Accounting research has a speculative and normative tradition. Starting at the beginning of the 1970s, empirical methodologies gained prominence and the boundaries of accounting disciplines have become uncertain. Quantitative and qualitative methods tend to overwhelm the accounting and business objects; often they are only suitable to deal with past and narrow phenomena. Empirical methodologies need reference theories, coming from other disciplines and particularly economics and sociology. In this context, it is questioned if accounting research does exist anymore and if it is relevant to the business world. Some scholars have begun to wonder whether it would be appropriate to revalue normative approaches in order to conduct a type of research which is useful to the society and allows the preservation of specific accounting knowledge. A necessity emerges to come back to the prominence of business and accounting issues over methodologies and sociological theories. Research should be directed to tackle wide and current phenomena, not just the narrow and past ones. Speculative thinking has to be reassessed and empirical findings should be used to strengthen it as starting premises. Explaining phenomena is not enough; empirical research has to go beyond its findings; the emphasis should be shifted to the drawing of policy recommendations.
An empirical analysis
The New Public Management – Npm – has been implemented in Italy since the early Nineties. This research mainly aims to assess the actual implementation state of the reforms in Italian local governments, not only in terms of compliance with the rules, but also, and above all, in the correct interpretation and use of the new accounting and control instruments they have introduced.
cod. 374.1.4
La contabilità e i controlli nei comuni e nelle province italiani
La ricerca tratta un tema di particolare attualità alla vigilia dell’emanazione della legge delega per l’attuazione del federalismo fiscale: l’efficienza e l’efficacia delle amministrazioni pubbliche. Scopo del testo è di concorrere alla migliore conoscenza del modo di essere degli enti locali e di portare un contributo al processo di ridefinizione dell’intero settore pubblico italiano.
cod. 365.831
Vol. XX anno accademico 2003/2004
cod. 1820.100