IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i3p1097-d484584.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accountability and Reporting for Sustainability and Public Value: Challenges in the Public Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Lodovico Gherardi

    (Emilia-Romagna Region, via Aldo Moro 52, 40127 Bologna, Italy)

  • Anna Maria Linsalata

    (Emilia-Romagna Region, via Aldo Moro 52, 40127 Bologna, Italy)

  • Enrico Deidda Gagliardo

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Ferrara, via Voltapaletto 11, 44121 Ferrara, Italy)

  • Rebecca Levy Orelli

    (Management Department, University of Bologna, via Capo di Lucca 34, 40126 Bologna, Italy)

Abstract

The present study aims at identifying accountability and reporting answers to the public sector challenges surrounding public value and sustainability. To that end, we take into account the Cohesion Policy Programmes, the EU major investment strategy to understand needs and possible answers in terms of accountability and reporting of the public sector. Particularly, we will consider how a specific policy, the cohesion policy, takes place in practice in the Emilia-Romagna Region case, one of the most advanced European regions in terms of capacity in managing funds received by the EU Cohesion Policy. The Emilia-Romagna Region experience shows the extent to which it planned forms of accountability and reporting that hybridize two of the most recent sustainability developments, integrated reporting and sustainable development goals, as a means to deliver sustainability and public value.

Suggested Citation

  • Lodovico Gherardi & Anna Maria Linsalata & Enrico Deidda Gagliardo & Rebecca Levy Orelli, 2021. "Accountability and Reporting for Sustainability and Public Value: Challenges in the Public Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-18, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1097-:d:484584
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1097/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/3/1097/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wendy Stubbs & Colin Higgins, 2014. "Integrated Reporting and internal mechanisms of change," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(7), pages 1068-1089, August.
    2. Riccardo Crescenzi & Simona Iammarino, 2017. "Global investments and regional development trajectories: the missing links," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 97-115, January.
    3. Carol A. Adams, 2017. "Conceptualising the contemporary corporate value creation process," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(4), pages 906-931, May.
    4. Jan Bebbington & Jeffrey Unerman, 2018. "Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(1), pages 2-24, January.
    5. Flower, John, 2015. "The International Integrated Reporting Council: A story of failure," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-17.
    6. Crescenzi, Riccardo & Di Cataldo, Marco & Giua, Mara, 2020. "It’s not about the money. EU funds, local opportunities, and Euroscepticism," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Ramona Pîrvu & Roxana Bădîrcea & Alina Manta & Mihaela Lupăncescu, 2018. "The Effects of the Cohesion Policy on the Sustainable Development of the Development Regions in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-21, July.
    8. Barbara Demeterova & Tatjana Fischer & Jürgen Schmude, 2020. "The Right to Not Catch Up—Transitioning European Territorial Cohesion towards Spatial Justice for Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-26, June.
    9. de Villiers, Charl & Sharma, Umesh, 2020. "A critical reflection on the future of financial, intellectual capital, sustainability and integrated reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Fabrizio Barca & Philip McCann & Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose, 2012. "The Case For Regional Development Intervention: Place‐Based Versus Place‐Neutral Approaches," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 134-152, February.
    11. Adams, Carol A., 2015. "The International Integrated Reporting Council: A call to action," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 23-28.
    12. Francesca Manes-Rossi & Adriana Tiron-Tudor & Giuseppe Nicolò & Gianluca Zanellato, 2018. "Ensuring More Sustainable Reporting in Europe Using Non-Financial Disclosure—De Facto and De Jure Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, April.
    13. Jane Broadbent & James Guthrie, 2008. "Public sector to public services: 20 years of “contextual” accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 129-169, February.
    14. Paul Benneworth & Adrie Dassen, 2011. "Strengthening Global-Local Connectivity in Regional Innovation Strategies: Implications for Regional Innovation Policy," OECD Regional Development Working Papers 2011/1, OECD Publishing.
    15. Sinclair, Amanda, 1995. "The chameleon of accountability: Forms and discourses," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(2-3), pages 219-237.
    16. Marco Di Cataldo, 2017. "The impact of EU Objective 1 funds on regional development: Evidence from the U.K. and the prospect of Brexit," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(5), pages 814-839, November.
    17. Bebbington, Jan & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2014. "Accounting and sustainable development: An exploration," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 395-413.
    18. Gustaf Kastberg & Cristian Lagström, 2019. "Processes of hybridization and de-hybridization: organizing and the task at hand," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(3), pages 710-726, April.
    19. Patrick Velte & Martin Stawinoga, 2017. "Integrated reporting: The current state of empirical research, limitations and future research implications," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 275-320, October.
    20. John Dumay & James Guthrie & Federica Farneti, 2010. "Gri Sustainability Reporting Guidelines For Public And Third Sector Organizations," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 531-548, July.
    21. Federica Farneti & James Guthrie, 2009. "Sustainability reporting by Australian public sector organisations: Why they report," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 89-98, June.
    22. Farneti, Federica & Guthrie, James, 2009. "Sustainability reporting by Australian public sector organisations: Why they report," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 89-98.
    23. Carol A. Adams, 2018. "Debate: Integrated reporting and accounting for sustainable development across generations by universities," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 332-334, July.
    24. Patrycja Habek, 2013. "Analysis Of The European Union Regulatory Requirements With Implications For Sustainability Reporting," Annals - Economic and Administrative Series -, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 7(1), pages 23-42, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Friederike Behr & Gero Oertzen & Manuel Dienst, 2021. "Managing Sustainability and Carbon-Neutrality in the Public Administration—Case Report of a German State Institution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lucia Biondi & Enrico Bracci, 2018. "Sustainability, Popular and Integrated Reporting in the Public Sector: A Fad and Fashion Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Linda Kannenberg & Philipp Schreck, 2019. "Integrated reporting: boon or bane? A review of empirical research on its determinants and implications," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(5), pages 515-567, July.
    3. Nuradhi Kalpani Jayasiri & Sriyalatha Kumarasinghe & Rakesh Pandey, 2023. "12 years of integrated reporting: A review of research," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2187-2243, June.
    4. Dimes, Ruth & de Villiers, Charl, 2024. "Hallmarks of Integrated Thinking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    5. Giuseppe Nicolò & Gianluca Zanellato & Adriana Tiron-Tudor, 2020. "Integrated Reporting and European State-Owned Enterprises: A Disclosure Analysis Pre and Post 2014/95/EU," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Jukka Mähönen, 2020. "Comprehensive Approach to Relevant and Reliable Reporting in Europe: A Dream Impossible?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-38, June.
    7. Niccol? Comerio & Patrizia Tettamanzi, 2019. "Systematic literature network analysis in accounting: A first application on integrated reporting research," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(2), pages 73-95.
    8. Filippo Vitolla & Nicola Raimo & Michele Rubino, 2019. "Appreciations, criticisms, determinants, and effects of integrated reporting: A systematic literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 518-528, March.
    9. Estibaliz Goicoechea & Fernando Gómez-Bezares & José Vicente Ugarte, 2019. "Integrated Reporting Assurance: Perceptions of Auditors and Users in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Kelli Juliane Favato & Marguit Neumann & Simone Leticia Raimundini Sanches & Manuel Castelo Branco & Daniel Ramos Nogueira, 2021. "Integrated Thinking and Reporting Process: Sensemaking of Internal Actors in the Case of Itaú Unibanco," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, June.
    11. Alexander, David & Blum, Véronique, 2016. "Ecological economics: A Luhmannian analysis of integrated reporting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 241-251.
    12. Amir Hossain & Sudipta Bose & Abul Shamsuddin, 2023. "Diffusion of integrated reporting, insights and potential avenues for future research," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2503-2555, June.
    13. Laura Girella & Paola Dameri, 2019. "Putting integrated reporting where it was not: The case of the not-for-profit sector," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(2), pages 111-140.
    14. Hammed Afolabi & Ronita Ram & Gunnar Rimmel, 2022. "Harmonization of Sustainability Reporting Regulation: Analysis of a Contested Arena," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-26, May.
    15. Stefania Veltri & Antonella Silvestri, 2020. "The value relevance of corporate financial and nonfinancial information provided by the integrated report: A systematic review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3038-3054, December.
    16. Roszkowska-Menkes, Maria & Aluchna, Maria & Kamiński, Bogumił, 2024. "True transparency or mere decoupling? The study of selective disclosure in sustainability reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    17. Valentina Minutiello & Patrizia Tettamanzi, 2022. "The quality of nonfinancial voluntary disclosure: A systematic literature network analysis on sustainability reporting and integrated reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 1-18, January.
    18. Mohammed S. Y. Omran & Mohammad A. A. Zaid & Aladdin Dwekat, 2021. "The relationship between integrated reporting and corporate environmental performance: A green trial," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 427-445, January.
    19. Bigoni, Michele & Mohammed, Sideeq, 2023. "Critique is unsustainable: A polemic," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    20. Wendy Stubbs & Colin Higgins, 2018. "Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Role of Regulatory Reform in Integrated Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 489-508, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:3:p:1097-:d:484584. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.