J. Account.

Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

J. Account. Public Policy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaccpubpol

Full length article

The role of accountability in determining the relationship

between financial reporting quality and the performance of
public organizations: Evidence from Vietnam q
Yen Thi Tran a, Nguyen Phong Nguyen a, Trang Cam Hoang b,⇑
a
School of Accounting, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
b
Faculty of Finance and Banking, Ton Duc Thang University, 19 Nguyen Huu Tho Street, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Drawing on the new public management and agency theory, this study examines the medi-
Available online 13 November 2020 ating role of accountability in the relationship between financial-reporting quality and the
performance of public organizations. The research model and hypotheses tested with a
Keywords: survey of 177 responses obtained from accountants and managers working in the public
Financial-reporting quality sector in Vietnam. Our analysis shows that accountability has a mediating role on the rela-
Accountability tionship between financial-reporting quality and performance, with significant implica-
Performance
tions for public organizations seeking to improve both their financial-reporting quality
Public sector
Vietnam
and their organizational performance with better designed systems of accountability.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Public organizations are funded mainly through the state budget and, for this reason, are ‘‘accountable” to the public for
their activities. The public sector in developing countries is now demanding strong accountability for public institutions,
both at the central and local levels (Adhikari and Mellemvik, 2011). Developing countries have individual and distinguishing
characteristics that may affect the control and evaluation of public accountability in the public sector, specifically, low insti-
tutional capacity, limited involvement of stakeholders, and relatively high levels of corruption (Kim, 2009). Rajib et al. (2019)
have argued that there is a need for public-sector reform in developing countries if good governance is to be achieved.
New Public Management (NPM) and agency theory are relevant for understanding accountability mechanisms in public
sector organizations. The NPM theory is a multi-dimensional concept (Hood, 1995). Core elements include various forms of
decentralizing management of public services supply (e.g., the creation of autonomous agencies and devolution of budgets
and financial control), increasing use of markets and competition in the provision of public services (e.g., contracting out and
other market-type mechanisms), and increasing emphasis on performance, outputs and customer orientation. The Organi-
zation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s recommendations for financial transparency and increased efficiency
in the public sector are in line with NPM theory (Arellano-Gault and Lepore, 2011). One of the characteristics of NPM is the
formation of relatively autonomous organizations in the public sector, which are required to have comparatively large

q
We are especially grateful to the Editor-in-Chief (Marco Trombetta) and the anonymous reviewer for going a long way in trying to give us valuable and
helpful suggestions to improve the paper.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: tranyen@qnu.edu.vn (Y.T. Tran), nguyenphongnguyen@ueh.edu.vn (N.P. Nguyen), hoangcamtrang@tdtu.edu.vn (T.C. Hoang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2020.106801
0278-4254/Ó 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Yen Thi Tran, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Trang Cam Hoang J. Account. Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

accountability for their tasks and achievements as reported up to higher echelons (Kalimullah et al., 2012). Agency theory
has thereby become relevant to public-sector reform under the NPM framework (Boston, 2016). Accordingly, policymakers
and public regulators seek to impose responsibility on organizations for their actions and seek reassurance that organiza-
tions are acting according to their assigned responsibilities. In the context of asymmetric information, the quality require-
ments for financial reporting are important in serving a need to assess decision-making in public organizations as well as
their accountability to broader stakeholders (Krambia-Kapardis et al., 2016), thereby placing pressure on managers to oper-
ate public organizations in a more efficient manner. In this sense, financial-reporting quality appears to affect both the per-
formance of public organizations and their accountability to broader stakeholders. However, Hepworth (2017) states that
there is little empirical evidence with which to make an assessment of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards
Board (IPSASB (2013). Additionally, Dubnick (2005) has argued that the relationship between accountability and perfor-
mance is more superficial than real, and that researchers need to conduct further empirical studies to clarify this relationship
(Christensen and Lægreid, 2014). We are accordingly motivated to pursue empirical studies in relation to the public insti-
tutions of developing economies to verify this relationship.
This study takes place in the context of Vietnam, which is transitioning from a centrally planned economy to a socialist-
oriented market economy (Doan and Nguyen, 2013). Similarly to other developing economies, Vietnam retains problems
such as low institutional capacity, a lack of transparency, and high levels of corruption (Tran, 2014). Thus, accountability
and the transparency of financial information are expected to remain significant in achieving the reforms required for the
country’s citizens (as external stakeholders) as directed by the organization’s leaders and civil servants (as internal
stakeholders).
To this end, Vietnam has implemented a range of public financial reforms, most notably, the issuance of modern account-
ing regimes on a full accrual basis. The application of accrual accounting is common in developed economies (Kobayashi et al.,
2016) and appears to have enhanced accountability in developing economies (Nakmahachalasint & Narktabtee, 2019). Viet-
nam together with developing economies in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, now prepares public-
sector financial statements under accrual accounting. Policy makers in Vietnam envisage that due to providing useful infor-
mation for decision making, financial statements in accordance with the new regulations will assist the authorities in assess-
ing the accountability of public organizations. Nevertheless, the extent to which the financial statements created under the
new accounting regimes are useful for evaluating accountability and improving operational results remains unclear.
This study therefore seeks to examine the mediating role of accountability in the relationship between financial-reporting
quality and the performance of public organizations in Vietnam. In addition, the paper contributes to existing studies by clar-
ifying the role of financial statements in determining the organization’s accountability, and provides empirical evidence of
the effects of accountability on performance, while exploring the enhancement of financial-reporting quality and account-
ability as mechanisms for improving performance in the context of Vietnam’s public sector.

