Audit committees were perceived as overcoming the difficulties of operating in a political environment. In general, they achieved good ratings for monitoring internal audit but were seen as less effective in engaging with external auditors and risk management. In some key aspects the attitudes...

Financial pressures facing UK universities have increased the demand for good financial management information. The government wants higher education institutions to adopt standardized full economic costing. This article describes an activity-based management (ABM) model which has been...

Book abstract: Compared with coverage of organizational innovation, public sector financial innovation has tended to be neglected in the literature. When it has been considered, the strong focus of classical public finance for optimal taxation and tax types has overshadowed new and interesting...

The contemporary understanding of public sector risk management entails a broadening of the traditional bureaucratic approach to risk beyond the boundaries of purely financial risks. However, evidence suggests that in reality public sector risk management does not always match the rhetoric. This...

Contemporary business outsourcing has extended beyond manufacturing to include service sector industries, including insurance. There are developed theoretical arguments that both support and reject insurance claims handling as a service that should be determined by the market and outsourced...

Various bodies have recently discussed the apparent crisis facing the commercial insurance market and the underwriting of employers' liability insurance. As major employers who have traditionally used this market, local authorities would be expected to be heavily exposed to such a crisis....