L’evoluzione delle teorie sui processi decisionali delle amministrazioni pubbliche, premessa per l’interpretazione della riforma della contabilità

This article thinks back to the fundamental steps of the reform process of Italian public accounting during the last fifty years. Special attention is devoted to the evolution of the logics and tools governing decision-making in the public sector. This analysis is paralleled by extensive references to the development of the Italian studies of economia aziendale on public sector organizations, on the one hand, and to the evolution that in the some period involved the accounting legislations of most western countries and the international public accounting literature, on the other. The Italian reforms are evaluated within the framework of the more general international process of modernization of public administration. Three main conclusive arguments are offered. Firstly, the precursory value is asserted of the commitment of the scholars belonging to the research area of economia aziendale in preparing the way - starting in the early '70s - to the reforms that were to be accomplished in the subsequent decades. Secondly, the reform path to be covered is described as still long and demanding. After such movements as New Public Management, New Public Governance, and New Public Service, the public value theory is indicated as a promising new challenge for public sector researchers. Thirdly, some critical considerations are addressed on both the accomplished and ongoing reforms. Some aspects of such reforms are questioned in terms of their "novelly" and ,modernity", arguing that the "new" is not necessary "modern", and vice versa. It is an admonishment not to indulge reforming "fashions".