Analysis of public management change processes: The case of local government accounting reforms in Germany

In Germany, financial pressure and a lack of efficiency have caused the need for several reform processes in the local governments of German municipalities. These local governments are facing a growing contradiction between decreasing levels of financial support and increasing responsibilities. In order to address this tension, municipalities are starting to change their accounting systems by implementing accrual accounting and output-based budgeting. Starting from a description of reform processes in German municipalities, we use the concept both of the resource-based view and of dynamic capabilities in order to observe the implementation of these new accounting standards. Based on six case studies, our empirical findings show that the idiosyncratic adaptation of new standards in municipalities leads to a diversity of outcomes in the implementation process. Finally, the future prospects of further public financial management reform processes in Germany are presented.