IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v98y2024ics1045235422000041.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accounting and statecraft in China: Accrual accounting for effective government rather than efficient market

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Eagle

Abstract

This paper explores the governmental rationales underlying China’s recent decision to adopt accrual accounting in its public sector. It aims to illustrate an extended role of accrual accounting in facilitating a relationship between the state and its market. Whilst neoliberal ideas of efficiency are seen to weaken state institutions under the logic of the market - with the widespread adoption of accrual accounting in public sectors being a model case, such rationalities have, on the contrary, been deployed to refine an understanding of a stronger state in China. Rather than being a mere effect of ideological reception around the idea of market efficiency, accrual accounting methods have been used to support particular possibilities for statecraft and government in China. Here, accounting offers a mechanism through which the Chinese state can strengthen governing efficiency, overcoming its major institutional weakness: the enduring conflict between political centralisation and effective local-level governance. Attesting to the diverse rather than monolithic conditions and processes of global NPM accounting reform, this paper highlights the power of accounting in facilitating the state’s different enactment of neoliberal ideas and governmental technologies, as shown in both China and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Eagle, 2024. "Accounting and statecraft in China: Accrual accounting for effective government rather than efficient market," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:98:y:2024:i:c:s1045235422000041
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2022.102419
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235422000041
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2022.102419?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.

    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:eee:crpeac:v:98:y:2024:i:c:s1045235422000041. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    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.