Concerns regarding rising water and sewerage prices have generated a renewed interest in measuring and assessing water utility performance. An efficiency analysis can serve as a basis for price setting decisions. This article examines the influence of ownership structure and corporate size on...

Local governments are increasingly entering into partnerships with the private sector in the “externalization” of public service delivery. While the financial and non-financial interests of the partners involved may appear to be in opposition and potentially un-reconcilable, this is not...

<title>Abstract</title> During the last few years, the local government sector in European countries has undergone a number of important changes. Among the various reform initiatives has been the externalization of public services, such as corporatization, contracting-out, public--private partnerships and...

Purpose – The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to introduce the special issue and outline its major themes. Design/methodology/approach -The public governance literature is described, and the necessity for analysing challenges for accountability and accounting in the public sector is...

The influence of external factors on local government finances, particularly bankruptcies, is much debated. This paper investigates the relationship between regional socioeconomic features and those Italian municipalities that have been declared 'financially destabilized' (i.e. bankrupt)....

In recent years, the local government sector in European countries has undergone important changes involving, among other things, the externalisation of local public service provision through various forms of corporatisation, public-public collaboration, public-private partnerships and...

In recent years, the local government sector in European countries has undergone important changes involving, among other things, the externalisation of local public service provision through various forms of corporatisation, public-public collaboration, public-private partnerships and...

Much has changed over the past few years regarding the quantity and the quality of the financial information the Italian Local Governments (LGs) publish, even as a consequence of the corporatisation of the local public services. The paper is aimed at describing the causes and effects of the...