Who is More Accountable? Federal or State Malaysian Statutory Bodies

Authors

  • Nurhidayah Yahya Accounting Research Institute (ARI), UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Jamaliah Said Accounting Research Institute (ARI), UiTM Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nor Balkish Zakaria Universiti Teknologi MARA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52962/ipjaf.2019.3.2.73

Keywords:

Accountability, transparency, stakeholders’ participation, evaluation, complaint and response, federal statutory bodies, state statutory bodies

Abstract

The World Bank on Governance Indicators in the aspect of ‘Voice and Accountability’ reported accountability for Malaysia had declined to 34% in 2017 from 37% in 2013. Data from the International Country Risk Guide showed a decrease in accountability since 2011 from 4.46 to 4 points out of 6 points in the year 2012. Public sector organisations like statutory bodies might also face issues of accountability. This study aims to evaluate and compare the accountability outcomes of federal and state statutory bodies through a questionnaire. The measurement for accountability based on four dimensions, namely transparency, evaluation, stakeholders' participation and complaint and response. Based on 194 responses received from top management of Malaysian statutory bodies, the overall accountability outcome has shown an above-average score of 5.97 for both federal and state statutory bodies. This shows that Malaysian statutory bodies have delivered a high level of accountability. The test for the difference between the means scores of independent T-tests also shows that there is no significant difference between the accountability level of federal and state statutory bodies. Despite the different level of obligation and legislation, both types of statutory bodies seem to deliver an equally high level of accountability outcomes.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abu Bakar, N. B., Saleh, Z., & Mohamad, M. H. S. (2011). Enhancing Malaysian Public Sector Transparency and Accountability: Lessons and Issues. European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, 31, 133–145.

Ackerman, J., (2004). Co-governance for Accountability: Beyond “Exit” and “Voice.” World Development, 32(3), 447–463.

Ammeter, A. P., Douglas, C., Ferris, G. R., & Goka, H. (2004). A Social Relationship Conceptualization of Trust and Accountability in Organizations. Human Resource Management Review, 14, 47–65.

Barrett, P. (2002a). Achieving Better Practice Corporate Governance in the Public Sector.

Barrett, P. (2002b). Expectation, and Perception, of Better Practice Corporate Governance in the Public Sector from an Audit Perspective.

Behn, R. D., (2001). Rethinking Democratic Accountability. Brookings Institution Pres.

Blair, H., (2000). Participation and Accountability At the Periphery: Democratic Local Governance in Six Countries. World Development, 28(1), 21–39.

Bovens, M., (2007). Analysing and Assessing Accountability : A Conceptual Framework. European Law Journal, 13(4), 447–468.

Bovens, M., (2010). Two Concepts of Accountability: Accountability as a Virtue and as a Mechanism. West European Politics, 33(5), 946–967.

Bovens, M., Goodin, R., & Schillemans, T. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Public Accountability. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Brandsma, G. J., & Schillemans, T. (2012). The Accountability Cube: Measuring Accountability. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 1–24.

Carman, J. G., (2009). Nonprofits, Funders, and Evaluation. Accountability in Action? The American Review of Public Administration, 39(4), 374–390.

Carman, J. G., (2013). Evaluation in an Era of Accountability: Unexpected Opportunities – A Reply to Jill Chouinard. American Journal of Evaluation, 34(2), 261–265.

Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P., (2007). The Whole-of-Government Approach to Public Sector Reform. Public Administration Review, 1059–1066.

Denhardt, R. B., (2008). Theories of Public Organizations (Fifth). Thomson Wadsworth.

Dubnick, M. J., & Frederickson, H. G. (2011). Public Accountability: Performance Measurement, the Extended State and the Search for Trust.

Ebrahim, A., (2005). Accountability Myopia: Losing Sight of Organizational Learning. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (Vol. 34).

Engelen, A., Gupta, V., Strenger, L., & Brettel, M. (2015). Entrepreneurial Orientation, Firm Performance, and the Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership Behaviors. Journal of Management, 41(4), 1069–1097.

Hanretty, C., & Koop, C., (2014). Independence, Accountability, and the Quality of Regulatory Decision-Making.

Hanretty, C., Larouche, P., & Reindl, A. (2012). Independence, Accountability and Perceived Quality of Regulators. Brussels.

Harrison, T. M., & Sayogo, D. S. (2014). Transparency, Participation, and Accountability Practices in Open Government: A Comparative Study. Government Information Quarterly, 31, 513–525.

Hess, D., (2007). Social Reporting and New Governance Regulation: the Prospects of Achieving Corporate Accountability Through Transparency. Business Ethics Quarterly, 17(3), 453–476.

Hyndman, N., & Liguori, M., (2016). Public Sector Reforms : Changing Contours on an NPM Landscape. Financial Accountability & Management, 32(1), 5–32.

Kloot, L., (1999). Performance Measurement and Accountability in Victorian Local Government. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 12(7), 565–583.

Kolk, A., (2008). Sustainability, Accountability and Corporate Governance: Exploring Multinationals’ Reporting Practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 1–19.

Lerner, J. S., & Tetlock, P. E. (1999). Accounting for the Effects of Accountability. Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 255–275.

