Management Accounting Innovations in Local Governments. Evidences from Italian and Greek Municipalities

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to understand the extent of adoption of accounting techniques in Italian and Greek municipalities, and the factors affecting the specific techniques used.

Design/methodology/approach: This study reports on a survey based on medium sized and large Italian and Greek municipalities. The survey was targeted at public municipalities accountants, who represent the users of accounting techniques. In this study a set of variables were considered, namely the specific techniques and procedures used in Italian municipalities, the accounting systems, and the ICT tools.

Findings: The results of this study highlight a limited diffusion and a very poor development of accounting practices in Greece and Italy, despite their different political choices in terms of accounting systems.

Research limitations/implications: The present study is a cross country comparison between Italian and Greek municipalities. Therefore any generalizing of the conclusions beyond this context should be undertaken with care. Nevertheless, it provides an interesting analysis of the accounting practices and the diffusion process enabling their adoption, which helps to understand accounting and management changes in local governments.

Originality/value: This paper answers a previous call in literature to the use of quantitative research methods in order to generalize findings from previous case studies. This study provides empirical evidence to support the scant literature on the management accounting practices in local governments, and the institutional and contextual factors affecting their use.