A New Useful Tool or a Further Misunderstood Obligation? Perceptions on the LG Consolidated Report

Italy offers an important experience on the consolidated report since it was one of the first countries in the European Union to expressly provide for compulsory adoption. Using institutional theory to explain the role of shared values, culture and the influence of existing practice during the accounting reform, the paper aims to explore the perception of local government (LG) on the users, the uses, and the utility. We sent a questionnaire to a statistical stratified sample of 800 LG, collecting a response rate of 17%. The results find out that social legitimization pressures than by accountability patterns or performance analysis drive the adoption process more. Even if the empirical evidence confirms that the stakeholders most interested are perceived on the internal members, the results indicate that the report is perceived as a potential tool for pursuing performance assessment strategies in a group context. However, this potentiality depends on the coordination effort made by the LG. This raises many questions on how the council views the LG group.