Leviton, L. C., (2016). Codifying Practice Into Theory: Commentary on Wandersman et al. American Journal of Evaluation, 1–6.

Lewis, L., Isbell, M. G., & Koschmann, M. (2010). Collaborative Tensions: Practitioners’ Experiences of Interorganizational Relationships. Communication Monographs, 77(4), 460–479.

Lindkvist, L., & Llewellyn, S., (2003). Accountability, Responsibility and Organization. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 19, 251–273.

Lloyd, R., Oatham, J., & Hammer, M. (2007). 2007 Global Accountability Report. One World Trust.

Lloyd, R., Warren, S., & Hammer, M. (2008). 2008 Global Accountability Report. One World Trust.

Mabillard, V., & Zumofen, R. (2016). The Complex Relationship Between Transparency and Accountability: A Synthesis and Contribution to Existing Frameworks. Public Policy and Administration, 1–20.

Mohanty, R. P. (1993). The importance of accountability in managing productivity. Work Study, 42(5), 13–14.

National Audit Department of Malaysia. (2015a). Auditor General’s Report; Synopsis on the Audit of Activities of the Federal Statutory Bodies, Management of Subsidiary Companies and Certification of Financial Statement, Series 2.

National Audit Department of Malaysia. (2015b). Auditor General’s Report; Synopsis on the Audit of Activities of the Federal Statutory Bodies and the Management of Subsidiary Companies and Financial Management, Series 1.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016a). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Kedah Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016b). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Kelantan Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016c). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Malacca Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016d). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Pahang Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016e). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Perlis Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016f). Auditor General’s Report 2016. Activities Management/Department/Agencies’ Financial and Companies’ Management of Terengganu Government. Series 1. National Audit Department Malaysia.

National Audit Department Malaysia. (2016g). Auditor General’s Report 2016 on Financial Statement Federal Government and Financial Management of Ministries/Departments/Federal Statutory Bodies.

Nunnally, J. C., (1978). Psychometrics Theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

OECD. (2013). Accountability and Democratic Governance: Orientations and Principles for Development.

Olsen, J. P., (2013). The Institutional Basis of Democratic Accountability. West European Politics, 36(3), 447–473.

Osborne, S. P., (2006). The New Public Governance? Public Management Review, 8(3), 377–387.

Osborne, S. P., (2010). The New Public Governance?: Emerging Perspectives on the Theory and Practice of Public Governance. (S. P. Osborne, Ed.) Routledge (First edit).

Osborne, S. P., Radnor, Z., & Nasi, G. (2012). A New Theory for Public Service Management? Toward a (Public) Service-Dominant Approach. American Review of Public Administration, 43(2), 135–158.

Pallant, J., (2016). SPSS Survival Manual (6th ed.). London: McGraw Hill Education.

Pollitt, C., (2003). The Essential Public Manager. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Reichersdorfer, J., Christensen, T., & Vrangbaek, K. (2013). Accountability of Immigration Administration: Comparing Crises in Norway, Denmark and Germany. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 79(2), 271–291.

Romzek, B. S., (2000). Dynamics of Public Sector Accountability in an Era of Reform. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 66(100), 21–44.

Romzek, B. S., & Dubnick, M. J. (1987). Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy. Public Administration Review, 47(3), 227–238.

Seidman, H., (1954). The Government Corporation: Organization and Controls. Public Administration Review1, 14(3), 183–192.

Shariman, J., Nawawi, A., & Salin, A. S. A. P. (2018). Issues and Concerns on Statutory Bodies and Federal Government – Evidence from Malaysian Auditor General’s Report. International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 4(2).

Siddiquee, N. A. (2005). Public Accountability in Malaysia: Challenges and Critical Concerns. International Journal of Public Administration, 28(1), 107–129.

Simonson, I., & Staw, B. M. (1992). Deescalation strategies: A comparison of techniques for reducing commitment to losing courses of action. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(4), 419–426.

Suebvises, P., (2018). Social Capital, Citizen Participation in Public Administration, and Public Sector Performance in Thailand. World Development, 109, 236–248.

Tax, S. S., Brown, S. W., & Chandrashekaran, M. (1998). Customer Evaluations of Service Complaint Experiences: Implications for Relationship Marketing. The Journal of Marketing, 62(April), 60–76.

Thynne, I. (2006). Statutory Bodies: How Distinctive and in What Ways? Public Organization Review, 6, 171–184.

Wandersman, A., Alia, K., Cook, B. S., Hsu, L. L., & Ramaswamy, R. (2016). Evidence-Based Interventions Are Necessary but Not Sufficient for Achieving Outcomes in Each Setting in a Complex World: Empowerment Evaluation, Getting To Outcomes and Demonstrating Accountability. American Journal of Evaluation, 1–18.

Downloads

Published

2019-04-01

Issue

Section

Main Section

How to Cite

Who is More Accountable? Federal or State Malaysian Statutory Bodies. (2019). Indian-Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance, 3(2), 15-26. https://doi.org/10.52962/ipjaf.2019.3.2.73

Similar Articles

11-20 of 34

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.