Impact of an official accountability audit on industrial structure adjustment:a case study of environmental regulation in China

As a unique environmental regulation in China,the official accountability audit was piloted in 2014.With a focus on prioritizing the ecological environment,officials in pilot districts have implemented economic construction,adjusted industrial structures,and promoted coordinated development between the economy and environment.The effects of implementation have garnered widespread attention from society.However,there is limited research on the impact of an accountability audit on industrial structure adjustments.Using the“Accountability Audit of Officials for Natural Resource Assets(Trial)”released in 2015 as a quasi-natural experiment,this study collected panel data from 279 cities between 2013 and 2017.It then empirically analyzed the impact mechanism and effects of the accountability audit on industrial structure adjustment using the Propensity Score Matching and Difference-in-Differences model.The research findings indicate that the accountability audit directly impacted industrial structure adjustment,promoting the upgrading of the primary industry to the secondary industry and restricting the development of the tertiary industry.In addition,the audit is beneficial for enterprise entry,but not conducive to technological innovation,and has no significant impact on foreign direct investment.This conclusion fills a gap in the existing research and provides valuable insights for policymakers.

Cost Accounting, Ethical Accountability, and Accounting Principles

This essay explains why cost accounting, ethical accountability, and accounting principles are interrelated concepts. During the past two decades, the relationship between accounting systems and discharge of accountability has increasingly drawn the attention of researchers. However, researchers have shown a marginal interest in the inclusion and examination of the theme of cost accounting, and in particular, no interest has been oriented to explore the potential role of cost accounting in serving presentation of the trustful cost information as regards the discharge of accountability. In this essay, we will reason that the traditional discourse of cost accounting is fundamentally different from the managerial discourse of cost accounting. The traditional cost accounting is built upon the ethical, legal, professional, and principle-based discourses. By exploring the differences between the two cost accounting discourses, this essay will reduce the effect of current skeptical views with which quality of our academic education, relevance of our research, and our understanding of the potential role of cost accounting in serving the provision and presentation of trustful information have been seriously undermined.

Sponsorship, authorship, and accountability

As editors of general medical journals, we recog-nize that the publication of clinical-research find-ings in respected peer-reviewed journals is the ul-timate basis for most treatment decisions. Publicdiscourse about this published evidence of efficacyand safety rests on the assumption that clinical-tri-als data have been gathered and are presented inan objective and dispassionate manner. This dis-course is vital to the scientific practice of medicinebecause it shapes treatment decisions made byphysicians and drives public and private healthcare policy. We are concerned that the current in-tellectual environment in which some clinical re-search is conceived, study participants are recrui-ted, and the data analyzed and reported (or notreported) may threaten this precious objectivity.

NGO Accountability and Sustainable Development in Nigeria

This paper empirically investigates the type of and for whom NGO Accountability is practised in Nigeria with a view to enhancing sustainable development in the country. In-depth interviews on accountability related issues were conducted with managers of an international and a national NGO from Lagos State of Nigeria. The interview was supported by content review of accounts and reports of the selected NGOs. The findings of this study represent a hierarchical conception of accountability privileging a narrow range of stakeholders, which is short-term in focus and not strategic. The findings are situated in the context of what the literature says about NGO Accountability. This work could enhance the frontier of knowledge in NGO Accountability especially in a developing country like Nigeria.

Explaining Japan＇s Shift to Foreign Policy Activism： Security Challenges and Perverse Political Accountability

The paper examines the root causes of Japan＇s rapid shift to foreign policy activism. To explain the causes, I develop the so-called ＂perverse political accountability＂ approach. Specifically, the approach claims that a growing security challenge from China and North Korea, and US policy favoring Japan＇s foreign policy activism structure. Japan＇s domestic political condition that the majority of Japanese people become more conservative and nationalistic. Such shift in the Japanese people＇s preference has been both creating and reinforcing a perverse accountability by which the leaders or parties willing to adopt hard-line foreign policies are better off electorally while the leaders or parties remaining soft-line on foreign affairs are worse off. The perverse accountability not only leads to a severe partisan imbalance between the conservative parties and the leftist parties, but also gives the most conservative party, e.g., the Liberal Democratic Party （LDP）, a greater chance of coming to office and of pursuing assertive foreign policy they favor. Thus, the perverse accountability is at the center of current Japan＇s turn to foreign policy activism. This finding contributes to an enhanced understanding for Japan＇s shift to assertive foreign policy.

The Impact of the Environment Management Act （EMA） on the Accountability of Companies in Fiji

This study seeks to explore the impact of the Environment Management Act （EMA） （2005） on the accountability of three companies in Fiji. The study uses a multi-case study approach based on three subsidiaries of a conglomerate. Data collection methods include semi-structured interviews with accountants, internal auditors, and environmental officers, document reviews, and content analysis of annual reports and websites of the respective companies. The findings suggest that the EMA （2005） had some effects in terms of engendering accountability on the companies studied. Further evidence suggests that while this increased accountability has led to disclosures in annual reports and websites, these disclosures are minimal at best; furthermore, they primarily address that the stakeholder group comprised government regulatory authorities. The study provides policy implications on how environmental legislations could be designed to improve the accountability of commercial entities in developing economies. The experience and issues highlighted are also useful to other developing economies who are contemplating in developing their own environmental legislations. This paper is one of the few papers that explore the impact of environmental legislations on accountability in a developing economy context.

Conflict and Continuity in European Diplomatic Cultures： Accountability, Scrutiny and Control in EU External Affairs

Under the Lisbon Treaty, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs （HRVP） has obtained far-reaching powers to formulate, coordinate and implement EU external policies, traditionally a prerogative of the state. In the exercise of this delegated powers, the HRVP is assisted by a dedicated administrative body, the European External Action Service （EEAS）. Formal decision-making over the EU＇s common foreign and security policy lies with the Council, while the European Neighborhood and Trade policies, as well as international cooperation remain competences of the EU-Commission. Concomitantly, the EEAS is situated within several, partly overlapping and conflicting accountability relationships. The ensuing question is： To what extent, how and by whom can the HRVP and the EEAS be held politically to account？ With data from official documents, 50 semi-structured interviews and a survey among 184 EU foreign policy-makers, the article maps and assesses of the multi-level actor/forum relationships of the EU＇s foreign policy machinery.

Accountability Simulacra: Fraud Cases from South and North America

Cases of corporate frauds with financial instruments count on simulacra of accountability.Based on grounded research,this study considered cases that were conducted for years without being detected causing billionaire injury to investors.The objective was to present how they bypassed internal controls,corporate governance,and all regulatory apparatus using substantive and symbolic resources at organization level analysis.An extensive analysis allowed perceive a common modus operandi that is described here organized by objectives.This paper also suggests a direction for accountability improvement.

Critical Dialogic Accounting and Accountability Through Integrated Popular Reporting and Digital Technologies: The City of Bari

Over the past two decades,dialogic accounting research has evolved into a distinct field,expanding into what is now recognized as critical dialogic accounting and accountability(CDAA).The integration of critical dialogic accounting and accountability acknowledges the growing need to recognize diverse pathways within accounting practices,emphasizing the representation of marginalized perspectives,engagement with power dynamics,and the analysis of conflicts,particularly in the context of societal and environmental impacts.Based on these assumptions,the Integrated Popular Reporting(IPR)is intended as a useful practical dialogic tool designed to impartially represent the viewpoints of different stakeholders.The focus extends beyond traditional dialogic accounting,integrating a newer critical lens that explores the implications of digital technology in the reporting process.To explore these advancements,the study investigates the implementation of the City of Bari’s 2020 Integrated Popular Reporting.Leveraging tools such as Talkwalker and employing a longitudinal,interventionist approach along with semi-structured interviews,the study assesses the effects of digital technologies on the dialogic accounting process.The analysis shows that the use of digital technologies has facilitated a more participatory reporting structure,evident in increased citizen engagement and reduced bureaucratic hurdles.Notably,it has enhanced the accuracy of defining citizens’informational needs and addressed pertinent themes ranging from mobility,economy,digitization,regeneration,and employment.Moreover,it underscores the need to address the digital divide and ensure inclusivity across diverse demographics.Ultimately,it contributes to the ongoing discourse on the role of technology in shaping the future of dialogic accounting and its broader implications for societal accountability.

Public Communication in the Processes of Transparency and Accountability in the Era of Open Data

In recent years, transparency and accountability seem to find new impulse, with the development of ICT （information and communication technology） and the prospective of open data that invest the public system at a national and supranational level. Public institutions tend to make available to the public, more data and information concerning the administration, the manner of use of public goods and resources. At the same time, each institution is called upon to deal with the demand of transparency and participation by citizens who increasingly use Internet 2.0 and social media. After a reflection on how public administrations acted in the phase of Web 1.0 to practice transparency and accountability in terms of communication, this paper considers the elements of continuity and the new opportunities linked to the advent of Web 2.0 and open data. At the end of this analysis, the focus is on the strengths and weaknesses of this process, with a particular attention to the role of the public communication.

Assessing the Relationship of Corporate Integrity Practices With Accountability of Malaysian Statutory Bodies

Accountability is seen as an organisational performance across private and public sector,including statutory bodies.Yet,does accountability prove instilled in part of integrity practices,especially in less mentioned sector-statutory bodies?This study aims to evaluate the relationship of corporate integrity practices on accountability of Malaysian statutory bodies through questionnaire survey distribution.Based on 194 responses received from top management of Malaysian statutory bodies,it is proven that corporate integrity practices have a positive and significant relationship with accountability.Therefore,statutory bodies are recommended to exercise and implement corporate integrity practices by setting up integrity department and appointing corporate integrity officers.Hence,by upholding corporate integrity practices,it leads to the achievement of accountability of statutory bodies organisations.

The impact of accountability on local officials’behavior in the pandemic prevention and control in China based on utility maximization

Background:The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health crisis and an inspection of national governance systems and crisis response capabilities of countries globally.China has adopted a tough accountability system for officials and has succeeded in containing the spread of the pandemic.This study aimed to assess the impact of accountability on local officials’behavior in the pandemic prevention and control based on the official promotion tournament theory and utility maximization analysis framework.Methods:The panel data of 237 Chinese cities were extracted with local officials’characteristics,confirmed cases,Baidu migration index,Baidu search index according to city names,and data were excluded with local officials’relocation or sub-provincial cities between January 1,2020 and May 5,2020.Promotion gain and accountability cost were constructed by adopting promotion speed indicator,and the research hypotheses were assumed based on the utility maximization.It was the first time to apply the interaction model to empirically investigate the relationship between the promotion speed of local officials and the COVID-19 confirmed cases.Results:Our study showed that the promotion speed of provincial governors and mayors significantly affected the number of confirmed cases(β=−11.615,P<0.01).There was a significant interaction between the promotion speeds of provincial governors and mayors(β=−2594.1,P<0.01),indicating that they had a coordinated effect on the pandemic control.Additionally,mayors with different promotion speeds made a significant difference in controlling the imported cases and those who promoted faster better controlled the imported cases(β=−0.841,P<0.01).Mayors with full-time postgraduate education,titles,and majors in science and engineering had a better effect on controlling the number of confirmed cases.Conclusions:Our study provides evidence that the official accountability system has played an important role in containing the pandemic,which suggests that local officials motivated by the accountability system would respond to the pandemic actively for higher utility.Furthermore,provincial governors and mayors have played a coordinated effect in pandemic control.The above evidences reveal that implementing the official accountability system could improve the government’s emergency management capability and the efficiency of pandemic control.Therefore,adopting a strict accountability system could be effective in pandemic containment globally,especially in centralized countries.

Participatory approach to design social accountability interventions to improve maternal health services:a case study from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Background:Social accountability(SA)comprises a set of mechanisms aiming to,on the one hand,enable users to raise their concerns about the health services provided to them(voice),and to hold health providers(HPs)accountable for actions and decisions related to the health service provision.On the other hand,they aim to facilitate HPs to take into account users’needs and expectations in providing care.This article describes the development of a SA intervention that aims to improve health services responsiveness in two health zones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Methods:Beneficiaries including men,women,community health workers(CHWs),representatives of the health sector and local authorities were purposively selected and involved in an advisory process using the Dialogue Model in the two health zones:(1)Eight focus group discussions(FGDs)were organized separately during consultation aimed at sharing and discussing results from the situation analysis,and collecting suggestions for improvement,(2)Representatives of participants in previous FGDs were involved in dialogue meetings for prioritizing and integrating suggestions from FGDs,and(3)the integrated suggestions were discussed by research partners and set as intervention components.All the processes were audio-taped,transcribed and analysed using inductive content analysis.Results:Overall there were 121 participants involved in the process,51 were female.They provided 48 suggestions.Their suggestions were integrated into six intervention components during dialogue meetings:(1)use CHWs and a health committee for collecting and transmitting community concerns about health services,(2)build the capacity of the community in terms of knowledge and information,(3)involve community leaders through dialogue meetings,(4)improve the attitude of HPs towards voice and the management of voice at health facility level,(5)involve the health service supervisors in community participation and;(6)use other existing interventions.These components were then articulated into three intervention components during programming to:create a formal voice system,introduce dialogue meetings improving enforceability and answerability,and enhance the health providers’responsiveness.Conclusions:The use of the Dialogue Model,a participatory process,allowed beneficiaries to be involved with other community stakeholders having different perspectives and types of knowledge in an advisory process and to articulate their suggestions on a combination of SA intervention components,specific for the two health zones contexts.

Three Roads to Political Accountability

Establishing an accountable government is a core issue for modern state governance. To achieve this goal, two fundamental questions need to be solved： （1） Who exercises power？ （2） How should the power be exercised？ To the first question, the electoral system offers a relatively good answer; to the second, the budgetary system offers the best answer. Through a historical and comparative analysis, this essay identifies three roads to political accountability： the European road of the nineteenth century, the American road from the founding of the United States to the reform of Progressive Era and the newly emerging Chinese road. This implies that the Western experience does not represent the only route toward political accountability. Compared with Western experience, China＇s state transformation since the 1980s is quite unique. A Chinese road is taking shape despite all the challenges ahead.

China and Emerging Economies in Global Financial Governance:Legitimacy,Accountability and Democracy

Global financial governance refers to the way in which global financial affairs are managed. As there is no global government, global financial governance typically involves a range of actors including states, as well as regional and international organizations aimed at negotiating responses to problems that affect more than one state or region, far from only providing the public good of financial stability through global economy integration and global financial legislation. In geopolitical context of the 21 st century, emerging economies still have maintained a low profile in global financial governance, despite their growing economic power and the rhetoric of being a responsible great power, and there is little evidence that they will seek international leadership. Moreover,compared to the other emerging powers in the BRICS(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group,China has under-participated in global governance in terms of contributing personnel, finance and ideas to major multilateral institutions and programs. It is really an interesting question in international economics and politics area. Firstly, this paper examines comparative data on the emerging economies countries' participation in global financial governance and explains the reason why China has relatively low involvement in global financial governance. Secondly, this paper analyzes norms and legitimacy in global financial governance, and thus outlines the emerging economies constraints on public policy of global financial market integration in the light of the foregoing analysis of legitimacy, accountability and democracy. Finally, some global financial governance development strategy and possible policy solutions are discussed as well.

Sensors, empowerment, and accountability: a Digital Earth view from East Africa

Several innovative‘participatory sensing’initiatives are under way in East Africa.They can be seen as local manifestations of the global notion of Digital Earth.The initiatives aim to amplify the voice of ordinary citizens,improve citizens’capacity to directly influence public service delivery and hold local government accountable.The popularity of these innovations is,among other things,a local reaction to the partial failure of the millennium development goals(MDGs)to deliver accurate statistics on public services in Africa.Empowered citizens,with access to standard mobile phones,can‘sense’via text messages and report failures in the delivery of local government services.The public disclosure of these reports on the web and other mass media may pressure local authorities to take remedial action.In this paper,we outline the potential and research challenges of a‘participatory sensing’platform,which we call a‘human sensor web.’Digital Africa’s first priority could be to harness continent-wide and national data as well as local information resources,collected by citizens,in order to monitor,measure and forecast MDGs.

