There has recently been a resurgence of interest in social and environmental reporting (SER) in both the private and the public sector; however, its meaning and application in the public sector are relatively new, and it has been little investigated. Our article is aimed at gaining a better...

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 purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context. Design/methodology/approach: The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how the convergence of private and public sector accounting standards is affecting conceptual and practical issues relating to heritage. More specifically, the paper is intended to provide a better understanding of the state of the art in...

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to look at the European public sector accounting standards (EPSAS) project development path to explore how governance and legitimacy issues intertwine when a new standard-setting system is developed. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative interpretative...

The current crisis of public finances and the context of austerity require a rethinking of governmental budgets' roles, processes, and contents. On the one hand, increasing pressures exist to cut back expenditure and reduce the amount of accumulated public debt. On the other, governments are...