The transformative role of culture, its ability to create value for the benefit of current and future generations, is widely recognized by academics of many disciplines, professionals and policymakers. Notwithstanding, how culture can be a driving force for economic growth, a source of welfare and tools for social inclusion, still deserves to be investigated at various levels, starting with local communities. This book attempts to explain the relevance of accounting knowledge for managing cultural heritage by sustainable, resilient, accountable organizations, regardless of their public or private institutional form. This book aims at understanding the role of cultural heritage in the economy, in society and in facing the new challenges deriving from the enactment of the UN Sustainable Development agenda, as well as the pandemic emergency from COVID-19. It adopts a managerial accounting studies approach to provide answers that can be applied in any organizational context. The results achieved from the field research are critically discussed under the theoretical frameworks referring to the theory of value and its creation. From the findings and their discussion, a conceptual model based on empiricism is proposed for managing cultural heritage of communities under sustainable perspective, even in times of crisis. It will be essential reading for academics and students of cultural heritage management, sustainability and crisis management in organisations.

This book analyses the economic and financial profiles of heritage assets as tourist attractions. Offering both theoretical insights, methods, and global empirical examples, it considers how heritage assets can create economic and social value for a region. It offers an analysis of micro- and macroeconomic characteristics of heritage assets and their financial management. The importance of innovation in light of technological and market transformations is considered, as well as the sustainable management of heritage assets environmentally and in terms of sustainable tourism. The book delves into the financial assessment of heritage assets with a focus on evaluation models, the technique of project financing and wealth management in the art sector. These topics are illustrated with cases studies of heritage assets managed as tourist attractions to outline successful management strategies. The book draws on examples from a range of sites and locations across Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the United States to show how heritage assets can be an economic stimulus for the development of local economies. The book will be of interest to academics and students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the fields of tourism economics, cultural studies and environmental studies.

The valuation of Heritage Assets (HA), which are a vital resource for the non-profit public or private organizations operating in the heritage sector is on the one hand sometimes difficult to do, and on the other, can be excessively costly with respect to the correlated disclosure benefits. The growing application of the (full or modified) accrual basis of accounting in the public and non-profit sectors has extended and reanimated this issue. This book applies the comparative method, in order to provide new information on the analyzed subject. Specifically, after having investigated the different theoretical and technical proposals, it compares the reporting behavior of significant cases of Italian and American public and private organizations, coming from different cultural and management approaches. Proposing a link between the managerial and reporting issues of the organizations involved in the management and maintenance of heritage assets, this book is crucial in the task to optimize the performance of organizations in this sector.

Managing Cultural Heritage explores managerial and governance issues within the cultural heritage sector, with particular regard to the ecomuseum. Moreover, a social accountability model is supplied to ecomuseums in order to be accountable towards its shareholder, the local community.

Measurement in Public Sector Financial Reporting presents a constructive and thoughtful analysis of possible valuation methodologies for the public sector context and related peculiarities and critical issues.

This book addresses the necessary developments and adjustments that can be regarded as a promising starting point for making accrual accounting a more practice-relevant for the public sector entities. Specifically, the main focus is on Reshaping the application of accrual accounting principles and assumptions to fit the context of public sector entities; Developing a practice-relevant holistic accounting approach for governmental capital assets, which has been based on developing and reshaping the assets recognition criteria; Scope of general purpose financial reporting from an accountability perspective; Suggesting a sustainable accounting approach for reporting on the long-term fiscal sustainability; Developing a dynamic model for making public sector accrual accounting a more user practice relevant; and finally, Developing a theory of accounting information usefulness, which explains how cognitive aspects do influence the use/non-use of accounting information by the politicians. Fundamentally, the book has tackled these necessary developments and adjustments from both the producer’s and the user’s perspectives.

Since the 1990s, heritage studies has emerged as a distinct academic field, and practices and rhetoric drawn from mainstream corporate management and strategic planning have become widespread. Based on extensive research, this book is an in-depth investigation of management practices rather than policies, based on a variety of case studies from around the world. The authors take the issue of management in heritage seriously, but also take into account the role of other disciplines within heritage organizations. In particular, they focus on sustainability in terms of financial resources, human resources, knowledge management, and the relationship with the audience and communities of scholars. The book opens with a methodological introduction that discusses what it means to do research on management, and why international comparative research is essential. The body of the text engages issues of heritage and management through five distinct analytical lenses: management and the process of change, institutional settings and business models, change and planning, the Heritage Chain, and the space between policy and practice. Each of these five sections includes a chapter introducing the analytical framework and possible implications, followed by case histories from China, Italy, Malta, Turkey, and Peru. The book ends with a chapter of concluding reflections.

Sustainability Accounting, Management Control and Reporting: A European Perspective traces a picture of innovative performance measurement tools and approaches to drive organizations to implement their shared value and sustainability strategy, considering different perspectives around accounting, managerial control and reporting. In recent years, organizations managing their responsible approach with relevance and pressure from stakeholders and regulations has proven to be a major challenge. During the first two decades of the 21st century, many companies have reached a real maturity in this area and have deployed coherent responsible approaches that are integrated into their overall strategy. It is now a matter of steering these responsible approaches from an accounting and managerial standpoint, but also of reporting on them. It requires the simultaneous use of comprehensive accounting, controlling and reporting tools. This book provides an innovative perspective on sustainable management control, comprehensive accounting and integrated reporting, presenting the most recent proposals and the main critical issues. Aimed at researchers, academics, managers, business leaders and advanced students, the book will be especially valuable to those in the fields of corporate social responsibility, strategic management, and accounting.

This Handbook explores how accounting, accountability and governance are interconnected, and demonstrates that they must operate effectively together in establishing good personal and organizational behaviour in entities of all types around the globe. It will be crucial for academic researchers working within the fields of accounting, economics, corporate governance, accountability, management and business and be beneficial for accounting, economics and management professionals seeking to clarify and expand upon their knowledge for effective application.

Communities and Cultural Heritage explores the relationship between communities, their cultural heritage and the global forces that control most of the world’s wealth and resources in today’s world. Bringing together scholars and heritage practitioners from nine countries, this book contributes to the ongoing dialogue on community heritage by analysing impediments to full community participation. The underminin of local communities comes at a high price. As the chapters in this book demonstrate, the knowledge embedded within traditional and Indigenous heritage creates communities that are more resilient to environmental and social stressors and more responsive to contemporary challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, post-disaster recovery and relocation. Cultural heritage practices often fail to capitalise upon local knowledge and traditional skills and undervalue the potential contribution of local communities in finding creative and resourceful solutions to the issues they are confronting. Arguing that the creation of successful community heritage project requires ongoing reflection on the aims, methods, financing and acceptable outcomes of projects, the volume also demonstrates that the decolonization of Western-focussed heritage practices is an ongoing process, by which subaltern groups are brought forward and given a space in the heritage narrative. Reflecting on trends that impact communities and heritage sites across different geographical regions, Communities and Cultural Heritage will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners of cultural heritage,archaeology and anthropology around the world.