We examine the properties of the accounting earnings reported by local governments across Australia. Specifically, we examine the following research questions: (i) Does accrual accounting for local governments provide useful information? and (ii) Are earnings reported by local governments...

Local governments on the municipal level were among the first organizations to take part in the accounting reform in Greece that sought the transformation of the traditional budgetary cash accounting system to a new system that combines cash and accrual accounting information. In this paper we...

We compare characteristics of municipal debt issues in states that mandate GAAP for municipalities with issues in states that impose no annual financial disclosure requirements. Cross-sectional comparisons indicate that the use of public (versus private) debt is greater, and municipal debt costs...

Performance reporting continues to receive considerable attention from standard setters, professional organizations and academia. The issue is complex, given the importance of accountability to government agencies and the many competing demands placed on government managers. Using the...

We compare characteristics of municipal debt issues in states that mandate GAAP for municipalities with issues in states that impose no annual financial disclosure requirements. Cross-sectional comparisons indicate that the use of public (versus private) debt is greater, and municipal debt costs...

This study provides descriptive evidence about how the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sets Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Based on 211 financial accounting standards issued between 1973 and 2014, we report the reasons that the FASB adds or removes projects from its...

We examine uniform and discretionary regimes for reporting information about firm performance from the perspective of a standard setter, in a setting where the precision of reported information is difficult to verify and the reported information can help coordinate decisions by users of the...

This study provides descriptive evidence on how the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) sets Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Based on 211 financial accounting standards issued between 1973 and 2014, we summarize the reasons that the FASB adds or removes projects from its...

Despite the perceived importance of accounting standard setters, it remains unknown whether and how much individual FASB board members can influence specific accounting policies because it is difficult to measure any board member's impact during the process of accounting standard setting absent...

We examine uniform and discretionary regimes for reporting information about firm performance from the perspective of a standard setter, in a setting where the precision of reported information is difficult to verify and the reported information can help coordinate decisions by users of the...