Stakeholders' Information Needs, Cost System Design, and Cost System Effectiveness in Dutch Local Government

This study examines the relationships between stakeholders' information needs, cost system design, and cost system effectiveness in local government, using a dataset of survey responses from 71 Dutch municipalities. Three cost system design characteristics are examined: the (a) complexity and (b) inclusiveness of cost systems, and their (c) understandability for non-financial internal users. These characteristics are shown to be only partly related to each other, and to differ in the extent to which they are related to the information needs of internal and external stakeholders, as well as to three cost system effectiveness characteristics