Accounting change and value creation in public services—Do relational archetypes make a difference in improving public service performance?

• The study explores the link between ‘corporate’ accounting change interventions and patterns of value creation at the street-level of public services.
• A comparative case study in six German municipalities provides evidence that corporate and street-level interventions are unique dimensions to signify multiple patterns of accounting change in local governments.
• Recognizing the distinction and the sequential effect of the relational archetype points to a refined typology of processes and outcomes of accounting change in local governments.

Evidence points out that the outcome of accounting change in local governments is not simply a matter of ‘corporate’ resource investments and change management activities to accounting system replacement. This paper examines the link between such corporate-level interventions and the patterns of value creation at street-level. It emphasizes a resource- and capability-driven approach to explore processes and consequences of an ‘embedded agency’-effect assigned to the street-level rationale of public service improvement. Considering a logic chain of cause-and-effect sequences, the data analysis provides evidence that corporate and street-level interventions are unique dimensions to signify the multiple patterns of accounting change in local governments. The supplementary effect of cross-functional relationships is also distinguished, considering the relational archetype as a mechanism to explain the emerging outcome state. Recognizing the distinction and the sequential effects of relational archetypes induces a refined typology of accounting change according to its processes and outcomes in local governments. The analysis is based on a comparative case study design to explore accrual accounting introduction in six German municipalities.