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Ineffective Fiscal Rules? The Effect of Public Sector Accounting Standards on Budgets, Efficiency, and Accountability

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  • Florian Dorn
  • Stefanie Gäbler
  • Felix Rösel

Abstract

International organizations have encouraged national governments to switch from traditional cash-based to business-like accrual accounting, on the presumption that long-run benefits may outweigh substantial implementation and operating costs. We use a quasi-experimental setting to evaluate whether changing public sector accounting standards is justified. Some local governments in the German federal state of Bavaria introduced accrual accounting while others retained cash-based accounting. Difference-in-differences and event-study results do not show that (capital) expenditures, public debt, voter turnout, or government efficiency developed differently after changes in accounting standards. Operating costs of administration, however, increase under accrual accounting.

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  • Florian Dorn & Stefanie Gäbler & Felix Rösel, 2019. "Ineffective Fiscal Rules? The Effect of Public Sector Accounting Standards on Budgets, Efficiency, and Accountability," ifo Working Paper Series 312, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifowps:_312
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    2. Florian Dorn, 2021. "Elections and Government Efficiency," ifo Working Paper Series 363, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    3. Raffer, Christian, 2020. "Accrual Accounting and the Local Government Budget - A Matching Evaluation," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224630, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Ludger Schuknecht & Christoph A. Schaltegger & Michele Salvi & Jan Schnellenbach & Thomas Lenk & Christian Bender & Mario Hesse & Gert G. Wagner & Stefan Korioth & Klaus Gründler & Philipp Heil & Nikl, 2021. "Zankapfel Schuldenbremse: Bewährtes Instrument auch in Krisenzeiten?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 74(04), pages 03-30, April.
    5. Shun-ichiro Bessho & Haruaki Hirota, 2021. "Do Public Account Financial Statements Matter? Evidence from Japanese Municipalities," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1172, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal rules; public accounting; budget transparency; sustainability; government efficiency; accountability; local government;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration

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