Public Sector Financial Management | ZHAW Institute of Public Management IVM

We research, lecture and provide consulting services in the field of public financial management and, in doing so, are committed to the active transfer of knowledge into practice. Our mission is to seek innovative and academically profound solutions to current challenges in the financial management of government, administrative, and not-for-profit organizations with the aim of increasing efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in dealing with public finances and donations.

Research

References

Partners

Publications

Team

Latest Studies

Research and Expertise

In our research, we examine ways to increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of the financial management of governments, administrations, and not-for-profit organizations. The focus is on their practical needs and how to meet them by means of academically based approaches and concepts. Research areas include, in particular:

Modernization of public accounting through HRM2 and IPSAS;
Alternative financing models in the public sector such as public-private partnerships;
Effects of digitalization on Public Financial Management;
Sustainable financial management through the development of a fiscal stress test;
Evaluation of financing decisions by Non-Profit-Organisations;
Financial governance and planning systems such as budgeting and medium-term planning;
Capacity building in the field of Public Financial Management;
Sustainability reporting
Data storytelling in the public sector
Green / climate-responsive Public Financial Management

References

We have helped over 100 government, administrative, and not-for-profit organizations in more than 30 countries increase their efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in managing public finances and donations. Thanks to our broad national and international network combined with independent research into innovative concepts and approaches, we ensure that our project partners receive practical and scientifically based solutions that reflect current understanding.

Here you will find an overview of selected projects for various clients in Switzerland and internationally:

Swiss Projects

Canton of St. Gallen. Expert opinion on linking strategic priority planning and task planning.
Swiss Federal Finance Administration. Expert opinion on the revenue reporting of investments in developing banks.
State Secretariat for International Finance. Regulatory cost analysis relating to the Financial Services Act (FIDLEG).
Canton of Zurich. Development of a new funding model concerning victim protection and the fight against human trafficking.
University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil. Introduction of an internal control system (ICS).
Caritas Switzerland. Development and implementation of a new impact measurement system.
UBS Optimus Foundation. Design and development of a new impact measurement system.

International Projects

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). Technical assistance in areas of public accounting and financial control with a view to SECO priority countries.
World Bank. Support in developing transparent accounting standards (IPSAS) in countries such as Kazakhstan, Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, Serbia, and Albania.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). Support in implementing public financial management reforms in countries such as Poland, Peru, Iran, Belarus, and Croatia.
Asian Development Bank (ADB). Supporting the ADB's Program on Climate Adaptation through Green Fiscal and Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms.

Partners

We have a broad national and international network of reliable and experienced partners in the field of financial management of public organisations and NPOs. In particular, we have strategic project partnerships with:

International

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), UK
Center for Excellence in Finance (CEF), Ljubljana, Slowenien
Worldbank, Washington D.C., USA
International Monetary Fund, Washington D.C., USA
Asian Development Bank (ADB), Philippines
Public Expenditure and Financial Accountabtility (PEFA), Washington, D.C., USA

Switzerland

Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (SECO), Switzerland
UBS Optimus Foundation, Switzerland
publicXdata AG, Solothurn, Schweiz
Verband Zürcher Finanzfachleute (VZF), Switzerland
BDO Schweiz AG;
Idea 2, Zurich, Switzerland
Aivie, Zurich, Switzerland
Wüest und Partner, Zürich, Switzerland
standortentwicklung.ch, Switzerland

Our current publications

Ramsden, A., Schwarz, M., Augustin, L., Fuchs, D. (2025). Was wäre, wenn…? Sechs Drachenkönig-Szenarien für die öffentlichen Finanzen der Zukunft. You can find the publication here.

Schuler, C., Brusca, I. & Fuchs, S. (2025). Exploring citizen-centered digital reporting in Swiss municipalities. Lex localis – Journal of Local Self-Government, 23(2), 85–111. Youo can find the publication here.

Qibthiyyah, R. M., Puspita, N., Augustin, L., Ramsden, A. & Fuchs, S. (2025). Mobilizing local government revenues and 2024 local tax performance. Tax and Fiscal Policy Research. ou can find this publication here.

Bergmann, A. (2024). Schuldenbremse und Fonds: Konflikte sind vorprogrammiert – das Urteil des deutschen Verfassungsgerichts wirft auch in der Schweiz Fragen auf. Expert Focus, 2024(6), 262–264. You can find this publication here.

Horni, P. (2024). Is who they are, what they prefer? Understanding bureaucratic elites' policy preferences for European integration of government accounting. European Policy Analysis, 10, 449–475. You can find this publication here.

Horni, P. (2024). When Expertise Is Not Enough: Explaining the European Commission's Non-success in the Integration of Public Sector Accounting. JCMS: Journal of Common Market. You can find this publication here.

Schuler, C., Grossi, G., & Fuchs, S. (2023). New development: the role of education in public sector accounting reforms in emerging economies: a socio-material perspective. Public Money & Management. 43(7), S. 762-768. You can find this publication here.

Fuchs, S., Ramsden, A., Horni, P., Augustin, L., Schwarz, M. (2024). Das Resilienz Playbook. Finanzstrategien für Städte und Gemeinden in unsicheren Zeiten. ou can find this publication here. (PDF 1.64 MB)

Grafl, A., Schuler, C., (2022). A guide to data storytelling in the public sector : communicating public finances effectively. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. You can find this publication here.

We are the ZHAW Public Finance Team

Click here to see the team portrait! (PDF 1.06 MB)

Our team, from left to right

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