1,720,977 research outputs found
Accountability in the enw public sector: a comparative case study
No full textPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effect of new public management-based reforms on public accountability in two countries, Italy and Sweden, explaining what strategies can be used to enhance accountability toward citizens. Design/methodology/approach: Two case studies have been analysed in order to compare how public accountability has been enhanced in different cultural and geographical contexts. Findings: In both countries, the enhancement of public accountability is at stake both in the political debate and in the public policies, but the strategies implemented resulted are path dependent especially in the choice between more disclosure and more citizen participation. Research limitations/implications: The paper uses only two case studies and therefore results can hardly be generalised; also the selected cases are both examples of best practice in the two countries. Practical implications: The comparison offers critical insights on the adopted choices to enhance public accountability in two different contexts, also emphasising the role of IT and their possible use. Originality/value: From a theoretical point of view, the paper offers an original framing of the possible strategies to improve accountability toward citizens: more accountability through more disclosure and more accountability through more citizen participation. The empirical analysis analyses the solutions adopted in two different countries aimed at improving accountability toward citizens and their advantages and limitations
Utilizzo e vantaggi del bilancio sociale in sanità: analisi di un caso aziendale
No full text(lettera di accettazione del 18-09-2009
La rendicontazione del valore creato e diffuso dalle istituzioni culturali
No full textIl primo paragrafo tratteggia sinteticamente i profili generali dei processi di rendicontazione che coinvolgono tutte le tipologie di aziende, incluse quindi le istituzioni culturali. Alla descrizione di tali caratteristiche del processo di rendicontazione si aggiungeranno poi delle riflessioni in merito ai potenziali e reali benefici che scaturiscono per le istituzioni culturali dall’adozione di prassi di comunicazione ai propri portatori di interessi ulteriori rispetto a quelle obbligatorie. Proprio la variabilità delle caratteristiche di tali istituzioni richiede, in questo capitolo introduttivo, di proporre ragionamenti che hanno l’obiettivo di risultare generali e, dunque, applicabili a tutte le tipologie aziendali. Tutto ciò non impedisce, tuttavia, di rilevare la peculiare situazione di molte istituzioni culturali che si trovano a prescindere dalle proprie caratteristiche, ad operare a cavallo tra il settore pubblico e quello privato, beneficiando sovente sia dei trasferimenti pubblici (per la verità decrescenti nel tempo) che delle entrate derivanti dalla vendita di biglietti di accesso e/o di altre correlate attività commerciali (bookshop, servizi di ristorazione ecc.)
Practices of Social Reporting in Public Sector and Non-Profit Organizations – An Italian Perspective
No full textSocial accounting and reporting practices are
widely adopted all over the world by various
kinds of organizations. While most of the
literature focuses on private corporations, in
recent years several scholars have called for
more attention to be directed towards public
and non-profit sectors’ reporting practices.
This article offers an overview of the main peculiarities of social reporting with reference to the Italian not-for-profit and public sectors. In particular, adopting an Institutional Theory approach, the article discusses reasons that social reporting practices demonstrate a process of convergence towards a partially regulated framework
Public auditors’ perception of digital platforms for popular reporting: insights from the case study of OpenBDAP
No full textPurpose - This paper employs the Biondi and Lapsley (2014) accounting information transparency model to investigate whether effective transparency can be achieved through digital platforms for popular reporting. In order to address the limitations in previous research, which predominantly targets non-expert users, this is attained by focusing on the perception of local government auditors. By engaging auditors who are experts in accounting, the study aims to investigate if any cognitive biases in the design of online platforms could impact the achievement of a sophisticated understanding with shared meanings among citizens. Design/methodology/approach - The study adopts an explorative and inductive approach, semi-structured interviews and an online survey among the Italian local governments' Professional Auditors' Association (ANCREL). Auditors assessed the OpenBDAP (https://openbdap.rgs.mef.gov.it/) platform in facilitating the comparison and analysis of the budgets and financial statements of Italian public sector organisations. Findings - The results present a nuanced assessment of OpenBDAP, highlighting a general consensus on its ability to enhance the access and understanding of financial data and the appreciation of the utility of infographics in understanding financial data. Therefore, a clear challenge emerges in achieving active engagement of stakeholders. Despite expectations expressed during interviews with the Italian National Accounting Office regarding the design of custom APIs to meet user needs, our findings indicate the potential presence of cognitive biases in the design of the online platform as key obstacles. Originality/value - By extending the application of the Biondi and Lapsley (2014) model on digital platforms for popular reporting to local government auditors, this study highlights the potential presence of cognitive bias in the design of online platforms that may impact the achievement of effective transparency, an aspect not previously identified in existing research. Finally, it suggests that these popular reporting platforms may evolve beyond mere transparency tools, assuming a broader role as potent learning instruments. This transformation could help to address the inherent complexity of accounting information, which is the real obstacle to achieving transparency
Retorica e pratica della contabilità finanziaria: i bilanci negli stati pre-unitari e del regno di Italia
No full textItalian Central Government Budgeting: Future Hopes and Past Disappointments
No full textLike many Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Italy has been reforming its public administration in recent decades. With an emphasis on "New Public Management", the reform process has redesigned the institutional and organizational structure of the public administration. The start-up of intricate reforms based on a complex set of new laws was basically triggered by overwhelming dissatisfaction with the performance of the Italian public administration, both from a macroeconomic and a social perspective. Against a dynamic and developing socioeconomic backdrop, the Italian public administration wallowed in difficulty, with the most evident symptoms of its problems being the expansion of diseconomies, a mounting public debt, and its virtual incapacity to become a factor in the nation's development. The European unification process and the changes mentioned in the socioeconomic backdrop have fostered a broad reform process aimed at overcoming bureaucratic organizational models, and a situation in which the respect of the formal rules represented the sole criterion for assessing the actions of public officials. Central government budgeting and accounting reforms have been part of the whole picture considered necessary to modernize the state, and it is specifically on these that the chapter focuses on
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