Literature earnings management aims to determine what causes/motivates managers to disclose earnings close to zero and to use this as an instrument to influence users' decisions. However, limited research has been carried out on this subject in the public sector. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether local politicians (in Portuguese municipalities), aiming to demonstrate their high level of competence and skills, engage in earnings management in such a way as to ensure that earnings are positive but close to zero. We examined whether political competition is a determining factor of earnings management close to zero and if managers use discretionary accruals in order to do this. Results indicate that, in order to report positive net earnings close to zero, discretionary accruals are used. This study identified the overriding tendency to avoid the reporting of losses in those municipalities where political competition is greatest. Key wordsPublic accounting, agency theory, public choice theory, earnings management, municipalities, political competition 2013 Taylor & Francis Vol. 15, No. , -, http://dx
The concept of sustainable development (SD) was introduced in the “Our Common Future” report, launched in 1987, which influenced the emergence of many studies related to the role played by organizations as actors supporting SD. SD is a consolidated concept; however, since 1987, many political, social, and natural events have occurred on our planet, which have impacted companies’ behaviors. However, the diversity of research from different fields has provoked, among the academic community, a lack of clarity surrounding “sustainability” (S), “corporate sustainability” (CS) and “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) concepts. This lack of clarity can also be identified in companies, which have referred to “sustainability” only in the environmental field. Recently, increased discussions related to corporate sustainability metrics have shed light on the ESG criteria (environmental, social, and governance), increasing misperceptions associated with the concept. Ambiguous definitions and constructs may prevent managers from identifying sustainability goals for their companies. Therefore, literature reviews as a research method are more relevant than ever. Thus, in this work, we aim to answer the following question: How should we integrate different perspectives on corporate sustainability, in order to broaden the understanding of the concept? In this study, we conducted a focused bibliographic review and revisited the papers that most influenced the construction of the concepts. The information in this paper is helpful to improve the understanding of CS; to provide specific insights into the studies that have investigated this field; to help managers and entrepreneurs who are improving CS actions in their companies; and to support academia by putting together a large amount of information about this theme in one paper.
The changes recommended by the New Public Management (NPM) in public accounting have given special attention and importance to the evaluation of mayor's performance by citizens/voters. Thus, this study aims to assess the impact of accounting information on the re-election of Portuguese mayors. Taking the agency theory as a point of departure, we start from the following research question: Does the accounting information disclosed by the municipalities influence the re-election of Portuguese mayors? The research methodology used in this study is the quantitative type, through which a multivariate analysis of data was performed on 308 Portuguese municipalities, in the period 2005-2008, based on the election results of 2009. The results from the binary logistic regression show that some indicators of accounting nature have impact on the re-election of mayors in Portugal, namely, the components of financial accounting and municipal revenues.
The limited literature on the subject of this chapter only assesses whether accounting information has an impact on the electoral results, particularly in local governments. The authors are not aware of any study that evaluates the influence of accounting information and socioeconomic factors on the re-election of mayors, particularly in Portugal. Based on the assumptions of agency theory, the authors start with the research question, Do accounting information and socioeconomic factors influence the re-election of Portuguese mayors? The research methodology used is the quantitative type, through which a multivariate analysis of data was performed on 308 Portuguese municipalities in two elections cycles. Although the results did not show statistical significance for all the variables, the authors verified that certain variables of accounting nature and some socioeconomic factors appear to show potential for influencing re-election.
This chapter aims to systematically review the literature on modernization and accountability practice in the social economy. The collection of bibliography to support this systematic review was made in several scientific databases, only considering documents written in English. The criteria for researching the documents used in the development of this chapter are explained in the section that presents the methodology. It is possible to verify that only two articles published in the 20th century, 1997 and 1999, were identified, with all other articles published in the 21st century. This leads to the conclusion that the concern about the issue of accountability, particularly in social economy organizations, is relatively recent and has been of growing interest. The research is more focused on the accountability practice and not so much on modernization, although they are two inseparable issues.
In the context of New Public Management, Public Administration must be alert to the efficient management systems in order to rationalize the financial resources and disseminate transparent, accurate and consistent economic and financial information to further assess the performance of managers and organizations. The technological advances have influenced the way financial information is disseminated, including the use of the Internet, allowing it to be quickly accessed. This work is based on the assumptions of agency, public choice and signaling theories, and aims to assess the level of disclosure of financial information on the websites of local authorities in Portugal and to identify factors that may influence it. Given the results, not all local authorities disseminate all the financial information required by law on the websites. Among the factors tested, the size and political competition are the ones that seem to influence the level of disclosure of financial information on the websites. In the context of New Public Management, Public Administration should both focus on the citizen's needs, which are increasingly demanding, and promote the transparency and efficiency of public management. In this way, it should provide the public bodies not only with effective and efficient management
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.