Rethinking Local Government Financial Management and Accountability through Comparative Perspectives

Rethinking Local Government Financial Management and Accountability through Comparative Perspectives

JOURNAL NAME: Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

PUBLISHER: Emerald Publishing

SUBMISSION OPENS: 15 July 2026

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31 October 2026

ABOUT THIS SPECIAL ISSUE

Despite the growing relevance of local governments in delivering public services and managing public resources, financial management and accountability at the local level remain predominantly framed within national legal and institutional contexts. This special issue aims to advance both theoretical and empirical understanding of local government financial management and accountability through a cross-national comparative perspective.

A comparative approach makes it possible to examine how different institutional settings, fiscal arrangements, and governance traditions shape local financial management. It also facilitates the identification of best practices and innovative solutions that can be adapted to diverse contexts, thereby strengthening the overall capacity of local governments to manage fiscal stress, enhance accountability, and deliver sustainable public services.

SCOPE & THEME AREAS

We invite conceptual, empirical, and policy-oriented submissions addressing (but not limited to) the following themes:

1. Comparability of local government finances — How can local government financial data be made comparable across countries or across states/provinces in federal systems, given persistent diversity in accounting systems, budgetary practices, and financial reporting?

2. Financial sustainability and sustainable development — What are the trade-offs and synergies between short-term fiscal balance and long-term sustainable development goals at the local level?

3. Digitalization and AI in local public finance — How is artificial intelligence being deployed to support budgeting, forecasting, accountability, and citizen engagement? What are the associated risks and governance implications?

4. International collaboration and policy learning — How can local governments engage in meaningful cross-national exchange to learn from both best practices and less successful experiences?

5. Regulatory frameworks and autonomy — How do different models of fiscal regulation and decentralization, including insolvency procedures, affect the financial autonomy and decision-making of local governments?

6. Fiscal rules and accountability — How do local governments manage and perform within the context of different fiscal rules? Do fiscal rules enhance or hamper local government accountability?

7. Crisis and resilience — How have local governments managed financial stress during economic or geopolitical crises, and what comparative lessons emerge regarding resilience and innovation?

8. Local government and climate finance — How are local governments accounting for climate risk through the public finance system? Is there systematic alignment deriving from the global north and south?

9. From numbers to narratives — How do financial reports shape managerial sensemaking in local governments?

10. Use of financial information in decision-making — How do local governments use financial information in decision-making, and what are the comparative insights into managerial uses of financial reports?

11. The politics of financial framing — How do local governments narrate fiscal constraints across different institutional contexts?

12. Comparability and anti-corruption — What is the relationship between local government managerial and accounting practices and corruption? What practices contribute to reducing corruption?

GUEST EDITORS

Emanuele Padovani University of Bologna, Italy ✉️ Emanuele.Padovani@unibo.it

Christine Martell University of Colorado Denver, USA ✉️ Christine.Martell@ucdenver.edu

Sungho Park University of Alabama, USA ✉️ Sungho.Park@ua.edu

Eric Scorsone University of Virginia, USA ✉️ Eric.Scorsone@virginia.edu

KEY DEADLINES & DATES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

How to submit: Manuscripts must be submitted via ScholarOne Manuscripts, strictly following the journal's author guidelines. At the appropriate submission step, authors must select the special issue title from the drop-down menu.

Eligibility: Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review.

Email for queries: Emanuele.Padovani@unibo.it

Note on the workshop: A dedicated Special Issue Workshop is scheduled for early July 2026. Participation in the workshop is not required to submit a manuscript, and participation does not guarantee acceptance into the special issue.

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