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https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.44.2019.2.155-174
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Public Debt Management between Discipline and Creativity: Accounting for Energy Performance Contracts in Germany
Öffentliches Schuldenmanagement zwischen Disziplin und Kreativität: Energie-Einspar-Contracting in Deutschland
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Abstract The determination of government debt levels is a complex multilayered process subjected to constant reform. In the aftermath of the 2007-8 financial crisis, a twofold reform trend has emerged. On the one hand, the European Commission demands and supports stronger harmonization of national accounts, ... view more
The determination of government debt levels is a complex multilayered process subjected to constant reform. In the aftermath of the 2007-8 financial crisis, a twofold reform trend has emerged. On the one hand, the European Commission demands and supports stronger harmonization of national accounts, thereby eliminating loopholes for creative accounting practices such as public-private partnerships or swap deals, which increase government debt levels in many cases. On the other hand, the European Commission demands and supports new forms of ‘creative financing’ such as Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs), a specific form of public-private partnership designed to meet climate change investment goals. Adopting a lens of French Conventionalism, we highlight conflicts within statistic and accounting frameworks and their moral-political trajectories. We derive insights into these broader conflicts by examining the concrete case of national statistics and public sector accounting practices in the German EPC field.... view less
Keywords
public sector; indebtedness; accounting; public private partnership; EU; stabilization policy; statistics; fiscal policy; Maastricht Treaty; rendering of accounts; quantification; public investment; Federal Republic of Germany
Classification
Public Finance
Sociology of Economics
Free Keywords
public sector accounting; national statistics; European Stability and Growth Pact; fiscal discipline; creative financing; conventions of quantification
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 155-174
Journal
Historical Social Research, 44 (2019) 2
Issue topic
Governing by Numbers - Key Indicators and the Politics of Expectations
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed