The diffusion of accounting practices in the new “managerial” public sector

In the past two decades the public sector has experienced a transformation. A major feature of this change has been the displacement of the old style public administration by a “new public management” which focuses on results and measurement and in which accounting has a central role. This study reports on a survey of accountants in the public sector to determine the extent to which the changing public sector is accompanied by changes in accounting practices and to explore the process by which such changes are effected.