Porto, Portugal, June, 8-9, 2017, being preceded by the PhD seminar (June 7, 2017)

“Future avenues for Public Sector Accounting: engaging research, practice and use”

Over the last 30 years, the CIGAR Network has established itself as one of the main international fora discussing and researching on the most relevant and up-to-date topics related to public sector accounting in its broadest sense. Examples of such can be found in the several publications coming from the Network’s events. Across time, it can be noted that the CIGAR Network has been in synchrony with governmental accounting reforms, addressing actual changes happening in different countries - doing research on new practices, hence searching for practice relevance. Reaching an indisputable landmark in governmental accounting research, it is time for the Network to reflect on how to continue facing and creating new research challenges. The current context seems to be bountiful, as it is providing yet again many topics promising to become future avenues for public sector accounting research.

On the other hand, despite all efforts, a considerable gap between academic and practitioners continues to exist.

An increased collaboration between these, accompanied perhaps by more practice-oriented approaches, seems imperative to accomplish research goals. A more socially and politically accountable knowledge production process and output is highly important to make public sector accounting more relevant. Accordingly, authors interested in participating in the 16th CIGAR Biennial Conference are challenged to present papers taking into account the above and in the following broad topics, among others:
- International and European harmonization in public sector accounting (IPSAS/EPSAS)
- The role of accounting systems for ‘new’ phenomena
- The usefulness of public sector accounting information

Topics can be addressed using either qualitative or quantitative approaches; research on the realities of developing and emerging countries is also encouraged. As its name suggests, the CIGAR Network emphasises the importance of comparative studies as a source of better understanding.

Ph.D. Seminar

Ph.D. students are invited to submit either an extended abstract, a proposal or a full paper on any topic related to public sector accounting in its widest scope. Selected participants are expected to present their research project/paper to colleague students, assisted by two senior researchers in order to receive fruitful suggestions and valuable feedback. The seminar, chaired by Susana Jorge and Dorothea Greiling, offers the opportunity to join a growing community of young scholars interested in governmental accounting research.

Important dates

Abstracts (1-2 pages) for the Conference are to be submitted by 17 March 2017. On acceptance, full papers are expected by 10 May 2017.

The event is jointly organized by the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (IPCA) – Management School and Research Centre on Accounting and Taxation (CICF— http://www.cicf.ipca.pt/en) – and the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC – www.fe.uc.pt).

For more information about the conference click here.