Determinants of popular financial reporting: Evidence from Swedish municipalities

This paper investigates popular financial reporting, to determine how contextual factors can favour or hinder its development. A balanced panel dataset from 289 Swedish municipalities spanning the period 2015–2021 is utilised for the empiricalanalysis, which is based on bivariate correlations and logistic regression models. Theresults are interpreted through the lens of legitimacy theory, integrated with innova-tion and diffusion models. The findings suggest that, while political factors play a cer-tain role, it is primarily the local accounting networks, which enable the exchange ofexperiences among neighbouring municipalities within the same regional area, thatare the most influential factor. These results may prove to be helpful in various con-texts, contributing to the academic debate on the relevance of institutional and con-textual factors in explaining the voluntary decision to prepare popular financial reports.