2. Hypothesis

New Public Management emphasizes performance-based management and related controls (Hood, 1991). In addition, the
move to accrual accounting in NPM is aimed at enhancing financial information quality (Guthrie, 1998) to be useful to man-
agers when making resource allocation decisions (Reck, 2001). When governments allocate resources, they require meaning-
ful and reliable accounting information so as to foresee the impacts of their decisions over time in relation to their strategies
for providing public services (Martin and Spano, 2015). High-quality financial accounting information is relevant, reliable,
understandable, comparable, timely, and verifiable (Cohen and Karatzimas, 2017). In a transition economy, the Federation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Veladar et al. (2014) find that the degree of measuring and reporting performance indicators
improves financial accounting information quality, which, in turn, directly impacts the operational results in financial state-
ments. Kroll (2015) and Kobayashi et al. (2016) also recognize that public sector managers use high-quality financial
accounting information aimed at supporting their managerial decisions and improving their performance. More recently,
Nirwana and Haliah (2018) provide evidence of the positive impact of financial-reporting quality on the performance of local
government agencies in Indonesia. Our first hypothesis is therefore stated:
H1: Financial-reporting quality has a positive impact on performance.
Although the implementation of accrual accounting has not always been successful in developing countries (Adhikari and
Mellemvik, 2011), the NPM movement continues to promote the application of the IPSAS-based accrual accounting reforms
to public organizations (Mbelwa et al., 2019; Mnif Sellami and Gafsi, 2019). The purpose of these reforms is to create
good-quality financial reporting, ensuring relevance, reliability, comprehension, comparison, timeliness, and verification
in financial statements (Cohen and Karatzimas, 2017). The qualitative characteristics of financial statements are thereby
strengthened, assisting users to assess the accountability of public organizations (Mack and Ryan, 2006), while ensuring pub-
lic financial transparency with a consequent reduction of corruption (Krambia-Kapardis et al., 2016). The evidence, however,
is inconclusive. For example, Steccolini (2004) finds that in Italian local governments, annual reports are used to discharge
accountability to internal users and have no significant role in communications to external users. Nevertheless, in the con-
text of an developing country such as Thailand, Nakmahachalasint and Narktabtee (2019) find that good financial reporting
can assist public organizations to show accountability. We therefore expect that financial reporting quality allows users to
more accurately assess their levels of accountability, leading to the following hypothesis:
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Yen Thi Tran, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Trang Cam Hoang J. Account. Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

H2: Financial-reporting quality has a positive impact on accountability.

Over three decades, the NPM reform efforts have been aimed at improving public-sector performance through the effec-
tive implementation of accountability (Christensen and Lægreid, 2014). Agency theory is linked additionally to the NPM
framework insofar as the leaders of a public organization are responsible for demonstrating that the organization is acting
in accordance with its responsibilities, noting that the organization may have different incentives to its citizens and its
employees (Boston, 2016). In this regard, researchers have suggested that effective accountability acts to raise awareness
of legality, restrict fraud and corruption, and increase the responsibilities of government organizations, with an improved
understanding when efficiency goals cannot always be fully achieved and ultimately helping to build trust among stakehold-
ers (Mizrahi and Minchuk, 2019). In the context of the organization, Thoms et al. (2002) find that an accountability to both
co-workers and management is positively related to trust in supervisors and managers, with an increase in job satisfaction.
More recently, following NPM theory, Han (2019) finds that institutional accountability positively influenced the agency per-
formances of the Bush Administration. We are therefore motivated to propose the following hypothesis:
H3: Accountability has a positive impact on performance.
Consistent with agency theory in an NPM framework, Boston (2016) finds that when seeking to minimize conflicts of
interest among public-sector stakeholders, financial-reporting quality and accountability are important tools for the user
to monitor the performance of public policymakers and regulators (Christensen and Lægreid, 2014; Steccolini, 2004). From
the perspective of policymakers in Vietnam, the application of NPM is motivated by the objective of achieving the improved
performance of public organizations through increased accountability (Tran, 2014), with accountability achieved through
the quality assurance of the financial statements published by the public organization (Nakmahachalasint and
Narktabtee, 2019; Patton, 1992). The implication is that a greater quality of financial reporting will increase the effectiveness
of public sector accountability regarding the use of public resources (H2) and that the implementation of good accountability
will increase confidence of stakeholders, thereby improving the performance of public organizations (H3). In addition, we
expect that accountability will mediate the relationship between financial reporting quality and organizational performance
leading to the following hypothesis:
H4: Accountability mediates the relationship between financial-reporting quality and performance.
The proposed model and corresponding hypotheses are shown in Fig. 1.

