Accounting and Accountability between Financial Imperatives and Public Values: Reconfiguring Conflict, Hybridity, and the Power of Calculative Devices

Éditeurs invités

• Deborah Agostino, Politecnico di Milano
• Enrico Bracci, University of Ferrara
• Laurence Ferry, Durham University
• Laura Maran, University of Trento
• Jarmo Vakkuri, Tampere University

Synthèse

Public sector organisations face competing pressures between financial efficiency and public values such as equity, transparency, and sustainability. These tensions intensify in hybrid governance systems where public, private, and non-profit actors collaborate, and are amplified by digital transformation and emerging technologies. Accounting frameworks are pivotal in mediating or intensifying these conflicts, as calculative devices embed power structures that determine which values become dominant.

This special issue examines how accounting practices and calculative devices influence institutional conflicts between financial imperatives and democratic public values within hybrid governance systems. The call welcomes contributions exploring how calculative tools reshape accountability relations, redistribute authority, stabilise hybrid arrangements, and redefine legitimate accountability across different sectors and contexts.

Thèmes proposés

• Conceptualisations of institutional tensions and conflicts in accounting and accountability frameworks
• How hybrid forms of accountability emerge at the intersection of competing logics (financial, professional, social, political)
• The role of accounting, performance measurement, and classification systems in mediating or amplifying tensions
• How specific calculative tools (e.g. rankings, integrated reports, ESG scores, algorithms) enact and enforce particular logics and create new visibilities and invisibilities, thereby reconfiguring power relations
• How hybrid organisations devise novel accounting arrangements to navigate their multiple missions and what types of new hybrid accountabilities are thus constructed
• Negotiating accountability across professional, managerial, and citizen arenas in hybrid and collaborative settings
• The impact of sustainability, legitimacy, and digital transformation on accountability regimes
• Accountability in contexts of vulnerability, marginalization, or crisis
• Comparative perspectives on accountability conflicts across institutional fields (e.g. healthcare, prisons, education, cultural organisations, local government)
• Resilience and adaptability of accountability systems under conditions of disruption and uncertainty
• In-depth qualitative case studies across diverse institutional and national contexts
• Comparative and cross-country analyses of accountability practices
• Longitudinal studies exploring the evolution of accountability tensions and hybrid forms
• Critical and interpretive analyses of calculative practices and their performativity
• Historical and archival research on accountability regimes and their institutionalisation
• Studies examining the role of digital technologies and platforms in reshaping accountability
• Interdisciplinary approaches bridging accounting research with sociology, political science, organisational studies, and public administration