Are SDGs being translated into accounting terms? Evidence from European cities

IMPACT: The challenge launched by the United Nations (UN) on the achievement of SDGs requires local governments to rethink how to devote their resources and report on their results regarding SDGs. The article analyses how existing frameworks communicate, through financial indicators, the efforts done towards sustainable development. The Voluntary Local Reviews (VLR) published by European cities and made available on the UN website can stimulate further reflection and actions toward making SDGs an accounting issue

Public sector accounting harmonization in the European Union through the lens of the garbage can model

The public sector accounting harmonization process that started in the European Union in the aftermath of the financial crisis led the European Commission to launch a project for the development of a set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). This paper analyses the process and the decision-making around development of the EPSAS through the lens of the garbage can model (Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1–25). More specifically, by identifying problems, participants, solutions, and choice opportunities, it discusses why the development of the EPSAS is taking so long and why the process does not seem to be progressing as planned. To this end, documents related to the process of EPSAS development are analyzed. The results provide evidence of problematic preferences and fluid participation possibly coupled with flight decisions—three elements of the garbage can model. Postponing decisions can be an option to dampen reluctance. The more the public sector becomes accustomed to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by adopting IPSAS-like accrual accounting standards while waiting for the completion of the EPSAS, the less resistance there might be to moving to accrual accounting standards. However, at the same time, an imminent change to a new set of EPSAS standards might become less plausible if changes demand extra reform

Designing international public sector accounting standards: An analysis of constituents’ participation through comment letters

Harmonization of public sector accounting is attracting increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. A focal component of this phenomenon is the setting of accounting standards, whose legitimacy is paramount to their application. As participation by constituents is considered fundamental for ensuring this legitimacy, in this study, we focus on participation through comment letters in the due process. In particular, we explore the type of respondents, their geographical area, their agreement/disagreement with the documents prepared by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and the issues of importance to them, through an analysis of the comment letters submitted for six projects launched over the period 2017–2020 by the IPSASB. Furthermore, we analyze some factors that may affect countries’ participation in the due process. The analysis enriches our understanding of the IPSASB’s due process and provides relevant insights for the growing research into accounting standard-setting

Discussing the usefulness of Fair Value from the lenders’ perspective

Fair value measures in financial reporting have been at the center of recent debates, with many scholars considering the issue increasingly relevant and useful. This paper discusses the appropriateness of these measure in countries, like Italy, wherein lenders are the major source of financing and are therefore the ‘primary users of financial reporting. Specifically, we argue that fair valuation – while potentially useful in countries that boast advanced capital markets with diffused equity ownership – is not as useful, and even potentially misleading in countries like Italy. The discussion is based on a review of the literature on the prediction of creditworthiness. In the literature, the main informational inputs largely ignore fair values, whether measured as exit values or otherwise. Basically, the idea that fair values are suitable for all countries and entities, regardless of differences in ownership structure and modes of financing, may need to be re-examined. Possibly, disclosure of fair values instead of recognition is more likely to satisfy the criterion of decision usefulness when lenders are the main users of financial reporting

Features and drivers of citizen participation: Insights from participatory budgeting in three European cities

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively novel approach to the allocation of funds which allows ordinary citizens to become directly involved in how local government money is spent. This study identifies and examines the features and drivers of PB that incentivize citizen participation and the co-production of public services. Our analysis takes a fresh approach by setting PB initiatives in an innovative frame combining a paradigm of ‘ideal’ types of PB and their diachronic constituent phases. The results provide insights for both scholars and policy makers on the key features and drivers of citizen participation through PB. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Are higher education institutions in Europe preparing students for IPSAS?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether higher education institutions (HEIs) in EU Member States are aware of the relevance of the ongoing reforms in public sector accounting (PSA) and the need to prepare their students to become expert professionals in that area. It particularly assesses whether these organizations currently provide, or will provide in the near future, education on International Public Sector Accounting Standard (IPSAS)/EPSAS, so that a sufficient number of graduates will be ready to match the foreseeable demand for experts in IPSAS/EPSAS. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a purposive sample, the paper compares the situation in four EU countries (Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain). Data have been obtained through a questionnaire provided to selected professors in relevant HEIs in the selected countries. Findings HEIs are giving only limited room to PSA and financial management, with differences in terms of program offerings and coverage of topics among the four countries. Furthermore, in most cases, the programs are adapted to the national budgetary and accounting standards and courses are seldom focused on the IPSASs. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on PSA harmonization, through an innovative analysis of PSA and financial management teaching, both at national and international levels