3. Methodology

3.1. Sample and data collection

We surveyed the accountants and managers of public organizations with a minimum of three years’ work experience in
Vietnam. The survey instrument was pre-tested by ten chief accountants at public organizations in Vietnam and revised to
improve the clarity of the questions based on comments received. We then sent 350 surveys either via email or directly. The
survey was conducted between March 2019 and June 2019. After excluding incomplete responses, we retained 177 valid
responses with a response rate of 50.5%. Table 1 below presents the descriptive statistics for the survey samples. Respon-
dents include senior and junior managers (40.6 percent), heads of accounting department (26.6 percent) and accountants
(32.8 percent). The accountants (32.8 percent) in our sample are general accountants of public organizations in Vietnam.
We chose them because in Vietnam, general accountants have an equivalent role as vice heads of accounting department.
All respondents had at least some managerial responsibilities to financial reports and were well informed on performance
management within their organization.

Fig. 1. Proposed model.

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Yen Thi Tran, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Trang Cam Hoang J. Account. Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

Table 1
Demographics of informants and their organizations.

Demographics Frequency Percent (%) Demographics Frequency Percent (%)

Job position Organization size (full time equivalent employees)
Senior manager 39 22.0  50 123 69.5
Chief accountant 47 26.6 51–200 43 24.3
Accountant 58 32.8 201–500 10 5.6
Mid-and low-level managers 33 18.6 501–1000 1 0.6
Work experience >1000 0 0.0
Under 3 years 0 0.0 Organization age
From 3 to 5 years 43 24.3 Under 5 years 7 4.0
From 6 to 10 years 59 33.3 From 5 to 10 years 15 8.5
Over 10 years 75 42.4 From 11 to 20 years 43 24.3
Organizational field From 21 to 50 years 99 55.9
Public administration 94 53.1 Over 50 years 13 7.3
Education sector 53 29.9
Health sector 16 9.0
Other sectors 14 8.0

3.2. Measures

We measure the quality of financial reporting with 13 qualitative characteristics of information on financial reporting
from the perspective of IPSASB (2013), comprising eight fundamental qualitative characteristics and five enhancing qualita-
tive characteristics. A scale of 14 items developed by Mack and Ryan (2006) is used to measure accountability, comprising
eight items of public accountability and six items of financial accountability. To measure the performance of public organi-
zations, we use the scale of seven items developed by Verbeeten and Speklé (2015). Possible answers to questions in this
study are categorized on a 5-point scale. In addition, we use control variables for the performance of public organizations,
including the size (Gomes et al., 2017) and the age of the organization (Glisson and Martin, 1980).

