Elisa Bonollo

Innovations in Accounting Information System in the Public Sector. Evidences from Italian Public Universities

The paper analyzes how the accounting information system supports the transition from the traditional public accounting to the accrual accounting and the new budgeting and reporting system in public universities, with a specific reference to the bookkeeping of research projects. The accounting treatment of the research projects is particularly interesting because of the relevance of this item in the university budget, the options indicated by the lawmaker for its valuation criteria and the effects the valuation criteria have on the economic and investment budget of the university. Therefore the configuration of the accounting information system is not a mere technical problem, but involves the whole management. The research is based on the case study method applied to the University of Genoa. The research method is based on in-depth description of the role of the accounting information system in supporting the various phases of the research project accounting.

Performance Measurement in the Smart Cities

A successful smart city needs an adequate performance measurement system to have all the information required to develop an effective involvement of stakeholders. Indeed the concept of smart city is connected no longer just to the presence and use of digital infrastructure but also to the role of human, social and relational capital and to the participation of all stakeholders, who, to be really involved, must be adequately informed about goals, activities and results achieved. In this work, after an introduction of the smart city concept, a new model to measure the performance of a smart city is proposed and the results of an empirical study on a sample of smart cities in Italy and Europe are reported. The empirical study aims to analyze how smart cities included in the sample are used to measure their performance and the capability of the new model to meet all the information needs.

Performance Reporting in Italian Public Universities: Activities in Support of Research, Teaching and the “Third Mission”

Italian public universities are now paying close attention to performance measurement under the new public management process. This chapter aims to verify whether and how Italian public universities report the performance of activities in support of research, teaching and the “third mission”. Such can strongly impact how the university stakeholders will perceive the results of institutional operations. A documentary analysis of the Italian universities’ annual performance reports, for the years 2011–2014, was adopted to achieve this. The results show that further improvements can be made, especially in terms of outcomes, effectiveness, efficiency and coordination as far as the financial statements are concerned.

Accounting Information System and Organizational Change: An Analysis in “First Mover” Public Universities

This chapter aims to investigate the role of accounting information system in supporting the adoption of accrual accounting in public universities and its main effects on the organization. The study is focused on Italian public universities, with a specific reference to the accounting management of research projects. The treatment of the research projects is particularly interesting because of their relevance in the university budget and their effects on the whole organization (e.g. on the delegation system). Therefore, the configuration of the new accounting information system of universities is not a mere technical problem but involves organizational changes. The research is based on a comparative case study of two Italian public universities (Universities of Genoa and Pisa) relating to the role of the accounting information system in supporting the research project accounting and in affecting their organization (in terms of competences and responsibilities).

XBRL Adoption in Public Organizations: Criticalities and Perspectives

Last years have been characterized by an increasing need for transparency towards public organizations with a pressing request for publishing on line official documents and financial data. In this context scholars and operators opened a discussion on the adoption of XBRL in public organizations to promote wide diffusion and timely use of financial data. The aim of this paper is to conduct a theoretical analysis to understand whether XBRL could be easily adopted by Italian public organizations. The analysis highlights criticalities related to the definition of the XBRL taxonomy due to the heterogeneity of accounting information systems of public organizations. It shows also that the coding system of the mandatory integrated chart of accounts could offer perspectives to XBRL adoption.