Ineffective fiscal rules? The effect of public sector accounting standards on budgets, efficiency, and accountability

Florian Dorn, Stefanie Gaebler () and Felix Roesel
Additional contact information
Stefanie Gaebler: University of Munich
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Stefanie Gäbler

Public Choice, 2021, vol. 186, issue 3, No 12, 387-412

Abstract: Abstract International organizations have encouraged national governments to switch from traditional cash-based to business-like accrual accounting, on the presumption that long-run benefits may outweigh substantial implementation and operating costs. We use a quasi-experimental setting to evaluate whether changing public sector accounting standards is justified. Some local governments in the German federal state of Bavaria introduced accrual accounting while others retained cash-based accounting. Difference-in-differences and event-study results do not show that (capital) expenditures, public debt, voter turnout, or government efficiency developed differently after changes in accounting standards. Operating costs of administration, however, increase under accrual accounting.

Keywords: Fiscal rules; Public accounting; Budget transparency; Sustainability; Government efficiency; Accountability; Local government (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D02 D73 H72 H83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-019-00755-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Ineffective Fiscal Rules? The Effect of Public Sector Accounting Standards on Budgets, Efficiency, and Accountability (2019)
Working Paper: Ineffective fiscal rules? The effect of public sector accounting standards on budgets, efficiency, and accountability (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:186:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-019-00755-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ce/journal/11127/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s11127-019-00755-8

Access Statistics for this article

Public Choice is currently edited by WIlliam F. Shughart II

More articles in Public Choice from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().