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Municipal and local governments seem to use other entities to a larger extent to organise and co-ordinate their activities. Thus the need and demand for consolidated financial statements has been observed in several countries as well as by international standard-setters such as the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB). Sweden introduced consolidated financial statements in municipalities and local governments in the 1980s and is one of the few countries where consolidated financial statements for municipalities and local governments are fully implemented. The aim of this study is to analyse similarities and differences in the approach to consolidated financial statements in standards issued by the IPSASB and the Swedish Council for Municipal Accounting (SCMA). The analysis is based on data from documentary studies and interviews. The results show that the two standard-setters approach the problem of consolidation quite differently. While the IPSASB seems to emphasise decision-making, the SCMA accentuates accountability. As a result, the standard-setters come to different conclusions about such matters as concept of control, valuation and methods of consolidation.

There has been an increasing emphasis on community engagement in the design and delivery of Government policies aimed at improving the conditions in Britain's most disadvantaged areas. Expecting communities to participate in decision-making and to work in partnership with statutory and private agencies has raised important issues regarding accountability: to whom and for what. This article considers these questions from the community perspective, examining some of the complexities of community representation and power differentials that need to be addressed in order to make a reality of the rhetoric. Evidence suggests that 'deprived' communities experience attempts to involve them as tokenistic and ineffective. Representative roles are taken up by voluntary sector workers or the most articulate community members. Public servants and other professionals find it difficult to adjust their procedures and to make sense of the range of views being presented. The result is often a maze of contested accountabilities, frustration and cynicism on all sides. Community development is offered as a means of building the capacity of communities and other partners to work together to tackle social exclusion and improve public services.

France's decision to move to Accrual Based Accounting, triggered by the application of the Organic Law to the Finance Laws, has a tangible impact on political decision-making mechanisms. By adopting accounting and financial information standards derived from the private sector, it has the effect of reinforcing the economic rationality of public decisions. It makes it possible, in particular, to draw comparisons between public and private costs, comparisons that are necessary to set up any possible contract-based links with private suppliers. The move towards Accrual Based Accounting sets out to improve the information provided to the public operators. It also tends to limit the possibilities of arbitrations that are unfavourable to long-term investments and the maintenance of public assets. It gives parliaments, control bodies and citizens an appreciation of the policies being carried out, thus reinforcing the demands for the transparency of public accounts and the accountability of their managers. However, there is no getting away from the fact that it is a complex and costly reform, whose implementation requires a favourable political context and an appropriate implementation strategy.

Shared Responsibility Agreements (SRAs) are a key instrument of the Federal Government's new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs. SRAs, described by the Government as a form of 'mutual obligation', require Indigenous communities to commit to behavioural changes or other actions in order to access 'discretionary' government funding for infrastructure or services. There are significant political, moral and practical issues raised by SRAs. In this paper we contend that despite the language of mutuality, flexibility and choice that accompanies SRAs, the approach appears more aptly associated with 'divide and conquer' tactics and a subtle shifting of responsibility for problems from governments to Indigenous communities themselves. In this paper we explore the concepts of mutual obligation and reciprocity, the structural biases that favour the state and its agencies over Indigenous communities in the SRA negotiation process, and issues of citizenship entitlements and accountability that are raised. Finally, acknowledging that SRAs can be a means for Indigenous communities to access greatly needed funding, we suggest various strategies and measures that could be taken up to make the SRA framework more equitable and effective.

How will enlargement of the European Union (EU) affect prospects for the euro as an international currency? Previously, I have argued that Europe's joint currency is fated to remain a distant second to America's greenback long into the foreseeable future because of three structural factors – relatively high transactions costs, due to inefficiencies in Europe's financial markets; a serious anti-growth bias built into the institutions of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); and, most importantly, ambiguities at the heart of the monetary union's governance structure. In this paper I extend my earlier analysis, focusing in particular on the impact of enlargement on the governance structure of EMU. From the start, internationalization of the euro has been retarded by a lack of clarity about the delegation of monetary authority among governments and EU institutions. The addition of a diverse collection of new members, with significantly different interests and priorities, can only make the challenge of governance worse, exacerbating ambiguity at the expense of transparency and accountability. Enlargement will diminish, not expand, the euro's attractiveness as a rival to the greenback.

Over the past several years, personal information has been lost or stolen as a result of a series of high profile security breaches. In January 2006, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that ChoicePoint will be required to pay $15 million in fines and penalties for a high profile security breach that occurred in 2005. The ChoicePoint breach and similar events have spurred an explosion of state and federal privacy legislation. In particular, the State of California has taken the lead by enacting the strictest disclosure and security procedure requirements in the country. The implications of California's new laws can be felt throughout the U.S. since they affect any business that collects personal information about California residents. This article will focus on a new California law, Assembly Bill 1950, which requires businesses to maintain "reasonable security standards" for personal information without further defining such standards. In particular, the article examines how businesses can comply with A.B. 1950 by performing a risk management analysis and borrowing security standards from the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Acts.

- ; NORAD has commissioned this study as an input to analyzing governance issues in Nicaragua. The report analyzes current civil society in Nicaragua as the product of the developments over the last decades. The sphere is dominated by a set of highly visible, professional and active NGOs – partly because of the strength of these organizations, partly because of weaknesses of other types of organizations. Unions are fragmented, private sector organizations tend to focus on sector demands, social movements are relatively non-existent, and community-based organizations are oriented towards local concerns. While Nicaraguan civil society remains politically polarized – although less so than 10-15 years ago – there are relatively advanced examples of coordination among the organizations. State – civil society relations are gradually changing as new spaces for consultations are being institutionalized and the organizations are becoming more oriented towards lobbying. Still, there is considerable way to go before these new spaces function according to intentions. The fact that civil society is dominated by NGOs – which are not membership-based – means that issues of representation and accountability pose a key challenge for Nicaraguan civil society.

The construction industry in Ghana, like many others worldwide, has had its fair share of damning independent reviews. Huge and unsustainable foreign debt, excessive budget deficits, huge contractual payment arrears, poor construction performance, corruption and pressure from international financial institutions, forced the government to commit to a reform of public procurement, which culminated in the passing of the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663). The paper outlines the events leading to, and features of, the public procurement reform in Ghana and analyses its potential impact and the unique challenges it presents. Comparisons are also drawn from relevant scenarios in other countries. The paper concludes that while the Procurement Act sets out the legal, institutional and regulatory framework to secure fiscal transparency and public accountability, the sole reliance on traditional contracting and price-based selection limits the scope for the value for money achievable. Expanding the reforms to cover procurement and project delivery methods and strategies, with a focus on 'best value', will increase the potential and likelihood of achieving value for money in public construction in Ghana.

The purpose of this research was to assess whether Aeronautical System Center's (ASC's) acquisition professionals believe CAIV has enabled their programs and contractors to set and maintain cost objectives. The three major objectives of this thesis are to answer the following questions: First, Do ASC's acquisition professionals believe their programs are setting and maintaining cost objectives? Second, Do ASC's acquisition professionals believe their contractors are setting and maintaining cost objectives? Last, what is the practitioners' perspective of CAIV? This research identified CAIV as being well received by DoD. It also identified that ASC's acquisition professionals believe their programs and contractors are setting and maintaining cost objectives. Through synthesis of the interview answers, a few unexpected practitioners' perspectives emerged as conclusions. First, there are no incentives for DoD programs to implement CAIV. Second, limited accountability is placed on programs to utilized CAIV. Third, CAIV has lost most of its momentum. Fourth, DoD has substituted budget for the cost in CAIV. Last, a window of opportunity might be on the horizon to reintroduce a new and improved CAIV.

Growing poverty, collapsing health care systems, the AIDS pandemic and the widening of health and health care inequities within and between countries all point to the limited success of global public health interventions over the past few decades. Notwithstanding the efforts of multilateral agencies such as the World Health Organization and the many existing contributions from the Canadian community of health professionals, this commentary argues and appeals for further action particularly in relation to the social and political impediments to better health and justice. Specifically, it calls for the development of a robust instrument to assess the impact of Canada as a whole on the state of global health, and to monitor the performance of key Canadian institutions. It is suggested that such an instrument would result in a process that enhances global citizenship and public accountability, and buttresses the efforts of civil society to forge trans-national links in pursuit of a fairer and healthier world. Public health professionals, by virtue of their social standing as well as the nature and tools of their discipline, should be at the forefront of such civic efforts.

The paper refers to the development process of corporate governance and shareholder activism in transition economies. It identifies the existing corporate governance structure as well as main problems analysing conflicts in Polish corporations portraying the shareholders' fight for control over the corporations. The analysis of several selected shareholder conflicts, referring particularly to the fights of dominant and minority shareholders allows to point out main shortcomings of corporate governance in transition economies. The lack of standards for corporate behaviour, the poor legal system characterized by weak enforcement of investor protection rights (law in action), the practically non‐existent shareholder litigation as well as the development stage of the shareholder activism. Finally, the paper attempts to trace the development of shareholder protection and ethical behaviour presenting the process of setting high standards for the corporate activity with the reference to transparency, the treatment of minority shareholders and the managerial accountability as well as the monitoring role of authorities carried out by Polish Securities and Exchange Commission and non‐governmental associations or business initiatives (Polish Institutes of Directors, Polish Institute for Investor Relations).