Performance auditing, or value for money (VFM) auditing, has been a long-standing component of accountability in public administration. During the 1980s and 1990s performance auditing has allegedly been increasingly adopted in the new public management. While there has been much research on...

Countries chosen for comparison within the framework of this paper are different in terms of geographical location, size, levels of socio-economic development and adopted local government systems. The major criterion for choosing case study countries was their geographical location, as it is the...

The paper is based on a study of the 199e Finnish grant reform, changing from a system with earmarked matching grants to a system with general, non-matching grants. The analysis of cross-sectional data confirms the 'fly-paper effect' and also that matching grants have a stronger stimulating...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the emergence of accounting shared service centers (SSCs) in the municipal sector. Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework of this interpretative study draws on institutional entrepreneurship that highlights the importance of actors and...

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons and implementation of municipal accounting and payroll shared service centres (SSC's) in Finland. Of special interest are the issues of how did the reforms spread from municipality to another, and what rationales were used in legitimating the...