The development of public accounting transparency in selected Arab countries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse the level of public financial information disclosed by certain Arab countries in the Middle East, in view of calls for greater transparency and international trends in this respect. Accordingly, we examined the financial reports published online by the selected countries, contrasting them with the financial statements and contents proposed in the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the International Federation of Accountants. The results show that the Arab countries analysed present a low level of public financial information. They all present similar degrees of compliance with IPSAS 1 and 2. Nonetheless, we can observe that aid-receiving countries are implementing the policies stipulated in the international recommendations in response to the demands of donors and international agencies. Countries with oil revenues experience less pressure to implement the IPSAS. Points for practitioners The findings of this article may be of interest to public managers in all the selected Arab countries, especially those in the public administrations of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and to consulting companies in the Gulf region. The analysis made of financial legislation and of the IPSAS 1 and 2 indexes for the selected countries may encourage them to initiate a process of financial reforms.

The profile of IPSAS-adopters

“…However, countries receiving international aid, such as Egypt, Jordan and Palestine, are perceived as less developed because of their financial dependence. Therefore, they are obliged to publish their governmental documents (Abushamsieh et al, 2014 ;Werlin, 2005). These results show the relation between the resource dependence theory and IPSAS adoption.…”

“…Indeed, highly indebted countries tend to apply external requirements and adopt the recommended standards (Opanyi, 2016;Christiaens et al, 2010;Rakoto & Lande, 2008). Moreover, rich Arab countries such as Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain do not publish financial information on their public-sectors, unlike all GOLF countries are required to publish government documents (Abushamsieh et al, 2014) since these countries are economically huge. Their citizens and international organizations exert less control on their public funding.…”

Promoting Online Transparency to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals: An Empirical Study of Local Governments in Latin America

“…In consequence, public agencies may adopt policies for the disclosure of information on sustainability according to different types of isomorphism [61]. In accordance with this theory, Latin American governments will promote the online dissemination of information on sustainability, or not, according to the pressures and demands in this respect perceived from donors and international organizations [62][63][64][65].…”

أثر اختلاف الأسس المحاسبیة على جودة المعلومات المحاسبیة من منظور أصحاب المصالح فى الجامعات الحکومیة المصریة: دراسة تجریبیة (باللغة الانجلیزیة)

“…According to Ouda ( 2008) study; there are some practical barriers do have an overwhelming impact on the transition to accrual accounting in the central government of Egypt such as the lack of generally accepted government accounting standards, management culture, legal barriers and political factors, Which in turn leads to have financial reports present a low level of public financial information contrasting them with the financial statements and contents proposed in (IPSAS) (Abushamsieh et al, 2014).…”

“…Despite the growing adoption of accrual accounting in world, until now the Egyptian governmental Universities, as a part of public sector, failed in adopt that basis instead of the traditional accounting system in recording its financial events. Therefore, some studies (e.g., Ouda, 2008;Abushamsieh et al, 2014) could have reveal the information provided by the current financial reports of the Egyptian public entities does not satisfy the users' needs due to its lack the quality features.…”