Of, By, and For Which People? Government and Contested Heritage in the American Midwest

Two government-owned and managed heritage sites in Indiana, USA, offer an opportunity to explore the role of governments in adjudicating the competing paradigms of value and contested uses. Strawtown Koteewi is a Hamilton County park and Mounds State Park is part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources statewide park system. Each site has come under scrutiny in recent years. Strawtown Koteewi is one of the most significant sites in the area for understanding the history of Native peoples. After almost a decade of archaeological excavations, several Native American groups, under the auspices of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), initiated repatriation processes for the recovery of human remains, and some objected to the ongoing archaeological research. At Mounds State Park a coalition of citizens opposed a planned dam project intended to ensure a safe and plentiful water supply and to spur economic development in the area. In each case, the government entities have had to navigate the political landscapes of competing claims about the sites. These case studies expose the fissures between authorized heritage discourse and the paradigms of meaning among the diverse constituencies of the sites, and they highlight the tenuous position of public governance in privileging competing cultural, economic, and social interests. While not unique, the state and county agencies’ positions within these fields of power and their strategic choices reveal some of the barriers and constraints that limit their actions as well as the deep-seated ideologies of policies that perpetuate settler colonial politics in the control and interpretation of indigenous heritage

Meta-Review of Metanalytic Studies with Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) for the Treatment of Major Depression

BACKGROUND: Major Depression (MD) and treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are worldwide leading causes of disability and therapeutic strategies for these impairing and prevalent conditions include pharmacological augmentation strategies and brain stimulation techniques. In this perspective, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique with a favorable profile of tolerability which, despite being recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of patients with medication-refractory unipolar depression, still raises some doubts about most effective parameters of stimulation.METHODS: A literature search was performed using PubMed for the years 2001 through February 2011 in order to review meta-analytic studies assessing efficacy and safety issues for rTMS in depressive disorders. Fifteen meta-analyses were identified and critically discussed in order to provide an updated and comprehensive overview of the topic with specific emphasis on potentially optimal parameters of stimulation.RESULTS: First meta-analyses on the efficacy of rTMS for the treatment of MD and TRD have shown mixed results. On the other hand, more recent meta-analytic studies seem to support the antidepressant efficacy of the technique to a greater extent, also in light of longer periods of stimulation (e.g. > 2 weeks).CONCLUSION: rTMS seems to be an effective and safe brain stimulation technique for the treatment of medication refractory depression. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to better define specific stimulation-related issues, such as duration of treatment as well as durability of effects and predictors of response

Innovations in the measurement of cultural value. The British Museum

In recent years the process of managerialisation in the museum sector has become more and more intense. This is the result of challenging forces which include: increased competition in the arts sector; more sophisticated and demanding stakeholders and greater accountability required by legislation. All these things are placing pressure on museums to adopt managerial principles in order to measure and control what appears immeasurable: the creation of cultural value. The implementation of a new Performance Measurement System (PMS) at the British Museum (BM) has led to the emergence of a control model of the modern conception of cultural value. The principal aim of this PMS is to measure the effectiveness of BM policies and actions, in terms of the creation and distribution of cultural value in the community, both for purposes of internal control and accountability. Founded in 1753, the BM is today one of the oldest, largest and most famous museums in the world. It aims to promote universal understanding of culture. The BM holds artefacts dating from the 7th millennium BC to the present day. A user-focused approach progressively developed over the last few years has gradually led the BM to plan its activities in order to attract a larger audience from all parts of the world, irrespective of cultural background. This, together with the need for greater accountability, and hence the need to evaluate strategic programs, has shaped the development of the important managerial innovations described in the course of the present chapter. The event that triggered this evolution occurred in the year 2000 when the Museums, Galleries and Cultural Property Division of the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) requested the application of 17 key performance indicators to set the accreditation process of museums (DCMS, 1999). In 2005, a few years after the DCMS indications, the BM decided to formulate and implement a new PMS, which became fully operational in 2007. The PMS devised by the BM aims to measure the BM’s effectiveness in terms of cultural value production and distribution. The production of cultural value is measured using outcome and output indicators to evaluate the cultural enrichment of the visitors with regard to four aspects: emotional, spiritual, educational and leisure. With regard to the distribution of cultural value over time, the conservation processes (safeguarding, preservation and study/research) are determined using another set of non-financial indicators