Pathway

Where: 

Bologna, Department of Management

Who: 

Céline DU BOYS, Emanuele PADOVANI, Eric SCORSONE, Filip HRUZA, Isabel Marìa Alijarde BRUSCA, Jelena POLJASEVIC, Julita LUKOMSKA, René GEISSLER, Robert BLÖSCHL, and Susana JORGE

What: 

The meeting concluded with an agreement on the structure of the database of local governments' financial analytics. Following a final review, the collection of accounting information has begun.

Country reports have then been prepared to complement the database, providing descriptions of accounting practices, key workshop topics, links between domestic accounting and the database, and illustrative examples. A standardized format for these reports has then been collaboratively decided.

Where:

Online meeting

Who:

Céline DU BOYS, Emanuele PADOVANI, Eric SCORSONE, Filip HRUZA, Isabel Marìa Alijarde BRUSCA, Jelena POLJASEVIC, Julita LUKOMSKA, René GEISSLER, Robert BLÖSCHL, and Susana JORGE

What:

The meeting focused on the relevance of a COVID-19 stress test for local government finances, addressing its applicability across countries, existing studies, and the group’s consensus to include this topic in ongoing research. Among the topics discussed:

• Challenges in estimating COVID-19 impacts due to data subjectivity and quantitative method limitations.
• Importance of accrual-based information and broad municipal representation for comparability.
• Stress tests reveal vulnerability sources from the LGFS-Across database.
• Need for a global understanding of local government responses to COVID-19 through comparative and context-sensitive research.

Where:

Online meeting

Who:

Céline DU BOYS, Emanuele PADOVANI, Eric SCORSONE, Filip HRUZA, Isabel Marìa Alijarde BRUSCA, Jelena POLJASEVIC, Julita LUKOMSKA, René GEISSLER, Robert BLÖSCHL, and Susana JORGE

What:

Discussed topics included:

• Database development: progress on financial sustainability KPIs.
• Focus on COVID-19’s impact on local government finances, fiscal sustainability, and comparative studies across countries.

Padovani, E., Iacuzzi, S., Jorge, S., & Pimentel, L. (2021). Municipal financial vulnerability in pandemic crises: A framework for analysis. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 33(4), 387–408.

Padovani, E., Scorsone, E., Iacuzzi, S., & De Souza, S. V. (Eds.) (2022). Local governments' financial vulnerability: Analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Routledge.

Padovani, E., Iacuzzi, S., Jorge, S., & Pimentel, L. (2022). Financial vulnerability. In Padovani, E., Scorsone, E., Iacuzzi, S., & De Souza, S. V. (Eds.). Local governments' financial vulnerability: Analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Routledge, pp. 7-15.

Padovani, E., Iacuzzi, S., Poljasevic, J., & Valle Souza, S. (2025). A multicountry analysis of local government financial vulnerability during the 2020 pandemic considering systemic factors. Financial Accountability & Management, 41(1), 42–59.