Purpose – The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to introduce the special issue and outline its major themes. Design/methodology/approach -The public governance literature is described, and the necessity for analysing challenges for accountability and accounting in the public sector is...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of voluntary extended performance reporting (EPR) by Italian local authorities (LAs) by exploring the patterns of financial and non‐financial disclosure and the factors affecting those patterns. More specifically it aims to...

Purpose – The era of austerity that has followed the outbreak of the global financial crisis has posed a myriad of challenges for public services, with demands for major cuts in government spending, the delivery of balanced budgets and zstrategies for deficit reduction. The purpose of this...

Purpose – Budgeting is central in public organizations. From a research viewpoint, it is an extremely multifaceted and potentially rich field to investigate and develop. The changing institutional and socio-economic landscape, moreover, requires a profound reassessment of its roles and...

Accounting innovations, and especially the introduction of accruals accounting, are often portrayed as fundamental aspects of publicsector reforms. An increasing body of literature has been studying the experiences of different countries and levels of government, often referring to Lueder's...

Purpose – The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to introduce the special issue and outline its major themes. Design/methodology/approach – The public governance literature is described, and the necessity for analysing challenges for accountability and accounting in the public sector is...