4. Findings

Following Hair et al. (2017), the testing of measurement models is conducted with first-order constructs, for which the
results are shown in Tables 2 and 3. Table 2 reveals that the load factor of the observed variables is higher than the cut-off
value of 0.4. Additionally, all corresponding t-values of the observed variables are statistically significant. The composite reli-
ability (CR) exceeds the acceptable value of 0.7, and the average variance extracted (AVE) is greater than 0.5 for all variables.
The results confirm that the measurement model is satisfactory with adequate support for the reliability and convergent
validity (Hair et al., 2017).
To test for discriminant validity, we use the Fornell-Larcker criterion and Heterotrait–Montrait (HTMT) test to evaluate
variables in the research model. We follow Hair et al. (2017) to test the discriminant validity across first-order constructs.
The highest HTMT value in the model is 0.71 (Table 3), significantly below 0.85. Additionally, Table 3 shows the square root
of the AVE of each variable to be higher than the bivariate correlations between that variable and the other exogenous con-
structs in the model, which demonstrates discriminant validity (Hair et al., 2017).
The variance inflation factor (VIF) values for the indicators of the composite models range from 1.00 to 1.45, lower than
the threshold of 5.0 (Hair et al., 2017), indicating that multicollinearity is not a problem in our data.
In relation to common method bias, the study shows that the single-factor Harman accounts for only 35.6% of the total
variance extracted from the entire model, smaller than the threshold of 50.0%. Therefore, common method bias is not a sev-
ere problem in this study (Podsakoff et al., 2003).
The structural model tests were performed with higher-order constructs (Hair et al., 2017), and the hypothesis testing
results are shown in Table 4, which reveals that the four hypotheses (H1, H2, H3, and H4) are accepted with high significance
at the 0.01 level. An appealing finding is that the magnitude of the relationship between financial-reporting quality and
accountability is much higher than those of other relationships (b = 0.53, t-value = 9.08). This result is consistent with
the conceptual framework of IPSASB (2013) and previous empirical studies (Patton, 1992; Steccolini, 2004). Based on agency
theory, financial reporting is considered a useful tool for stakeholders seeking to control the implementation of accountabil-
ity in public organizations (Mack and Ryan, 2006). We conclude that the higher the standard of financial reporting, the more
accurately the user can assess the accountability of public organizations.
The study also shows that accountability enacts a partial mediation (a complementary mediation) in the relationship
between financial-reporting quality and the performance of public organizations in Vietnam. Based on agency theory under
an NPM framework, a strict monitoring mechanism is required so that public organizations can be seen to apply public
resources effectively (Boston, 2016). Accountability monitoring is accordingly required, and this process is in turn dependent
on the quality of financial reporting. In such context, high-quality accounting information can help to monitor and evaluate
accountability effectively. The evaluation of accountability effectiveness therefore represents a beneficial tool for improving
management and the efficient use of resources, as well as increasing transparency at local government levels (Lassou, 2017).
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Yen Thi Tran, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Trang Cam Hoang J. Account. Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

Table 2
Scale items and latent variable evaluation.

Variable Item Outer t-test CR AVE

loading
Financial reporting quality
Fundamental qualitative characteristics (1: totally disagree, 5: totally agree) 0.90 0.54
Information on the financial report shows past economic events FQ1 0.63 11.22
Information on the financial report helps users predict the future based on information about the results FQ2 0.64 10.78
of past and present events
Information on the financial report fully describes the events that have arisen at the unit FQ3 0.75 15.34
Information on the financial report describes the events arising in the units objectively, regardless of the FQ4 0.67 9.20
opinion of the founder
Information on the financial report describes events arising in units without errors in material aspects FQ5 0.75 15.45
Information on the financial report describes the nature of events arising at the unit FQ6 0.82 24.45
Information on the financial report faithfully describes the events arising at the unit FQ7 0.82 29.81
Information on the financial report is verifiable FQ8 0.75 18.87
Enhancing qualitative characteristics (1: totally disagree, 5: totally agree) 0.89 0.63
Information on the financial report provided to the user in time EQ1 0.81 29.31
The information presented in the financial report is understandable to the user EQ2 0.84 29.80
Information on the financial report is created from the consistent application of accounting policies EQ3 0.80 20.21
Information on the financial report can be used to compare with the previous year’s financial statements EQ4 0.80 23.23
at the unit
Information on the financial report can be used to compare with the financial report of other units with EQ5 0.72 13.48
the same accounting regime
Accountability
Public accountability (1: totally ineffective, 5 : very effective) 0.92 0.61
To determine if the organization has operated in the best interest of the community PA1 0.76 16.31
To determine if the organization has conducted its operations effectively PA2 0.93 105.02
To determine if the organization has conducted its operations efficiently PA3 0.76 17.92
To decide if resources used as intended PA4 0.80 24.47
To determine effect of current operations on future generations PA5 0.77 19.79
To determine if public money used appropriately PA6 0.81 27.68
To determine the effect of current operations on future funding PA7 0.75 12.47
To make representations for funding PA8 0.61 7.12
Financial accountability (1: totally ineffective, 5 : very effective) 0.86 0.51
To determine financial viability FA1 0.78 17.94
To determine if the organisation can meet its short term liabilities FA2 0.72 10.99
To determine if the organisation can meet its long term liabilities FA3 0.67 9.79
To determine if the organisation has adhered to the budget FA4 0.70 13.27
To determine if the organisation has met its objectives FA5 0.80 26.74
To compare results with other similar organisation FA6 0.61 11.26
Performance (1: far below average, 5 : far above average) 0.92 0.63
The quantity or amount of work produced PER1 0.72 15.35
The quality or accuracy of work produced PER2 0.80 26.41
The number of innovations or new ideas by the unit PER3 0.71 15.70
Reputation of ‘‘work excellence” PER4 0.71 15.97
Attainment of unit production or service goals PER5 0.86 42.08
Efficiency of unit operations PER6 0.88 49.18
Morale of unit personnel PER7 0.84 36.33

Notes: CR: Composite reliability; AVE: Average variance extracted.

