The day after: newly-elected politicians and the use of accounting information

Abstract

Most democracies expect accounting information to be used by public managers and elected politicians to support decision-making and accountability to both the public and higher levels of government. This paper shows that Italian local government politicians also use accounting information to influence public opinion and to win political benefit after elections when there has been a change in the ruling party.

Keywords:

• Accounting information
• elections
• financial reporting
• politicians
• public sector audit

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Enrico Guarini

Enrico Guarini is Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Management at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy.