Public sector accounting contexts in the EPSAS change: a comparative study of Italy and Sweden
| Author | Daniele Natalizi |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852319894680 |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Public sector accounting
contexts in the EPSAS
change: a comparative
study of Italy and Sweden
Daniele Natalizi
University of Perugia, Italy
Abstract
Comparing Italy and Sweden, which are countries with different cultural and accounting
traditions, this article focuses on the characteristics of their standard-setting processes
for the public sector in order to evaluate their prerequisites for international harmo-
nization. The recent attempt by European bodies to stimulate an international public
sector accounting harmonization process, the European Public Sector Accounting
Standards programme, requires that each country involved in the process assumes
its position, taking into account a number of national factors and conditions. To this
end, the research identifies the potential positive factors of a national public sector
accounting standard-setting context that are favourable to international harmonization.
While both countries differ in some respects, the study discusses how the ideal pre-
requisites can constitute a positive environment in which to implement international
harmonization in the European context.
Points for practitioners
This comparative study identifies conditions to enhance an efficient and reliable national
standard-setting process, summarizing the potential positive factors investigated in both
countries. It argues that institutional arrangements and specific governance factors
(a flexible legal system, efficient auditing, vertical harmonization, an inclusive and par-
ticipative standard-setting process, and the maturity of accrual accounting) can support
key actors in the public sector to react positively to international harmonization, with
some emerging scepticism regarding the European Public Sector Accounting Standards
programme.
Corresponding author:
Daniele Natalizi, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 20, I-06123 Perugia PG, Italy.
Email: Daniele.natalizi@unipg.it
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
!The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852319894680
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2022, Vol. 88(1) 205–224
Keywords
European Public Sector Accounting Standards, international accounting harmonization,
Italy, standard-setting context, Sweden
Introduction
Over the last three decades, the topic of international public sector accounting
(PSA) harmonization has attracted increasing attention in the literature, while
European countries have substantially maintained heterogeneous PSA systems
(Brusca et al., 2018, Caruana et al., 2019; Christiaens et al., 2015). In addition,
the diffusion of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) and the
latest European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) programme have
become a topic of interest because of their potential impact among national net-
works (Brusca and Mart
ınez, 2016; Jorge et al., 2019a, 2019b; Manes Rossi et al.,
2016; Mussari, 2014).
With the aim of harmonizing member states’ PSA systems, the EPSAS pro-
gramme has been stimulating governments, professionals, academic networks and
international organizations of different fields in a debate that involves a number of
technical, organizational and governance aspects (Caruana et al., 2019; Jorge et al.,
2019a). The discussion is mainly focused on the advantages and disadvantages of
the process from an international perspective. The potential convergence of gov-
ernment accounting, budgetary accounting and national accounts systems under
accrual principles for the macroeconomic surveillance of and better comparability
among accounting numbers across countries in order to generally improve the
governance of European Union (EU) bodies are the main controversial areas
where the discussion is centred (Caruana et al., 2019). Also, national governments
continue to reform their PSA systems at all levels in the search for innovations and
reliable data, even if technical difficulties, the accounting environment, the legal
system and traditions affect the output and the effective success of these reforms
(Christiaens et al., 2015; Jorge et al., 2019b; Manes Rossi et al., 2016).
The fact that EU member states can come to an agreement is not taken for
granted because the EPSAS programme could require a reshaping of national
standard-setting processes (Brusca et al., 2018). Indeed, the uncertainty around
the final output has stimulated a debate on how countries have been approaching
the EPSAS programme during the process, which, according to Manes Rossi et al.
(2016: 720), deserves ‘further attention and possibly empirical studies to test their
actual pros and cons’.
Therefore, this article aims to contribute to the debate on accounting harmo-
nization by focusing on national PSA standard-setting contexts. By investigating
two national cases to evaluate their prerequisites for change and attitudes to har-
monization, the article focuses on the following research question: what are the
206 International Review of Administrative Sciences 88(1)
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