Performance information use by politicians and public managers for internal control and external accountability purposes

Governance structures have changed fundamentally since the beginning of New Public Management inspired reforms. Particularly local public service delivery nowadays can be characterized as diversified and fragmented, leading to internal management and external accountability challenges for politician...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical perspectives on accounting 2013-11, Vol.24 (7-8), p.502-517
Main Authors: Saliterer, Iris, Korac, Sanja
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Austria
Empirical research
Gestion des performances
Gestión del rendimiento
Gobernanza
Gouvernance
Governance
Governmental accounting
Internal controls
Local government
New Public Management
Nouvelle gestion publique
Nueva gestión pública
Performance management
Politicians
Public management
Responsabilidad
Responsabilité
Studies
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Summary:Governance structures have changed fundamentally since the beginning of New Public Management inspired reforms. Particularly local public service delivery nowadays can be characterized as diversified and fragmented, leading to internal management and external accountability challenges for politicians as well as public managers. In this context the use of performance information is seen as a crucial element for effectively dealing with both issues. Nevertheless, empirical research considering different actors and contexts within one study is rare. The present paper fills this gap by applying a multi-theoretical perspective and testing hypotheses on the antecedents of performance information use by politicians and public managers for internal management as well as external accountability purposes in small- and medium sized local governments in Austria. The study results show that both groups use performance information to a greater extent within external accountability relationships than for internal management purposes. Results further illustrate that driving factors show similarities for both groups with reference to the latter mentioned purpose, while a more diverse picture is shown regarding factors impacting their use behavior toward citizens and supervisory authorities.
ISSN:1045-2354
1095-9955
DOI:10.1016/j.cpa.2013.08.001