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Public sector budgeting: a European review of accounting and public management journals

Author

Listed:
  • Eugenio Anessi-Pessina
  • Carmela Barbera
  • Mariafrancesca Sicilia
  • Ileana Steccolini

Abstract

Purpose - – Budgeting is central in public organizations. From a research viewpoint, it is an extremely multifaceted and potentially rich field to investigate and develop. The changing institutional and socio-economic landscape, moreover, requires a profound reassessment of its roles and features in accounting studies. The purpose of this paper is to review the existing European literature on public budgeting, looking at how public administration, public management, and accounting contribute to current budgeting theories and practices and to advance a proposal on how they can individually and jointly contribute in the future. Design/methodology/approach - – The authors collect and analyze all the papers on public budgeting in the European context that were published in all the issues of 15 major accounting and public-management journals since 1980. Findings - – Budgeting has so far played a rather marginal role in European public management and accounting research. Among the existing papers, most focus on the Anglo-Saxon context, look at the intra-organizational aspects of budgeting, emphasize its managerial and allocative functions, either adopt an interpretive theoretical framework or make no explicit reference to theory, and rely on qualitative analyses. Public budgeting lies at the intersections between different disciplines and professions, but this multifacetedness has been largely neglected by the existing literature. These intersections thus offer significant opportunities for future research. Building on the distinction between the intra- and inter-organizational foci of budgeting, between its different functions (i.e. allocative, managerial, external accountability), and between the accounting and the public administration and management perspectives, the authors propose possible future research topics. Originality/value - – Budgeting plays a central role in public organizations and is used to allocate a large share of national incomes. This paper explores the existing literature and puts forward some potentially fruitful avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Eugenio Anessi-Pessina & Carmela Barbera & Mariafrancesca Sicilia & Ileana Steccolini, 2016. "Public sector budgeting: a European review of accounting and public management journals," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(3), pages 491-519, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:29:y:2016:i:3:p:491-519
    DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-11-2013-1532
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriella Szekeres (Vancza) & Alina Căldăraru, 2021. "The influence of financing on results in the pre-university education system," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 10(6), pages 136-151, May.
    2. van Helden, Jan & Caperchione, Eugenio & Pattaro, Anna Francesca, 2023. "Use and non-use of accounting information: The case of controversial projects in public and non-profit settings," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Makoto Kuroki, 2022. "Impact of Depreciation Information on Capital Budgeting among Local Governments: A Survey Experiment," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 201-213, June.
    4. Elaine Stewart & Ciaran Connolly, 2021. "Recent UK Central Government Accounting Reforms: Claimed Benefits and Experienced Outcomes," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(3), pages 557-592, September.
    5. Vakulenko Veronika & Mattei Giorgia, 2023. "Reforming the Public Sector in Eastern European and Former Soviet Union Countries: A Systematic Literature Review," Central European Journal of Public Policy, Sciendo, vol. 17(1), pages 55-79, June.
    6. Cristian Dragan & Ana Cornelia Olteanu & Viorela Georgiana Stinga, 2021. "The External Public Audit of the Budgetary Programs – Preparatory Activities," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 1003-1012, December.
    7. Andrea Bonomi Savignon & Lorenzo Costumato & Benedetta Marchese, 2019. "Performance Budgeting in Context: An Analysis of Italian Central Administrations," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-15, October.
    8. Mauro, Sara Giovanna & Cinquini, Lino & Pianezzi, Daniela, 2021. "New Public Management between reality and illusion: Analysing the validity of performance-based budgeting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    9. Laura Broccardo & Elisa Truant & Adrian Zicari, 2019. "Internal corporate sustainability drivers: What evidence from family firms? A literature review and research agenda," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, January.
    10. Liying He & Kamisah Ismail, 2023. "Do staff capacity and performance-based budgeting improve organisational performance? Empirical evidence from Chinese public universities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.

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