Table 3
Construct means, standard deviations, and correlations.

Variables Mean SD (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(1) Fundamental qualitative characteristics 3.89 0.68 0.73
(2) Enhancing qualitative characteristics 3.84 0.67 0.63*** 0.79
0.71
(3) Public accountability 3.74 0.73 0.43*** 0.51*** 0.78
0.48 0.57
(4) Financial accountability 3.70 0.72 0.35*** 0.43*** 0.62*** 0.72
0.41 0.50 0.70
(5) Performance 3.93 0.75 0.43*** 0.31*** 0.44*** 0.32*** 0.79
0.48 0.35 0.49 0.35

Notes: HTMT ratio and square root of AVE are shown in italic and bold, respectively. *** denotes a significance at the 1% level.

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Yen Thi Tran, Nguyen Phong Nguyen and Trang Cam Hoang J. Account. Public Policy 40 (2021) 106801

Table 4
Partial least squares results for theoretical model.

Dependent variable Accountability Performance Conclusion

b t-value b t-value
Direct effects
Hypothesis Independent variable
H1 Financial reporting quality 0.28 3.12*** Accepted
H2 Financial reporting quality 0.53 9.08*** Accepted
***
H3 Accountability 0.26 3.20 Accepted
Indirect effect Financial reporting quality -> Accountability -> Performance
H4 Accountability is a mediating variable: b = 0.14, t-value = 2.81*** Accepted
Control variable
Size 0.07 0.98
Age 0.14 2.40**
2
Adjusted R 0.27 0.25

Notes: ***, ** denote significant at the 1% and 5% levels, respectively.

In addition, we observe that an organization’s age has a positive effect on its performance, with a statistical significance of
5%. Thereby, we conclude that long-term public organizations have superior performance relative to newly established pub-
lic organizations.
We tested the robustness of our model by comparing the test results of our model with the test results of a competitive
model without accountability. The results show that the magnitude of the relationship between financial-reporting quality
and performance in the competing model (b = 0.413, t-value = 6.03) is much higher than for our research model (b = 0.28,
t-value = 3.12), with the implication that the relationship between financial reporting quality and organizational
performance is made weaker due to the mediating role of accountability. We therefore conclude that accountability partially
mediates the relationship between financial-reporting quality and performance.

5. Conclusion

This study provides empirical evidence of the direct and indirect impacts of financial-reporting quality on the
performance of public organizations in a developing country. First, the results show that providing information on financial
reporting ensures quality in the public sector and is useful for improving performance. Second, because the mediating role of
accountability on the relationship between financial-reporting quality and performance in public organizations is under-
researched, our study investigates accountability as a mediating variable in this relationship in an exploratory way.
Our study has implications for public organizations. First, public organizations need to recognize the importance of
preparing and announcing a quality-assured financial report. They should pay attention to the fundamental qualitative
characteristics of information (reliability, relevance, verifiability), as well as the advanced qualitative characteristics of
information (comparability, and timely and understandable disclosures), which can contribute to managing finances more
effectively (Cohen and Karatzimas, 2017). Second, public organizations need to design relevant accountability mechanisms,
conditions, and contexts, so that such procedures work effectively to promote improved performances.
The current study inevitably has the limitations associated with a cross-sectional study that evidence about causal
relationships cannot be provided. In addition, based on NPM theory, accountability can also be a mediating variable for
the relationship between determinants and performance other than for quality financial reporting, such as for a
performance-oriented culture (Verbeeten and Speklé, 2015). Organizational culture is a broad concept, consisting of different
dimensions (Jung et al., 2009). We therefore suggest that the impact of culture in general, and a performance-oriented cul-
ture, on organizational behaviour should be observed over a sustained period of time in future research. Finally, the study
has used survey data obtained from accountants and managers who are to a greater or lesser extent, self-reporting on their
organizational performance. We therefore recommend that future research in the financial-reporting process be undertaken
allowing for the attitudes of alternative participants in the financial-reporting process, such as financial analysts and
regulators.

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