Call for papers

Special Issue in ACCOUNTING IN EUROPE

Guest Editors: Josette Caruana (University of Malta), Eugenio Caperchione (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy), Susana Jorge (University of Coimbra, Portugal)

The European Commission has embarked on the project to develop harmonised public sector accounting standards, that will be applicable for all EU member states.
According to Eurostat, the EPSAS are a necessary tool for fiscal and budgetary integration in the EU, and are required for more rigorous, transparent and comparable
reporting of information. The ultimate objective is to have more reliable reporting by EU member states, regarding the debt and deficit levels as required by the Treaty that binds them. In order for the EPSAS to be viewed as building blocks that could bridge the gap between micro- and macro-reporting levels, the input of various disciplines is required so that EPSAS achieve this ambitious target.

The aim of this Special Issue is to stimulate a more holistic debate about the reforms and innovations at all governmental levels and public sector organizations in Europe (central government, regional governments, local governments, public agencies, public hospitals and public universities).

We invite papers within the broad area of innovation in public sector accounting regarding the development of European standards, which may have policy relevant implications in order to obtain more transparent and comparable financial information in Europe, namely research works that fall within the fields of budgeting, financial accounting, reporting and auditing.

The following are possible questions that could be addressed in the papers. This list is not exhaustive:

• The contributions of various disciplines in the development of EPSAS; in other words, the requirement for a multi-disciplinary research platform;
• The function of EPSAS in relation to Europe’s national accounting systems;
• The challenges of adopting accounting standards both at national and international level (i.e.: IPSAS; EPSAS; national reforms), which includes the harmonization of governmental accounting;
• Innovations in accounting and budgeting for public sector entities;
• The role of Auditing in Public Financial Management systems;
• Experiences in the adoption of popular reporting, integrated reporting, sustainability reporting and performance reporting in public institutions.

Papers that fall within the general scope of EPSAS development and the comparability of governmental financial reporting and budgeting within the EU are also welcome.

Authors should submit their papers by 31st March 2018 to Accounting in Europe
(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=raie20&page=instructionsuctions) according to the journal guidelines.

Accounting and performance management innovations in public sector organizations

Guest editors: Anatoli Bourmistrov, Nord University; Giuseppe Grossi, Kristianstad University; Toomas Haldma, Tartu University

Globally large number of countries underwent radical and sustained economic and regulatory changes during the last decades. These countries have experienced different degrees of economic development, regulatory and public sector reforms, and other peculiarities stemming from their history, culture, languages and identities. We believe that this research setting offers a great opportunity to investigate how incentives change and impact public sector accounting and performance management practices. We are interested in understanding how these changes affect providers (accountants, controllers, consultants, etc.) and users (politicians, public managers, auditors, etc.) of accounting and performance information and have implications for their work. There is still a lack of research studying the measurement of public value and public performance, the strategic planning, budgeting, control, and reporting of public services provided by the public sector organizations in co-production with users, or by hybrids and similar inter-institutional settings, and the role played by new forms of “dialogic” accounting and budgeting in ensuring democratic governance, transparency and citizen participation.

We invite papers using different theoretical approaches that investigate the changes in accounting, budgeting and control mechanisms, its regulatory and institutional reforms, enforcement difficulties and their impact on the innovative practices in different levels of governments (state, regions and local governments, etc.), and policy areas (as primary and higher education, health care, etc.). We particularly encourage comparative studies highlighting causes and consequences of similarities and differences across countries, policy areas and providers of public services (public, private and hybrid organizations).

Topics could include, but are not limited to:
- Innovations in performance budgeting, performance management and reporting in public sector;
- The internal and external drivers and barriers to innovation in public sector accounting and performance management;
- The effects of technological change on accounting and performance management;
- The impact of global economic crisis on accounting and performance management innovations;
- The changing role and identities of providers and users of accounting and performance management tools;
- The development and use of new forms of “dialogic” accounting and performance management in ensuring democratic governance, transparency and citizen participation.

All theoretical framework and methodological designs are welcome. Authors should bear in mind the publication policy of Baltic Journal of Management, which focuses on papers that are relevant to practice and policy. Papers must be submitted in English.

Authors should submit their papers by November 01, 2017 to Baltic Journal of Management (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bjom) according to the journal guidelines. Feedback for the papers submitted to the Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research (CIGAR) conference will be provided in a panel section in conjunction with the conference organised in Porto during 8-9 June 2017. Please be aware that presentation at the Conference does not guarantee acceptance of the paper for publication in special issue of Baltic Journal of Management. The participation in the Conference is not a precondition for submitting a manuscript to the special issue. Five-six papers after a double-blind review process will be published in a special issue of Baltic Journal of Management in 2019.

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.

Public Money and Management (PMM) is planning a mini theme under the title:

Innovations in public sector financial and management accounting: for better or worse?

The guest editors are Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rossi and Isabel Brusca.

Academics and practitioners are invited to submit papers for consideration to Eugenio Caperchione (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) before 31 July 2017.

For the call for papers click here.

The goal of this Mini theam is to evaluate the outcome of this long wave of reforms, their effectiveness, their contribution to the sounder use of public finances or the reasons for their limited impact.

Questions that papers and articles might then address include:

- Has this reform wave paid off; if so, where and how?

- Has innovation really led to improved efficiency and effectiveness in public management? What are the main advantages of particular innovative processes in practice?

- Do the users of the information generated by the new financial and management accounting systems believe that they are better informed?

- Are there any lessons learned from the past that could pave a better way forward?

- Did the innovative financial and management accounting systems help countries or entities to face the financial crisis and better plan budget cuts or austerity measures? How?

- Have these systems achieved enhancing the awareness of citizens in public sector finances and increasing democratic participation?

- Has the adoption of sophisticated accounting systems affected the cost of capital of public sector entities?

- Are new tools of financial reporting (for example integrated reporting) suitable for meeting the information needs of different types of stakeholders?

The use of a comparative approach will be particularly welcome.

The guest editors are Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rossi and Isabel Brusca.

Academics and practitioners are invited to submit papers for consideration to Eugenio Caperchione (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) before 31 July 2017.