Understanding the impact of mandatory accrual accounting on management practices

Interpretation of Japanese local governments’ behavior

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9961373
AutoresMakoto Kuroki (0000-0002-7361-6530, Yokohama City University, autor de correspondencia), Keiko Ishikawa (0000-0002-9638-7072, Nihon University), Kiyoshi Yamamoto (0000-0001-9351-5174, Kamakura Women’s University and University of Tokyo, Japan)
Año2022
Volumen88
Número3
Páginas862-881
Fecha de publicación2022-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Review of Administrative Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-8523 • E-ISSN: 1461-7226
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0020852321988956
OpenAlexW3200136522
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas44

Accompanying the spread of “new public management” since the 1980s, accrual accounting and results-based management has become a global standard. However, whether accrual accounting results in successful outcomes and which drivers lead to the intended impacts of the reform have been contested. Given the mixed arguments in the literature, we set out two research questions: (1) “Have public sector organizations realized any positive impacts on management practices by adopting mandatory accrual accounting?”; and (2) “What are the primary drivers of such impacts?” To answer these questions, we examine the impact on management practices by analyzing a survey to ascertain how financial department officers in Japanese local governments perceive the benefits of adopting mandatory accrual accounting on management practices. The results indicate that they have so far not recognized the intended benefits, though they had expected higher benefits in internal control. Then, we use technical-rational, socio-political, and institutional isomorphic perspectives in a comprehensive approach to understand the impacts on management practices. The logistic analysis shows that financial managers in local governments that do not have a majority party in the assembly, but consist of several parties in power, as well as in those with greater financial dependence on the central government, perceive higher benefits. Further, we find that financial managers that imitate other local governments as a form of mimetic pressure perceive fewer benefits. The results show that some technical-rational tools, socio-political conditions, and institutional pressures change the perceived benefits for public managers of adopting mandatory accrual accounting

Accrual · Business · Economics · Explanatory power · Government (linguistics · Local government · Management accounting · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Accounting · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Regulation and Compliance Studies