Stakeholder participation and resistance to change in accrual standard-setting: insights from Italian local authorities

Purpose The need for accrual accounting standard-setting in the public sector has been a topic of discussion in the European Union for many years. Stakeholder participation and resistance to change are crucial aspects when designing a standard-setting process; however, this topic remains underdeveloped in the field of public accounting. This article addresses this gap by investigating stakeholder participation in the current Italian public accounting standard-setting and examining the views of various stakeholders in the Arconet arena. Design/methodology/approach This contribution presents an analysis of a country-level case study of standard-setting. The analysis focuses on studying the minutes of the stakeholder committee (Arconet) and adopts content analysis techniques based on natural language processing (NLP). Findings The results highlight the main issues raised by the stakeholders in the Arconet arena for implementing the accrual accounting standard-setting. The main challenges include the necessity of a pilot phase, staff training for civil servants, defining a timeline which is coherent with the operational capacity of the public administration, and updating the information technologies (IT) accounting system. Originality/value This study offers insights on stakeholder participation and resistance to change in public accounting standard-setting, employing the NLP research method.