Suchergebnisse

Financial reporting information had been aimed mainly at internal users and audit offices, but this has changed in recent years. Potential users have widened, among whom we should mention certain financial institutions, owing to their particular relevance. In this context, based on a sample of 54 credit institutions, this study aims to obtain evidence on the information that is shown to be useful to these users in their decision‐making, by looking at the Spanish financial reports. A study is also made of causes that restrict the usefulness of local financial information, along with possible suggestions to make this information more useful to credit institutions. The results reveal that owing mainly to legal reasons, the profit and loss account and the balance sheet are the least relevant financial statements to credit institutions' indebtedness operation decision making. Likewise, it is obvious that current local financial information needs to become more opportune, reliable, complete and understandable.

The aim of this article is to analyse the level of public financial information disclosed by certain Arab countries in the Middle East, in view of calls for greater transparency and international trends in this respect. Accordingly, we examined the financial reports published online by the selected countries, contrasting them with the financial statements and contents proposed in the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the International Federation of Accountants. The results show that the Arab countries analysed present a low level of public financial information. They all present similar degrees of compliance with IPSAS 1 and 2. Nonetheless, we can observe that aid-receiving countries are implementing the policies stipulated in the international recommendations in response to the demands of donors and international agencies. Countries with oil revenues experience less pressure to implement the IPSAS. Points for practitioners The findings of this article may be of interest to public managers in all the selected Arab countries, especially those in the public administrations of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and to consulting companies in the Gulf region. The analysis made of financial legislation and of the IPSAS 1 and 2 indexes for the selected countries may encourage them to initiate a process of financial reforms.

AbstractThis article analyzes the effects of changes in the political system‐from dictatorship to democracy‐on financial information systems and on their reform. We chose to study Argentina, Chile and Paraguay as these three countires share a similar geographic and social‐political context. They all had dictatorial governments during the second half of the 20th century and peformed a transition to democratic systems in the 1990s. We provide a brief overview of the political context and of government accounting regulations, both before and after the transition. We propose an adaptation of Lüder's contingency model to be applied to the situation in these three countries. This model enables us to identify the principal agents and motives favouring or prejudicing the implementation of reforms to financial information systems. Ours is the first academic study of reforms to government financial information systems in three Latin American countries that have made the transition from dictatorship to democracy, identifying the contingent factors that have affected the adoption of reforms. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Currently, e-Government is considered one of the main issues in government agendas, a central part of changes in public administrations, and an innovative feature in management and accountability. Although many research studies have underpinned this topic from different perspectives, there is no a perceived consensus among experts about its relevance for administrative change processes. Thus, the aim of this research is to enable a solid baseline for future research studies on the topic, by carrying out an analysis of the publications about the evolution of technologies for information and communication (ICT) in public administrations (e-Government), as an essential instrument for administrative changes in the journals included in the Institute for scientific Information (ISI) citation index. The bibliometric analysis highlights the degree of maturity of this topic and the need to provide e-Government with robust theories and quantitative research studies. ; En la actualidad el e-Gobierno es considerado uno de los principales temas incluidos en las agendas gubernamentales, parte central de la transformación de las administraciones públicas, e innovación en la gestión y rendición de cuentas. Aunque muchas han sido las investigaciones llevadas a cabo sobre esta temática desde diferentes perspectivas, no existe aún una clara justificación percibida por los expertos de su necesidad en procesos de reformas administrativas. Esta investigación plantea como objetivo ofrecer una base sólida para futuras investigaciones mediante el análisis de las publicaciones sobre la evolución de la implementación de las tecnologías asociadas a la información y la comunicación en las administraciones públicas (e-Gobierno) como instrumento esencial para las reformas administrativas realizadas en las revistas incluidas en el índice del Instituto para la Información Científica. El análisis bibliométrico llevado a cabo destaca el bajo grado de madurez de este tema y, como principal oportunidad de investigación, la necesidad de dotar al e-Gobierno de teorías sólidas y de investigaciones de carácter cuantitativo. ; Na atualidade, o e-Governo é considerado um dos principais temas incluídos nas agendas governamentais, parte central da transformação das administrações públicas, e inovação no gerenciamento e prestação de contas. Ainda que tenham sido muitas as pesquisas realizadas sobre essa temática a partir de diferentes perspectivas, não existe ainda uma clara justificativa percebida pelos especialistas de sua necessidade em processos de reformas administrativas. Esta pesquisa propõe, como objetivo, oferecer uma base sólida para futuras pesquisas mediante a análise das publicações sobre a evolução da implementação das tecnologias associadas à informação e à comunicação (TIC) nas administrações públicas (e-Governo) como instrumento essencial para as reformas administrativas realizadas nas revistas incluídas no índice do Instituto para a Informação Científica (ISI). A análise bibliométrica realizada destaca o baixo grau de maturidade desse tema e, como principal oportunidade de pesquisas, a necessidade de dotar o e-Governo de teorias sólidas e de pesquisas de caráter quantitativo.

Technology has changed the way public organizations relate to the public. Government's use of the Internet and other associated technologies, known as e-government, could become the instrument that makes regular timely information on public finances more forthcoming. New technologies can improve government responsiveness and empower individual citizens. By making government financial information available, the public could continuously assess a government agency through everyday interaction. The financial accountability of government and its response to public demands for information and services are thus a contribution to government openness. It is therefore relevant to determine whether public organizations are also becoming more aware of the importance of placing financial information on their Web sites to help in decision-making processes. This article focuses on the e-democracy process, specifically the transparency of government information, by analyzing governmental financial disclosures on the Web as a tool for the public to assess its financial accountability. To this end, an empirical study was carried out on regional governments in Spain.