Accounting Change in Italian Local Governments: What’s beyond Managerial Fashion?

During the last decade Italian local governments (LGs) have undergone a reform process, involving deep changes in their accounting system. The purpose of our longitudinal study is to analyse the development path of accounting tools in an Italian LG body over a decade and to answer the following research questions: is it possible to identify typical patterns of accounting renewal? Does a significant gap exist between the intended purpose and the actual effects of the change in accounting systems? What is the role of existing routines in constraining the processes of change and their effects? The analysis of the case shows that changes in the accounting systems proceed both in a revolutionary and incremental way. Radical and discontinuous events punctuate the process of change and often cause resistance. They are justified by external events, crisis and very often by law requirements but they hardly have an impact on routines. The latter are easier to be modified when the accounting changes proposed are consistent with traditional shared values, giving origin to a gradual diffusion of ideas of rationality and efficiency.