Public sector decentralization, accountability and financial reporting in New Zealand

This paper presents a practical examination of New Zealand public sector decentralization, accountability and financial reporting. There are differences between the accountability requirements for the various organizational forms in the New Zealand public sector such as State-owned Enterprises, Government Departments, local government and crown entities. These differences can be explained by differences in the principal–agent relationships involved. The principal–agent relationships themselves vary because of differences in the nature of the activities carried out by the various organizations and their varying levels of importance.