The Functions of Accounting Revisited - New Meanings and Directions

This chapter reviews various meanings ascribed to accounting and the ways in which it functions. The targeted time period for the review commences from the publication of Mellemvik’s et al. article in 1988. The chapter contains a conceptual discussion on accounting and its functions and urgently calls academia for more research in this area. The main findings suggest that, while many functions identified by Mellemvik et al. (1988) still persist today, more complex images have come into existence recently, such as a stabilizing mechanism, translation of interests into «facts», a mediation process, a displacement mechanism, cultural carrier, and as a way of constraining organizational functioning. The chapter proposes some fruitful areas for further research

Risk taking in local governments’ financial investment making

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by North American Business Press in Journal of Accounting and Finance on 22/04/2019.Available online: https://articlegateway.com/index.php/JAF/article/view/1391/1323acceptedVersio

'Does Your Walk Match Your Talk?' Analyzing IPSASs Diffusion in Developed and Developing Countries

Purpose – This research aims to provide a global overview of the adoption status of IPSASs in the different contexts of developed and developing countries on central government level, particularly delineating key reform issues and attempts to overcome these. Design/methodology/approach – The material for this paper was derived through document analysis and a synthesis of prior research. Applying an analytical framework that combines neo-institutional theory with diffusion theory, this material is re-analysed. Findings – There are substantial differences regarding whether countries acknowledge having experienced large implementation challenges and the extent to which the reform benefits have been achieved. The study sheds light on the (institutional) underpinnings of these differences. Research limitations/implications – First, the analysis could be extended to regional and local governments, as well as social funds. Both qualitative and quantitative strategies are suggested. Second, the implementation of the conceptual framework deserves further attention. Third, further research should more thoroughly scrutinise cost-benefit analyses used for justifying the (non)implementation of IPSASs, and in particular the assumptions that are being made in such analyses. Practical implications – The paper informs policymakers and standard setters by delineating the areas and issues complicating the widespread adoption of IPSASs across countries, including pointing out directions to overcome these. Social implications – Substantial amounts of public money are invested internationally to converge accounting standards and translate them into native languages. A close(r) monitoring is needed to ensure that these efforts obtain sufficient value for money. Originality/value – This study is original as it applies an analytical framework that combines neo-institutional theory and diffusion theory to examine public sector accounting convergence issues internationally. Such an approach explicitly puts a focus on decoupling between reform ‘walk’ (decision) and ‘talk’ (implementation) and helps to analyse the reasons for this decoupling

Adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards in emerging economies and low-income countries : a structured literature review

publishedVersio

A phenomenological study of adolescents experiences with social participation in physical education

Masteroppgave i tilpassa opplæring - Nord universitet 202

Kommunal finansforvaltning etter Terra-skandalen : Overraskende lite endringer

Akseptert fagfellevurdert versjon (postprint).Denne studien undersøker kommunal finansforvaltning i kjølvannet av Terra-skandalen. To spørsmål besvares. Først: Hva var den regulatoriske responsen fra norske myndigheter på skandalen? Deretter: Hvilke forebyggende tiltak har kommuner iverksatt for å unngå en lignende skandale i framtiden? Den regulatoriske responsen på Terra-skandalen var begrenset og fordret få og små endringer i kommunene. Kommunene har gjennomført overraskende få tiltak for å kvalitetssikre sin finansforvaltning. Noen større kommuner har forsøkt å bygge opp mer kompetanse eller forbedre sine internkontrollsystemer. Mindre kommuner er mer avhengige av at enkeltpersoner ivaretar finansforvaltningen på en ansvarlig måte og er derfor sårbare for nye lignende hendelser i framtiden.acceptedVersio

Implementing public sector accruals in OECD member states: Major issues and challenges

Drawing on extended new institutional theory, this paper has striven to make heard the voices of accountants, budget officers, and policy makers involved in implementing public sector accruals in different OECD member states. Such voices of the organisational actors and the challenges that they are encountering in the process of implementing accrual accounting and budgeting in their specific settings are missing in the existing public sector accruals literature. The empirical findings of the study demonstrate that the political and technical ambiguities in implementing public sector accruals across countries are much broader than outlined in the academic work and presented in the reports and studies of the proponents. Such challenges, when cascaded down to the organisational level, have brought about vast uncertainty and confusion amongst most of the budget and treasury officers who deal with public sector accruals in their specific jurisdictions, threatening the legitimacy at the organisational level. More communication and collaboration amongst the actors at institutional, organisational-field and organisational levels are therefore needed to build a coherent body of knowledge in facilitating public sector accruals reforms across countries

Adoption of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards in emerging economies and low-income countries: A structured literature review

Purpose – The aim of the study is to review the extant literature on International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) adoption in emerging economies (EEs) and low-income countries (LICs) (‘what do we know?’) and to propose an agenda for future research (‘what do we need to know?’). Design/methodology/approach – An analytical framework that builds on diffusion theory (Rogers, 2003) is developed. We follow the ‘PRISMA Flow Diagramme’ (Moher et al., 2009) to reduce a total of 427 articles from four databases to a final sample of 41 articles. These studies are examined, aided by the analytical framework. Findings – We find that IPSASs are a relevant issue for EEs/LICs. Overall, existing research is often explorative. We discover that the majority of articles rely on secondary data collection. While two thirds of studies perform a content analysis of pre-existing material, about one fifth of articles each collect primary data through means of interviews and questionnaires. The findings offer a holistic understanding of where and at what stages IPSASs reforms stand in EEs/LICs and what factors influence the progression of reforms to the next stage of diffusion. Originality/value – We outline a number of avenues for further research after discussing the dominating trends and structuring the literature based on our analytical framework. These stem from looking at the blank spots and an identified need to contextualise IPSASs adoption in EEs/LICs