Understanding the use of cost information in decision-making: a quasi-experimental approach with municipal public managers

Giseli Pereira Sarmento da Silva, Ariel Behr and Carla Bonato Marcolin

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 2025, vol. 38, issue 3, 473-489

Abstract: PurposeDespite post-New Public Management (NPM) efforts to implement new accounting practices to improve decision-making in the public sector, the use of cost information remains limited, especially in municipalities, due to a lack of familiarity and understanding. This study seeks to advance the use of cost information by designing and validating an experiential course for municipal public managers on its application in decision-making. Grounded in Experiential Learning Theory, the course is designed to address a fundamental barrier to adoption by enhancing managers’ understanding of cost information.Design/methodology/approachDerived from a Design Science Research (DSR) framework, an exploratory and qualitative study with a quasi-experimental orientation was conducted. This included a control group and two test groups utilizing active methodologies. Data analysis employed content analysis techniques, descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon test.FindingsThe effectiveness of experiential learning in understanding the use of cost information was confirmed, although no significant differences were found between the two active methodology test groups.Originality/valueThis study contributes theoretically to Accounting Education in the Public Sector by highlighting the application of Experiential Learning Theory and suggesting reflections on active methodologies. In practical terms, it proposes a validated course to promote the effective use of cost information in decision-making by municipal public managers, providing knowledge for future training initiatives.

Keywords: Municipal public managers; Cost information; Experiential learning theory; Accounting education; Quasi-experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/jpbafm/article/38/3/473/13 ... -cost-information-in (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/jpbafm/article-pdf/38/3/47 ... m-06-2025-0160en.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
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:eme:jpbafm:jpbafm-06-2025-0160

DOI: 10.1108/JPBAFM-06-2025-0160

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management is currently edited by Dr Giuseppe Grossi

More articles in Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().