Purpose – The era of austerity that has followed the outbreak of the global financial crisis has posed a myriad of challenges for public services, with demands for major cuts in government spending, the delivery of balanced budgets and zstrategies for deficit reduction. The purpose of this paper is to consider how public sector accounting and accountability systems are implicated in the development and implementation of austerity policies. Also, it pinpoints a range of issues that accounting researchers need to be contemplating on the subject of accounting for austerity. Design/methodology/approach – Interdisciplinary literature review, coupled with an illustrative discussion of the changing nature of public sector accounting practices under austerity. Findings – Despite the significance and scale of austerity, public sector accounting research on the topic is in its infancy, with the prominent focus being on how accounting technologies are used to manage austerity. There have been few attempts to debate critically the construction of austerity and to provide alternative accounts of austerity. Accounting for austerity, especially in terms of its implications and consequences, is far too complex and challenging to be categorized as simply seeking to “balance the books”. Research limitations/implications – As an academic community, we need to be developing understanding of public sector accounting research under austerity across different organizational levels and contexts. Also, we should be framing the accounts of austerity in ways that respect and build on a sound understanding of the extensive available interdisciplinary research on this topic. Key research questions to address include: how is accounting shaping constructions of, and impressions, attitudes and behaviors toward, austerity and the status of governments and public service organizations? What do such patterns of development mean for the roles and contributions of public sector accountants under austerity? Are accounting systems destined to be used primarily as vehicles for cost-cutting, or can they be used as engines for growth and for thinking about public service responsibilities in more socially inclusive forms? Originality/value – Accountings of austerity in the field of public sector accounting research have been worryingly limited. This paper and the papers in this special issue of AAAJ address such failings, revealing a range of critical implications and challenges of austerity policies for public sector accounting research.

The striatum is the main recipient of dopaminergic innervation. Striatal projection neurons are controlled by cholinergic and GABAergic interneurons. The effects of dopamine on projection neurons and cholinergic interneurons have been described. Its action on GABAergic interneurons, however, is still unknown. We studied the effects of dopamine on fast-spiking (FS) GABAergic interneurons in vitro, with intracellular recordings. Bath application of dopamine elicited a depolarization accompanied by an increase in membrane input resistance (an effect that persisted in the presence of tetrodotoxin) and action-potential discharge. These effects were mimicked by the D1-like dopamine receptor agonist SKF38393 but not by the D2-like agonist quinpirole. Evoked corticostriatal glutamatergic synaptic currents were not affected by dopamine. Conversely, GABAergic currents evoked by intrastriatal stimulation were reversibly depressed by dopamine and D2-like, but not D1-like, agonists. Cocaine elicited effects similar to those of dopamine on membrane potential and synaptic currents. These results show that endogenous dopamine exerts a dual excitatory action on FS interneurons, by directly depolarizing them (through D1-like receptors) and by reducing their synaptic inhibition (through presynaptic D2-like receptors).

How the extent and time course of presynaptic inhibition depend on the action potentials of the neuron controlling the terminals is unknown. We investigated this issue in the striatum using paired recordings from cholinergic interneurons and projection neurons. Glutamatergic EPSCs were evoked in projection neurons and cholinergic interneurons by stimulation of afferent fibers in the cortex and the striatum, respectively. A single spike in a cholinergic interneuron caused significant depression of the evoked glutamatergic EPSC in 34% of projection neurons located within 100 m and 41% of cholinergic interneurons located within 200 m. The time course of these effects was similar in the two cases, with EPSC inhibition peaking 20 -30 ms after the spike and disappearing after 40 -80 ms. Maximal depression of EPSC amplitude was up to 27% in projection neurons and to 19% in cholinergic interneurons. These effects were reversibly blocked by muscarinic receptor antagonists (atropine or methoctramine), which also significantly increased baseline EPSC (evoked without a preceding spike in the cholinergic interneuron), suggesting that some tonic cholinergic presynaptic inhibition was present. This was confirmed by the fact that lowering extracellular potassium, which silenced spontaneously active cholinergic interneurons, also increased baseline EPSC amplitude, and these effects were occluded by previous application of muscarinic receptor antagonists. Collectively, these results show that a single spike in a cholinergic interneuron exerts a fast and powerful inhibitory control over the glutamatergic input to striatal neurons.

1. The effects of blocking gamma-aminobutyric acid- and glycine-mediated synaptic transmission by bicuculline and strychnine on the neonatal rat isolated spinal cord were investigated by intracellular recording from motoneurons with the use of current-clamp and voltage-clamp techniques and by extracellular recording from homologous ventral roots of the L5 segment. 2. Bicuculline per se evoked irregular bursts of motoneuron membrane potential, often comprising individual events fused together. Strychnine alone did not elicit spontaneous bursting in the large majority of preparations. Simultaneous application of bicuculline and strychnine consistently induced regular rhythmic bursts (frequency approximately 2 per min, duration approximately 7 s), comprising a rapid depolarization followed by large-amplitude oscillations. 3. Burst frequency, duration, and intraburst oscillation time course were independent of motoneuron membrane potential. Burst and oscillation amplitude decreased with membrane depolarization and, under voltage-clamp conditions, inverted polarity near 0 mV. 4. The regular bursts produced by bicuculline and strychnine were blocked by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, tetrodotoxin, or Cd2+. 5. N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists [R-5-aminophosphonovalerate or 3-((RS)-2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonate (CPP)] reversibly blocked or slowed down bursting induced by bicuculline and strychnine. Addition of cyclothiazide to the bicuculline and strychnine solution increased bursting frequency while preserving the regular burst structure; under these conditions bursts became insensitive to CPP. 6. In the presence of bicuculline and strychnine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) increased burst frequency and decreased burst duration in a dose-dependent fashion. 7. In the presence of bicuculline and strychnine, L5 ventral roots developed synchronous rhythmic activity with a time course similar to that recorded from individual motoneurons. The rhythmic activity was accelerated by 5-HT on both roots, in accordance with observations on single motoneurons. 8. Rhythmic bursts thus appear to result from large, synchronous synaptic events generated by a network modulated by 5-HT and highly sensitive to variations in efficacy of glutamatergic synaptic transmission. These results show that in the rat spinal cord highly patterned motor output can occur despite block of inhibition.

Public value and public sector accounting research:a structured literature review Purpose The paper investigates the role and impact of accounting within the fragmented field of public value theory literature.Design/methodology/approach The work develops a structured literature review and seeks to shed light on the state of public value research, with particular emphasis on the role of accounting scholarship.Findings The lack of empirical research and the limited number of papers on accounting for the creation of public value means that accounting scholars need to address theoretical stagnation to achieve a deeper understanding of how to govern the public value creation process.Originality/value The paper develops the first wide-ranging structured literature review on public value accounting. It is a starting point to develop new research avenues, both in the fields of accountability/external reporting, and management accounting and performance management.