Accounting professionalism and local government gaap adoption

A national study

Bibliographic Data

ID20201499
AuthorsSaleha Khumawala, Saleha B Khumawala (0000-0001-6765-0006, University of Houston), Justin Marlowe (0000-0003-4941-0775, University of Washington), Daniel G Neely (0000-0002-7984-9765, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee)
Year2014
Volume26
Issue2
Pages292-312
Publication date2014-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Budgeting Accounting & Financial Management (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1096-3367 • E-ISSN: 1945-1814
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/jpbafm-26-02-2014-b003
OpenAlexW2182075384
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited16

We examine the factors that associate with local government decisions to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). GAAP non-compliance is surprisingly common among larger local governments, and that trend has important implications for public policy, financial management transparency, and government accountability. To examine the factors that drive GAAP compliance, we develop a conceptual framework based on the politico-economic perspective on accounting policy choice, and then test that model with data from a national survey of local government finance professionals. Our key contribution is that we incorporate accounting professionalism. The findings suggest that for many local governments the decision to adopt GAAP is a response to the pressures of professionalism rather than a rational response to political and economic motives

Accountability · Accounting information system · Accounting standard · Business · Economics · Financial accounting · Local government · Management accounting · Political science · Politics · Positive accounting · Public finance · Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Public Administration · Public Policy and Administration Research · Accounting

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub