context and facilitates further research into how IC may be incorporated in quotidian organizational procedures. Results suggest that LHU managers should invest in increasing trust and respect and engage employees in organizational processes to provide recognition for the active role they play. Ongoing management of the three primary IC components is shown to have clear advantages, particularly on their connectivity. Originality/value: The paper contributes to an increasingly important strand of theoretical research – IC in the healthcare context – and also adds new knowledge on the practical applications of IC in LHUs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Accounting Education for Professional Accountants: Evidence from Italy
No full textIn the last years, the worldwide changes in global, political and financial contexts have gradually modified the approaches to the accounting of national governments and international institutions. In this varying scenario, the International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and consequently national governments have introduced new accounting standards along with related regulatory changes. These issues are of ever-growing importance when considering that the International Accounting Education Standards Board (IAESB) has recently developed “The basis for conclusions document for 2017-2021 IAESB Strategy and 2017-2018 Work Plan” (IAESB, 2017) with the aim of informing the Board’s deliberations on its future strategy and priorities about the future expectations of professional competence. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of an empirical study on this topic and address the following research question: what are professional accountants’ views on quality in accounting education? This primary research question is expanded to consider professional accountants’ beliefs on the present (what is necessary for their workplace) and future (what will be necessary for their workplace) with respect to quality in accounting education. The survey highlights how professional accountants have more expectations than in the past about their skills. The majority of professional accountants have been transforming themselves into business consultants since they are now required to offer more services than accounting and taxation consultancy. Consequently, there is a growing demand for cooperation with the university world in order to broaden the programs of accounting education with new technical competencies for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees
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