Accounting change and value creation in public services—Do relational archetypes make a difference in improving public service performance?

Hans-Jürgen Bruns

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, 2014, vol. 25, issue 4, 339-367

Abstract: Evidence points out that the outcome of accounting change in local governments is not simply a matter of ‘corporate’ resource investments and change management activities to accounting system replacement. This paper examines the link between such corporate-level interventions and the patterns of value creation at street-level. It emphasizes a resource- and capability-driven approach to explore processes and consequences of an ‘embedded agency’-effect assigned to the street-level rationale of public service improvement. Considering a logic chain of cause-and-effect sequences, the data analysis provides evidence that corporate and street-level interventions are unique dimensions to signify the multiple patterns of accounting change in local governments. The supplementary effect of cross-functional relationships is also distinguished, considering the relational archetype as a mechanism to explain the emerging outcome state. Recognizing the distinction and the sequential effects of relational archetypes induces a refined typology of accounting change according to its processes and outcomes in local governments. The analysis is based on a comparative case study design to explore accrual accounting introduction in six German municipalities.

Keywords: Management control; Intellectual capital; NPM; Accounting change; Public service improvement; Accrual-based accounting change; Local government; Relational archetypes; Resource-based view (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:339-367

DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2013.05.005

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