Course Topics
The course analyzes: Part I • the fundamental elements of public administration studies and their management principles; • the services, characteristics, and specificity of public management; • the accounting harmonization of public administrations and local governments; • the cash and accrual accounting; • the programming of the budgetary system. Part II • the budgetary system of local authorities; • the reporting system. Part III • the sustainability reporting system; • the internal and external auditing of local authorities; • the local public group and the consolidated financial statement; • the digitalization of the public administration: strategy and tools

Teaching format
Frontal lectures and case studies

Educational objectives
Knowledge and understanding The student will acquire knowledge of organisational models, the business factors involved in the organisation of public enterprises operating in different sectors (international organisations, central government, local authorities, health, public enterprises) and the consequences for the community. The student will also acquire knowledge necessary for developing, managing and evaluating the impact of public projects, and knowledge useful for analysing organisational innovation processes and interpreting current tools and trends relating to personnel management in public companies. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding The student will acquire the ability to: - identify and distinguish management concepts and problems in relation to real or hypothetical situations concerning public institutions and companies also in different contexts (e.g. different services/activities/institutions, different local or international institutional levels); - develop and administer projects from the design phase to the operational execution phases, including the assessment of their impact on society, the economy and the environment. Autonomy of judgement The student will acquire the ability to: - apply acquired knowledge to interpret economic and business phenomena in order to make directional and operational decisions in the context of public administration; - select data and use appropriate information to describe a problem concerning the design, implementation and evaluation of public sector projects and policies, aiming at innovation and improvement of processes, products and results. Communication skills The student will acquire the ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form the specialised content of individual disciplines, using different registers according to the target audience and communicative and didactic purposes, and to evaluate the educational effects of his/her communication. Learning skills The student will acquire the ability to: - use information technology autonomously to carry out bibliographic research and investigations and for one's own training and updating; - identify thematic links and establish relationships between different cases and contexts of analysis; - frame a new problem systematically and generate appropriate taxonomies; - develop general models from the phenomena studied.

Additional educational objectives and learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: Students know the key concepts in the area of public accounting. This enables them to properly understand current developments in the field of local authorities. Applying knowledge and understanding: The student will be able to apply their knowledge to understand how decisions on public expenditures are made at various levels. Moreover, the student will be able to properly assess the consequences of these decisions—such as those affecting expenses and public property—particularly from the perspective of local authority management. Making judgments: Students will have the ability to assess the formation of public financial decisions, interpret relevant financial documents, and understand their legal frameworks. They will also be able to analyze and evaluate new and updated data in media, such as journals or newspapers, and contextualize them within a broader management framework. Communication skills: The student will be able to communicate their conclusions on public financial decisions clearly and effectively, along with the underlying knowledge and rationale, to both specialist and non-specialist audiences. Learning skills: Students develop interpretive skills to analyze future developments in public financial decisions.

Assessment
For attending students: 1. Project work conducted in groups, including an oral presentation and discussion in the classroom. 2. Final written exam consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions: maximum 30 points (each correct answer earns 1 point). Project work and classroom contributions are valid for 1 academic year and cannot be carried over beyond that time-frame. For non-attending students Final written examination consisting of 30 multiple-choice questions: maximum of 30 points (each correct answer awards 1 point).

Evaluation criteria
For attending students, the final mark is the sum of final written exam (60%) and project work (40%). For non-attending students, the final grade is solely based on the written exam covering the entire syllabus. Key aspects of the written exam include: the ability to summarize topics and problems, evaluate and establish relationships between topics, and the ability to paraphrase concepts in one's own words. Key aspects of project work include: teamwork skills, creativity, mastery of language (including the language of instruction), and critical thinking skills.