Interaction between Accounting and Trust in the Tanzanian Local Governments

Abeid Francis Gaspar^1,

¹Department of Accounting and Finance, The Institute of Finance Management, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Cite this paper:
Abeid Francis Gaspar. Interaction between Accounting and Trust in the Tanzanian Local Governments. Journal of Finance and Accounting. 2014; 2(4):115-126. doi: 10.12691/jfa-2-4-4

Abstract

This paper presents the empirical findings of the interaction between accounting and trust in the Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs). The empirical data was gathered through in-depth interviews with Councillors, Parliamentary Committee members, Councils’ internal auditors, external auditors from the National Audit Office of Tanzania (NAOT) and executives from the LGAs and Central Government. In order to obtain a thorough understanding of the interplay between accounting and trust, analysis of the relevant documents and attendance at important meetings were also sought. The collected data was analysed using the grounded theory procedures advocated by Strauss and Corbin (1998) and Corbin and Strauss (2008). The findings of this study show that actors within the LGAs used various strategies deliberately to manage trust perceptions emerging in the course of exchange of accounting information. Also, the study observed that accounting is influencing, and being influenced by, trust. For instance, as a result of distrust amongst actors in the studied LGAs, new accounting practices, such as physical inspection emerged, which also affected trust relations. In the light of Relational Signalling Theory (RST), the findings indicate that the relational signals are important in the interactions between accounting and trust. However, further studies examining the interplay between accounting and trust are needed in order to develop further theory of the relationship between the two.

Keywords:
accounting local governments relational signalling theory Tanzania trust

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