IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/aaajpp/v23y2010i2p229-255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial black holes

Author

Listed:
  • Jean Shaoul
  • Anne Stafford
  • Pam Stapleton

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to examine empirically whether the system of public expenditure reporting is capable of delivering financial accountability, focusing on the UK government's use of private finance for roads. Design/methodology/approach - Publicly available documents from the public and private sector partners for 11 roads contracts are examined, together with a publicly provided bridge paid for via tolls as a comparator. Findings - Reporting by both public and private sectors is limited and opaque, such that accountability to the public is inadequate. The evidence also shows that the scale of the additional expenditure generated by private finance warrants greater disclosure and scrutiny than is currently the case. Research limitations/implications - These findings, which occur in the roads sector where projects are large and visible, are likely to be replicated elsewhere in the public sector. Accountability issues may be even more problematic in public bodies where reporting is more diffuse. Furthermore, the proliferation of other forms of private finance increases the problems of reporting clear financial information, the lack of which not only makes informed public debate about public and fiscal policy impossible but also may lead to the wrong policy choice. Originality/value - There has been littleex post factoexamination as to whether extant reporting requirements permit understanding and scrutiny of the cost of private finance. The paper presents a desired list of annual disclosure, highlighting an information gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Shaoul & Anne Stafford & Pam Stapleton, 2010. "Financial black holes," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(2), pages 229-255, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:23:y:2010:i:2:p:229-255
    DOI: 10.1108/09513571011023200
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513571011023200/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09513571011023200/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/09513571011023200?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eduardo Engel & Ronald Fischer & Alexander Galetovic, 2006. "Renegotiation Without Holdup: Anticipating Spending and Infrastructure Concessions," NBER Working Papers 12399, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gisele F. Silva, 2000. "Toll Roads : Recent Trends in Private Participation," World Bank Publications - Reports 11408, The World Bank Group.
    3. Cooper, David J. & Sherer, Michael J., 1984. "The value of corporate accounting reports: Arguments for a political economy of accounting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 9(3-4), pages 207-232, October.
    4. Basilio Acerete & Jean Shaoul & Anne Stafford, 2009. "Taking its toll: The private financing of roads in Spain," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 19-26, January.
    5. Estache, Antonio & Serebrisky, Tomas, 2004. "Where do we stand on transport infrastructure deregulation and public-private partnership?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3356, The World Bank.
    6. Irwin, Timothy & Klein, Michael & Perry, Guillermo E. & Thobani, Mateen, 1999. "Managing Government Exposure to Private Infrastructure Risks," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 14(2), pages 229-245, August.
    7. Ehrhardt, David & Irwin Timothy, 2004. "Avoiding customer and taxpayer bailouts in private infrastructure projects : Policy toward leverage, risk allocation, and bankruptcy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3274, The World Bank.
    8. Mike Smith & Navdeep Mathur & Chris Skelcher, 2006. "Corporate Governance in a Collaborative Environment: what happens when government, business and civil society work together?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 159-171, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Albert Gragera, 2018. "“When politics and lobbyism combine to promote white elephants by using PPPs”," IREA Working Papers 201823, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Oct 2018.
    2. Zhe Cheng & Zhenshan Yang & Huina Gao & Hui Tao & Ming Xu, 2018. "Does PPP Matter to Sustainable Tourism Development? An Analysis of the Spatial Effect of the Tourism PPP Policy in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Peda, Peeter & Vinnari, Eija, 2020. "The discursive legitimation of profit in public-private service delivery," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    4. Daniel, Albalate & Germà, Bel & Albert, Gragera, 2019. "Politics, risk, and white elephants in infrastructure PPPs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 158-165.
    5. Matti Siemiatycki, 2013. "Public–private partnerships in mega-projects: successes and tensions," Chapters, in: Hugo Priemus & Bert van Wee (ed.), International Handbook on Mega-Projects, chapter 7, pages 133-157, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Dónal Palcic & Eoin Reeves & Anne Stafford, 2018. "Lifting the Lid: the Private Financing of Motorway PPPs in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 217-239.
    7. Marie Caussimont & David Carassus, 2015. "L’audit financier en contexte territorial : vers un audit de performance de la gestion locale ?," Post-Print hal-02141946, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean Shaoul, 2010. "A Review of Transport Public–Private Partnerships in the UK," Chapters, in: Graeme A. Hodge & Carsten Greve & Anthony E. Boardman (ed.), International Handbook on Public–Private Partnerships, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Alexander Moore & Stéphane Straub & Jean-Jacques Dethier, 2014. "Regulation, renegotiation and capital structure: theory and evidence from Latin American transport concessions," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 209-232, April.
    3. David Martimort & Flavio Menezes & Myrna Wooders & ELISABETTA IOSSA & DAVID MARTIMORT, 2015. "The Simple Microeconomics of Public-Private Partnerships," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(1), pages 4-48, February.
    4. Musso, Enrico & Ferrari, Claudio & Benacchio, Marco, 2006. "Port Investment: Profitability, Economic Impact and Financing," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 171-218, January.
    5. Blackburn, Nivea & Brown, Judy & Dillard, Jesse & Hooper, Val, 2014. "A dialogical framing of AIS–SEA design," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 83-101.
    6. Zhang, Eagle & Andrew, Jane, 2016. "Rethinking China: Discourse, convergence and fair value accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 1-21.
    7. Fay, Marianne & Martimort, David & Straub, Stéphane, 2021. "Funding and financing infrastructure: The joint-use of public and private finance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    8. Brenck, Andreas & Beckers, Thorsten & Heinrich, Maria & von Hirschhausen, Christian, 2005. "Public-private partnerships in new EU member countries of Central and Eastern Europe: An economic analysis with case studies from the highway sector," EIB Papers 10/2005, European Investment Bank, Economics Department.
    9. Neu, D. & Warsame, H. & Pedwell, K., 1998. "Managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 265-282, April.
    10. Dónal Palcic & Eoin Reeves & Anne Stafford, 2018. "Lifting the Lid: the Private Financing of Motorway PPPs in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 217-239.
    11. Toms, J. S., 2002. "The rise of modern accounting and the fall of the public company: the Lancashire cotton mills 1870-1914," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 61-84.
    12. Antonio Estache & Stéphane Saussier, 2014. "Public-Private Partnerships and Efficiency: A Short Assessment," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(3), pages 08-13, October.
    13. Ejiogu, Amanze & Ambituuni, Ambisisi & Ejiogu, Chibuzo, 2021. "Accounting for accounting’s role in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England: A Bourdieusian perspective," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Arshad Ali Javed & Patrick T.I. Lam & Albert P.C. Chan, 2014. "Change negotiation in public-private partnership projects through output specifications: an experimental approach based on game theory," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 323-348, April.
    15. La Torre, Matteo & Dumay, John & Rea, Michele Antonio & Abhayawansa, Subhash, 2020. "A journey towards a safe harbour: The rhetorical process of the International Integrated Reporting Council," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    16. Boedker, Christina & Chong, Kar-Ming & Mouritsen, Jan, 2020. "The counter-performativity of calculative practices: Mobilising rankings of intellectual capital," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    17. Mario, Cuevas, 2007. "A Practical Guide to the Assessment of the Vulnerability of the Non-Financial Private Sector," MPRA Paper 1375, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Bryer, Alice Rose, 2014. "Participation in budgeting: A critical anthropological approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 511-530.
    19. Moszoro, Marian W. & Spiller, Pablo T., 2014. "Third-Party Opportunism and the Theory of Public Contracts: Operationalization and Applications," MPRA Paper 101592, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Collison, David & Ferguson, John & Kozuma, Yoshinao & Power, David & Stevenson, Lorna, 2011. "The impact of introductory accounting courses on student perceptions about the purpose of accounting information and the objectives of business: A comparison of the UK and Japan," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-60.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:23:y:2010:i:2:p:229-255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.