The income gap reporting framework in public not-for-profit organizations: the British Museum case

Paolo Ferri, Simone Napolitano () and Luca Zan
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Paolo Ferri: University of Bologna
Simone Napolitano: University of Bologna
Luca Zan: University of Bologna

Journal of Management & Governance, 2023, vol. 27, issue 4, No 9, 1303-1338

Abstract: Abstract The income gap is the negative margin between earned income and operating expenses: this is the main financial concern for not-for-profit entities (both public sector and nongovernmental organizations). Despite this, all over the world these entities are forced to use the standard profit-centered income statements format, with its focus on net income generation (the bottom line). This paper proposes an income statement format that uses the income gap to understand/discuss/present the financial viability of a not-for-profit entity in the arts sector, specifically a museum. We apply the framework to the British Museum’s income statements from 1999–2000 to 2018–2019. This allows us to analyze institutional narratives in the context of the evolution of the museum’s financial viability over two decades, and to assess the performance of the museum’s neoliberal reform agenda from the end of the 1990s. Enlarging the perspective, ad hoc adaptations of the framework can allow a better understanding of the financial viability of not-for-profit organizations, in the arts sector and possibly more broadly in public services and not-for-profit sector.

Keywords: Income statement; Income gap; Public sector; Museums; Longitudinal analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10997-023-09673-w

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