Study title

Finnish Local Government 2004: Financial Management 1999

Dataset ID Number

FSD2270

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2270
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd2270

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kallio, Olavi (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Manninen, Juhani (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Meklin, Pentti (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Oulasvirta, Lasse (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)

Abstract

The survey charted the practices of municipalities' financial management. The topics included covered financial planning and monitoring, accounting, monitoring revenues and expenses, and municipal auditing committee and its activities. The survey also included questions on the organisational structure of municipality.

The composing process of municipal budget was investigated by asking the respondents whether there was any preliminary debate prior to accepting the budget preparation instructions and by presenting them with a set of attitudinal statements on the nature of council seminars. Their views were also probed on which calculations accordant with the budget preparation instructions were agreed on in the council seminar on the budget, and how well different committees and other bodies responsible for allocations adhered to the budget framework.

The respondents were also asked for example how substantial the changes made to the budget in the local government were compared to the proposal submitted by the municipal manager, and how substantial the changes made in the council were compared to the budget proposal of the local government. The budget's operational goals and net budgeting were charted by asking the respondents to give their opinions on the number of operational goals and allocations binding the council. They also named the operational areas in which net budgeting was used, and whether there had been any changes in the use. They were also asked what kind of procedure was performed if the binding operational objectives and allocations were found to be unbalanced during the budget year.

Some questions pertained to monitoring the quality of services. The respondents were asked about customer feedback, service commitments, quality criteria defined in outsourcing service agreements, cash budgeting, liquidity plans, and investing plans.

Views were probed on the accuracy of the budget monitoring reports, and on how many times per year institutions/organs received these reports. The importance and adequacy of internal information from different bodies were charted. Some questions explored the application and implementation of the new accounting law.

Further questions focused on municipal organisation and its management, principles, and strategies. The respondents were asked about the role of municipal administration in service provision, and about the advantages and drawbacks of municipal organisation.

Background variables included the respondent's year of birth, gender, mother tongue, degree, school, and job title.

Keywords

accounting; budgetary control; economic planning; expenditure; income; local authority budgets; local finance; local government organizations; municipalities; service provision

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Economic policy, public expenditure and revenue (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government 2004

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Kallio, Olavi (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Martikainen, Juha-Pekka (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Meklin, Pentti (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)
• Oulasvirta, Lasse (University of Tampere. Department of Economics and Accounting)

Time Period Covered

1999

Collection Dates

1999

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Espoo, Haukipudas, Humppila, Hämeenlinna, Iitti, Jaala, Joroinen, Kaarina, Karstula, Kemiö, Kerava, Kiikala, Kokkola, Kolari, Kotka, Kristiinankaupunki, Kuhmoinen, Lappeenranta, Leppävirta, Lieksa, Liljendal, Lumijoki, Mikkeli, Multia, Naantali, Noormarkku, Närpiö, Oulainen, Outokumpu, Padasjoki, Pieksämäki, Porvoo, Pudasjärvi, Punkaharju, Pyhäntä, Pylkönmäki, Ranua, Rääkkylä, Sonkajärvi, Suolahti, Tyrnävä, Vaasa, Vahto, Varkaus, Vehkalahti, Vimpeli, Virrat

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Political-administrative area (Municipality)

Universe

The municipalities participating in the Finnish Local Government 2004 research project

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Probability: Multistage

Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities. The questionnaire was sent to financial managers (chief accountants, financial managers, etc.; municipal managers in small municipalities) in the research municipalities. 47 municipalities participated in the research. 47 of them responded. The data have been partially complemented by telephone interviews and e-mail surveys.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Telephone interview

Self-administered questionnaire: E-mail

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Related Datasets

FSD1246 Finnish Local Government 2004: Financial Management 1996

FSD2271 Finnish Local Government 2004: Financial Management 2003

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Values for some variables have not been delivered to the FSD. These variables have been coded as zeros (0 'Missing information/no value label'). Questions 321 and 322 have been removed from the data because of unclear content. Questions on auditing committees (411 - 433) are not included in the data delivered to the FSD.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kallio, Olavi (University of Tampere) & Manninen, Juhani (University of Tampere) & Meklin, Pentti (University of Tampere) & Oulasvirta, Lasse (University of Tampere): Finnish Local Government 2004: Financial Management 1999 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2009-04-14). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2270

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

FSD has not been informed of any publications related to the data.