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Does accrual accounting improve municipalities’ efficiency? Evidence from Germany
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2015-04-15
Sprache
English
Author(s)
Institut
Journal
Volume
47
Issue
41
Start Page
4349
End Page
4363
Citation
Applied Economics 47 (41): 4349-4363 (2015-09-02)
Publisher DOI
Scopus ID
Publisher
Routledge
The stressed financial situation in the public sector and the continuous aspiration for austerity in western governments and public bodies is omnipresent. As one core element in the New Public Management shift, Germany, like many other countries, has experienced significant reforms in public sector accounting and reporting in the last decade. We analyse the effect of new accounting and budgeting regimes. We therefore analyse the cost efficiency of German local governments in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia over 3 years using a stochastic frontier approach. This study presents evidence for increased efficiency amongst municipalities due to the adoption of accrual accounting.
Subjects
accrual accounting
efficiency
municipalities
performance measurement
stochastic frontier analysis
DDC Class
330: Wirtschaft