Appel à contributions / Call for contributions for the Palgrave Handbook of Local Government Accounting History

Dear Colleague

We hope this finds you well and please excuse the intrusion into your busy schedule.

Myself (Prof. Martin Quinn) and my colleagues, Dr Julie Bertz and Dr Elaine Stewart have the pleasure of being commissioned to compile a Palgrave Handbook of Local Government Accounting History. We are writing to you as based on your research interests you may be interested in contributing a chapter to this Handbook. In our view, the accounting of local government has received less attention than other areas in accounting history. Hence, this volume is somewhat ground-breaking and hopefully will encourage more research and be a key reference source.

We are seeking contributors from all regions and time periods, and we welcome original contributions on the following topics, which is not an exhaustive list:

Financial reporting/auditing
Histories covering

• Local government financial reporting reform / evolution of financial reporting in local government with cross country comparisons
• Comparisons of the nature and format of financial statements in local government e.g. comparisons of balance sheets captured by different guidance such as country specific GAAP, European System of Accounts/ International Financial Reporting Standards
• Compliance with any legislative requirements guiding the preparation of financial statements e.g. accountability mechanisms such as conceptual frameworks
• Nature and effectiveness of auditing procedures in local government
• Examples of good practice in financial statement preparation/audit in a local government context
• Examples of challenges / scandals in financial statement preparation/audit in a local government context
• The nature of narrative content in / around financial statements / audit reports of local government
• Comparative analysis of format / content of local government financial statements across space and time
• Prosopograph(y/ies) of key persons in the development of financial statement content/ record keeping/audit in a local government context
• Changes in financial reporting and/or audit procedures over time e.g. due to events, professionalization, merging of local government areas
• Examples of local governments engaged in ground-breaking practices in financial reporting/audit
• The history of the role of stakeholders and / or users in local government accounting / financial reporting / audit
• Examples of the use and / or useability of local government financial reports over time
• How local government accounting may have changed over time due to the introduction of revenue streams such as local/city taxes.

Management accounting/budgeting/control
Histories covering

• Budgeting and management control procedures and practices
• Use of budgets as a cost control mechanism
• The role of budgets in public service delivery decisions
• Performance management in local government
• Participation of elected representatives in budgeting
• Use of cost information by local government in decision making around service provision e.g. waste, water, public lighting, policing, amenities
• Use of cost information by local government in investment/infrastructure decisions
• Cost accounting records, tracking of costs in local government
• Political (or similar) influence on local government budgeting or spend
• Examples of the use and / or useability of cost/budget data to elected representatives
• Cost controls in general, and in times of limited funding e.g. austerity, wars
• Effects of funding models of local government on cost/management accounting
• Cost/management accounting change in a local government context
• The evolution of New Public Management concepts from an accounting perspective in a historic setting
• Accounting for the use of revenue streams (e.g. taxation) to the public
• Local government sustainability.

If you cannot contribute, please feel free to forward this message to an appropriate colleague who may be interested.

Should you wish to contribute to this Handbook, the following information may be useful to you:

• A chapter is typically 7,000-8,000 words including all references and appendices. More details on style and format will follow if you agree to contribute
• Chapters to be submitted by August 31st, 2025
• Chapters must be original and written in English
• Chapter can have up to three authors
• Each contributor will be asked to review another chapter within the volume
• Revised (post-review) chapters due by May 31st, 2026
• Publication expected late 2026/early 2027

There is no fee for contributions, but each contributor will receive an e-book copy of the full Handbook.
If you are willing to contribute a chapter to this exciting Handbook, please add your details to this form (full link below in case in does not work directly) and we will contact you by return.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=6ner6qW040mh6NbdI6Hyhi5G9aqoM8JMi6RDkUts1OpUQlhEN1dYWTVHUjRZNzlVRjhVNkRXNEFLSi4u

We look forward to hearing from you.
Martin, Julie & Elaine.

Call for contributions