Public sector management accounting in emerging economies: A literature review

This paper reviews public sector management accounting (PSMA) research in emerging economies (EEs) and suggests ways forward. A political economy approach to management accounting and development is adopted to analyze the findings of the papers reviewed. Our review covers the past two decades and is based on 69 papers published in international accounting and public administration journals. We find that different development phases give rise to distinctive types of management accounting practice, which often do not live up to expectations owing to local politics and other socio-economic factors. Although the quantity of PSMA research on EEs is growing, there is a need for future research that addresses how management accounting practices in the public sector in EEs are impacted by the interplay between the public management programmes of international donor agencies and the political, economic and cultural contexts of EEs. In order to capture these complex socio-political and socio-cultural contexts, solid theoretical foundations are recommended, relying especially on critical and social theories, as well as on qualitative research such as case studies

Senior Recitals

Recital presented at the UNT College of Music Recital Hall in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Music (BM) degree

A Note on Paradoxes in Economics

A paradox is a proposition in (alleged) contrast with common sense. All science is replete with paradoxes. Economics is not an exception. This paper is focused on two widely discussed paradoxes: the Mandeville paradox (and the associated idea of an 'invisible hand') and the Prisoners' Dilemma (with the allied literature on market failures). The main tenet of this paper is that they cannot be simultaneously paradoxical, because they state one the opposite of the other. If common sense contrasts with Mandeville, then it must agree with the Prisoners' Dilemma and vice versa. This is what I term the 'paradox of paradoxes' in economics, which is a simple consequence of the rarely noticed principle that two opposing propositions cannot be paradoxical at the same time. A tentative way out from this impasse is presented. I claim that economists would gain a better understanding of their profession if they devoted more time to the study of the intuitive or folk economics. Copyright WWZ and Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag AG 2004.