Managerial Reporting Tools for Social Sustainability: Insights from a Local Government Experience

Eleonora Cardillo and Maria Cristina Longo
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Eleonora Cardillo: Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, 95129 Catania, Italy
Maria Cristina Longo: Department of Economics and Business, University of Catania, 95129 Catania, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: The paper is a country-specific study that explores the potential points of connection between the sustainable territorial development goals and managerial tools in the context of local authorities. In particular, the purpose of this research is to propose a set of features and criteria to evaluate the contribution of accounting documents to the pursuit, development and strengthening of social sustainability. As part of traditional accounting systems, social reporting is essential to support policy makers’ decisions in promoting social sustainability and in evaluating the effects of their choices within the institution and externally towards citizens and various stakeholders. To this end, we present a leading case study of a medium-sized Italian local authority’s accounting system in which the contributions and limits of managerial tools to social reporting are analyzed. The case study allows us to have a deeper understanding of social reporting and to get insights about issues that matter to social sustainability assessment in public administration. Since the reporting tools comply with international accounting standards, the case study offers interesting food for thought in the international debate on the assessment of sustainability in public organizations. The results identify the areas of complementarity and critical issues between social reporting and traditional accounting systems. Therefore, they enhance our knowledge about the role of public accounting system in supporting sustainable territorial development policies and programs through managerial tools’ adoption.

Keywords: sustainability; territorial development; managerial tools; social reporting; local government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:9:p:3675-:d:353221

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