Financial Resilience

Organizations in the public sector operate under increased uncertainty, volatility and complexity, while at the same time facing significant reductions in financial resources. Understanding which capacities enable local governments to deal with shocks, disruptive events, and uncertainty is therefore imperative.

​

Members of the Public Service Accounting and Accountability have applied the concept of resilience to:

 

• Explore how local governments keep operating even in adverse conditions and whether and why they are able to adapt rapidly in a crisis,

• Capture and explore the dimensions as well as possible emerging patterns of financial resilience in local governments

​

Adopting a long-term, strategic view that considers not only responses to shocks and crises but also the environmental context as well as internal conditions, capacities, and histories/path dependences, they have shed light on ‘financial resilience’.

 

Several international projects have already added to refining the concept and to shedding light on how the financial and the organizational perspective on dealing with crises can be combined.

​

Our colleagues are working on a Financial Resilience Toolkit for local governments. The comparative study of four major European countries – France, Germany, Italy and the UK is currently in progress.

​

Preliminary findings have been presented by the project team at Workshops with UK and US audience in mid-2021:

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​​​​​

Ileana Steccolini, who some years ago gave the impetus for the work on financial resilience, shared in Public Finance International what the concept is all about, and how it matters to local Governments in practice. Read the piece here.

​

Results and findings of the research projects are available now – find out more below!

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

Academic Articles

​

• Barbera C., Jones M., Korac S., Saliterer I., Steccolini I. (2017): Governmental financial resilience under austerity in Austria, England and Italy: How do local governments cope with financial shocks?, Public Administration, online early view. Available via: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/padm.12350/abstract

• Barbera, C., Jones, M., Korac, S., Saliterer, I., & Steccolini, I. (2021). Local government strategies in the face of shocks and crises: the role of anticipatory capacities and financial vulnerability. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 87(1), 154-170. Available via: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0020852319842661

• Barbera, C., Guarini, E., & Steccolini, I. (2020). How do governments cope with austerity? The roles of accounting in shaping governmental financial resilience. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 33(3), 529-558. Available via: https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-11-2018-3739

• Barbera, C., Dom, B., Du Boys, C., Korać, S., Saliterer, I., & Steccolini, I. (2025). Insights from local government managers: Navigating crises through organizational capacities and perceptions. Public Administration Review, 85(3), 717-736. Available via: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/puar.13859​

 

Books & Chapters

​

• Steccolini I, Jones M, Saliterer I, (eds). (2017): Governmental financial resilience: how local governments face global crises and austerity. Emerald. Available via: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/book/10.1108/S2053-7697201727

• Saliterer, I., Korac, S., Barbera, C., & Steccolini, I. (2021). Taking stock: The role of the institutional context for local government financial resilience. In Local public finance: An international comparative regulatory perspective (pp. 319-332). Cham: Springer International Publishing. Available via: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-67466-3_18

• Barbera, C., Dom, B. K., Du Boys, C., Korac, S., Saliterer, I., & Steccolini, I. (2023). Government financial resilience-a European perspective. In Research handbook on city and municipal finance (pp. 408-432). Edward Elgar Publishing. Available via: https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781800372962/book-part-9781800372962-31.xml

​

Reports

 

• Steccolini I., Barbera C., Jones M., Korac S., Saliterer I. (2018): Local government financial resilience: Germany, Italy and UK compared. CIMA Research Executive Summary Vol. 14 Issue 2. Free version available via: https://www.cimaglobal.com/Research–Insight/Local-government-financial-resilience-Germany-Italy-and-UK-compared/​​

• Jones M, Barbera C, Steccolini I. (2015): Governmental Financial Resilience under Austerity: the case of English Local Authorities. London: Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. CIMA Executive Summary Report, v.11 (3). Available via: http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/NHS-public-sector/Governmental-financial-resilience-austerity.pdf

• Steccolini, I, & Lino, A. F., (2024). Local Government Financial Resilience: Swedish Municipalities and Regions. Stockholm. KEF and Kommuninvest. Free version available at: https://www.kef.se/aktuellt/ny-rapport-kommuner-och-regioner-visar-finansiell-motstandskraft-trots-utmaningar​

​