This paper proposes a classification model of the Financial Reporting of Italian Local Governments (ILGs) and a grid of indicators supporting financial analysts in their solvency ratings. Due to their increased financial autonomy, ILGs increasingly need to resort to various forms of borrowing....

During the last decade Italian local governments have undergone a reform process, involving deep changes in their accounting system. The purpose of our longitudinal study is to analyse the development path of accounting tools in an Italian LG body over a decade and to answer the following...

This paper examines the materiality guidance for eight of the largest U.S. and international public accounting firms. Knowledge of how materiality guidance is integrated into a firm's methodology is important for accounting and auditing researchers as well as for practitioners, regulators, and...

The funding policy for defined benefit pension plans covering government employees represents an important decision for government entities sponsoring those plans. In recent years, a number of state and local governments have experienced extreme funding shortfalls (e.g., New Jersey, Illinois,...

International organizations have encouraged national governments to switch from traditional cash-based to business-like accrual accounting, on the presumption that long-run benefits may outweigh substantial implementation and operating costs. We use a quasi-experimental setting to evaluate...