L'impatto della contabilità euro-compatibile in un'auspicabile evoluzione del patto di stabilità interno

In this paper we discuss how the mixed-accrual basis system, currently used to compute the deficit targeted by the domestic stability pact for municipalities, can lead to a different distribution of the consolidated deficit of the General Government (Amministrazione Pubblica) with respect to the adoption of a set of accounting rules mapping the mixed-accrual basis system to a system very close to the Sec2010. In fact, the adopted rules classify some relevant items by using the cash basis, while in the mixed-accrual basis the same items are recorded by legal accrual basis. Moreover, all the financial items are excluded in the proposed classification. We then compute the deficit according to the two accounting systems, by using aggregate financial data on Italian municipalities for the period 2009- 2011. Furthermore we investigate the role of both financial items and accounting adjustments which give rise to the differences in the two accounting systems and we analyze their distribution according to geographical area, region, population and income classes. The results show that the distribution of the municipal deficits can be very different according to the accounting system we use.