Browsing by Author "Jayasinghe, Kelum"

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    Contingency factors and budget actors’ behaviour during COVID-19: the case of Uganda
    (Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 2022) Korutaro Nkundabanyanga, Stephen; Jayasinghe, Kelum; Abaho, Ernest; Mugambe, Kenneth
    The purpose of this study is to examine the viewpoints and experiences of multiple budget actors to understand their particular budget related behaviours contingent upon the COVID-19 (C19) pandemic of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses Uganda as a case study and employs semi-structured interview method for the data collection. In trying to generate themes and patterns, data are analysed through three levels of coding: open, axial and selective coding. The contingency theory is used to interpret the data. Findings – The task of budgeting formulation, implementation and control in times of C19 lead to varied actual behaviours of budget actors because of the environmental uncertainty, inappropriate structural and technological conditions and manipulative organisational cultures contingent upon the Ugandan C19 budget context. Research limitations/implications – The insights generated from the study can be useful for the national governments of emerging economies, e.g. African countries, to understand the conditions that influence the budget actors’ behaviour and together, develop long-term financial resilience strategies to face future emergencies. Originality/value – This study contributes to accounting and public budgeting theory by showing that contingency theory is a relevant framework for understanding budget actors’ behaviour in emergency situations. The study potentially strengthens the contingency theory framework through its incorporation of organisational culture perspective into the “people” element.
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    Methodological Issues in African Accounting Research: Towards Alternative Theories and Methods
    (Research Square, 2022) Jayasinghe, Kelum; Soobaroyen, Teerooven; Lassou, Philippe; Nkundabanyanga, Stephen Korutaro
    The purpose of this special issue is to advance the knowledge and discussion around alternative methodologies in accounting research on African countries. Albeit from a relatively low base, there has been a gradual increase in African accounting research and articles published in major accounting journals, thereby representative of a growing voice of African scholarship (e.g. Neu et al., 2010, Soobaroyen and Ntim, 2013; Goddard et al., 2016; Bakre et al., 2017; Ntim et al., 2017; Mbelwa at al., 2019; Lassou et al., 2018; Lassou et al., 2019; Kan et al., 2020; Jayasinghe at al., 2020; Lassou et al., 2021; Moses and Hopper, 2022). However, until recently, a large number of empirical studies draw on the positivist perspective, adopting quantitative methodologies and market-based theories. Many of the accounting research contributions on African accounting can be also attributed to diaspora academics based in international universities (Hopper et al, 2009; van Helden and Uddin 2016; Ashraf et al., 2019). Thus, it is not surprising to note that very few studies have gained centre stage in relation to non-market-based approaches (e.g. Neu et al., 2010; Lassou et al., 2018; Lassou et al., 2019; Jayasinghe at al., 2020). Although this positivist tradition of accounting research can, in general, report on the associations between accounting practices and firm/contextual variables, this approach inherently comes short on explaining, exploring or examining the complex and challenging political, economic and cultural issues, and their implications for the role of accounting in African countries (van Helden and Uddin, 2016). Even though no one perspective can provide a complete picture of the reality of accounting practices in Africa, these publication patterns indicate the importance of identifying fertile areas for future research, presenting a case for a variety of different/alternative theoretical and methodological perspectives to enhance our understanding on critical issues on African accounting. Arguably, therein lies the richness of the insights that one could leverage a credible case for change. This special issue offers the opportunity to create a forum, debate and reflection on this topic, particularly on what has been done and what can be done in African accounting studies, in terms of methods, theoretical paradigms and challenges of this change.