In what has become known as quot;The New Public Sectorquot;, in the 1990s many services in advanced economics such as those of the UK and Scandinavia have come under pressure to become more efficient and effective so as to reduce their demands on taxpayers while maintaining the volume and...

The introduction of new forms of competition and improved management into public health services in the UK and Sweden have stimulated changes in costing and performance measurement (PM). In particular, the implementation of purchaser provider models has made the use of accounting information for...

This essay introduces the special issue of <italic>Accounting and Business Research</italic> exploring the societal relevance of management accounting and locates the individual contributions within this research agenda. In contrast to prevailing, managerialist conceptions of relevance, the discussion is guided...