FORSETI: A visual analysis environment enabling provenance awareness for the accountability of e-autopsy reports

Autopsy reports play a pivotal role in forensic science.Medical examiners(MEs)and diagnostic radiologists(DRs)cross-reference autopsy results in the form of autopsy reports,while judicial personnel derive legal documents from final autopsy reports.In our prior study,we presented a visual analysis system called the forensic autopsy system for e-court instruments(FORSETI)with an extended legal medicine markup language(x-LMML)that enables MEs and DRs to author and review e-autopsy reports.In this paper,we present our extended work to incorporate provenance infrastructure with authority management into FORSETI for forensic data accountability,which contains two features.The first is a novel provenance management mechanism that combines the forensic autopsy workflow management system(FAWfMS)and a version control system called lmmlgit for x-LMML files.This management mechanism allows much provenance data on e-autopsy reports and their documented autopsy processes to be individually parsed.The second is provenance-supported immersive analytics,which is intended to ensure that the DRs’and MEs’autopsy provenances can be viewed,listed,and analyzed so that a principal ME can author their own report through accountable autopsy referencing in an augmented reality setting.A fictitious case with a synthetic wounded body is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the provenance-aware FORSETI system in terms of data accountability through the experience of experts in legal medicine.

From External Accountability to Potential-Oriented Development:Quality Assurance System Building for Teacher Preparation in China

Purpose:From the perspective of performance standards-based teacher education,this article aimed to address progress and challenges of China’s teacher preparation quality assurance system.Design/Approach/Methods:This review is based on policy review and case studies.Retrieving to the existing research literature,this research sorted out the policies related to the quality assurance system for university-based teacher preparation in China.Furthermore,this research selected teacher preparation programs from five cases of teacher education colleges of varied levels and used interviews to analyze their attitudes and measures.Findings:The analysis reveals that the quality system for university-based teacher preparation in China’s educational institutions has gone through two main stages:the building stage and the improvement stage.The internal policy tension in China’s teacher preparation quality assurance system is primarily centralized in the dissociation among and segmentation between the relevant standards for teacher education.There is a distinction between“soft”and“hard”policy standards,and reforming the teacher certification testing system also brings a test-oriented bias and a separation of evaluation from education.Institutions of higher education are expected to follow the path of potential-oriented development and concentrate on cooperative partnerships between local communities and schools so as to nurture innovative,professional future educators with high quality.Originality/Value:This article provides a comprehensive and detailed policy analysis as well as empirical evidence for the quality assurance systemfor university-based teacher preparation in China.

International Symposium on Accountability in Science Funding Held in Beijing

Sponsored jointly by NSFC and the Office of Inspector General (OIG), US National Science Foundation (NSF), the International Symposium on Accountability in Science Funding was held in Beijing on Oct. 27, 2003. More than 60 delegates from 12 countries attended the two-day meeting.

Conversations in accountability:Perspectives from three charities

Objective:The conversations in accountability were designed to gain an understanding of the use and changes to accountability in charities over time,including learning how results are measured.Methods:As part of a larger study which investigated accountability in charities working to reduce mortality of children younger than 5 years in least developed countries,a multiple-case study comprising semistructured in-depth key informant interviews was conducted to investigate the use and effects of accountability in three charities of differing sizes.Results:Smaller charities tend to use fewer accountability mechanisms than larger ones,whereas the variation in their use between small and medium-sized charities is greater than the variation between medium-sized and large charities.Conclusion:Although accountability has changed over time,charities believe that they are providing the correct amount of accountability-that is,enough to satisfy the perceived demands of their stakeholders but not so much that it detracts from the mission or incurs costs in excess of benefits.However,the tools to determine effectiveness and impact are lacking.