Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563

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Government Information Quarterly

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf

A comparative study of e-government XBRL implementations: The potential of

improving information transparency and efficiency
Yu-Che Chen
Division of Public Administration, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Available online 19 August 2012 This study examines the e-government implementation of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to
increase accountability and transparency in business and financial information. The business and financial in-
Keywords: formation gathered in XBRL format is machine-readable and interoperable, thereby improving the ease of
e-Government public dissemination and analysis. This study focuses on identifying and examining the determinants of suc-
Implementation cessful XBRL implementation and draws from several bodies of literature: e-government, institutionalism,
Transparency
collaborative public management, regulatory compliance, and management information systems to identify
Financial information
XBRL
determinants of successful implementation. This study selects four diverse implementations: the Nether-
SBR lands, Australia, the United States, and Singapore. Empirical analysis follows a comparative case study meth-
od. The findings of this exploratory study underscore the importance of program goals and strategic
alignment in achieving information transparency and efficiency, the advantage of strategies correlating to in-
stitutional setting, the critical need to provide incentives for adoption, and the usefulness of incremental im-
plementation. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings as well as future research
opportunities are explored.
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction This notion of government accountability over the general finan-

cial health requires that it goes beyond improving transparency of in-
The lack of financial transparency was one of the main causes of vestment activities; it must also guarantee the effective and efficient
the financial crisis of late 2008. The magnitude of the financial melt- monitoring of a country's economy and its implications for financial
down drew the attention of public administrators and public man- health. Many governments have passed regulations and/or adminis-
agers around the world. Complex financial instruments, such as trative rules requiring that businesses and citizens report business
mortgage-backed securities and their derivatives, masked underlying and financial data to gather information needed for monitoring. How-
risks. Motivated by financial incentives, investment institutions in the ever, the increasing number and complexity of reporting require-
financial sector hid and passed on these risks via the creation of com- ments have created undue administrative burdens for reporting
plex financial instruments designed to maximize short-term profits. entities and reporting costs can have substantial impacts on the econ-
Government has the responsibility and is well-positioned to safe- omy. At the same time, the increasing amount of information collect-
guard the health of the financial sector (Khademian, 2009). Government ed and inconsistency in reported data may further weaken the
is accountable to citizens and businesses in so far as it is responsible for effectiveness of government in trying to understand the financial sec-
maintaining the financial health of the country. Citizens and businesses tor and economic activities.
regard government as the last line of defense in times of financial crises. One challenge is the lack of data standards for business and financial
More broadly, citizens hold government accountable for spending tax information. Accurate and timely business and financial information is
money effectively and efficiently when providing public services such the foundation of any informed financial and economic decisions,
as monitoring and maintaining a healthy financial sector. Government whether made by individuals, institutions, or government. For govern-
has the unique role of safeguarding the interests of the general public, ment, the lack of a standard business identification numbering system
rather than the financial interests of a few. Government has played the for various government agencies impedes the ability to make sense of
role of monitor, regulator, and rescuer in the evolution of the financial financial and business information submitted by businesses. On the
market. Thus, debates center more on how government should best be business side, compiling business and financial reports for various gov-
involved, not whether it should be involved (Peretz & Schroedel, 2009). ernment agencies with differing data definitions and rules is burden-
some. For investors, it is difficult to compare the financial performance
of two businesses when, for example, the definition of “expenditure on
E-mail address: [email protected]. equipment” differs across agencies. Another information challenge
URL: http://www.mpa.niu.edu/pub_ad/faculty_staff/chen.shtml. arises when one tries to extract financial information from various

0740-624X/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.giq.2012.05.009
554 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563

reports and try to aggregate it into a systematic/sector overview. conduct one-stop electronic reporting for all regulatory compliance fol-
Clearly, manually processing data extraction from paper or PDF lowing standardized XBRL taxonomy. The denotation of XBRL/SBR is to
reports is time-consuming and error-ridden. Even when financial indicate the inclusion of XBRL implementation in the context of SBR.
information is collected electronically, the integration of data ele- Such empirical investigation is grounded in a broad base of literature
ments from various data sources is difficult without a common data ranging from public administration to information systems. Additionally,
standard. this study contributes to generation of a preliminary list of e-government
Recent developments and implementations of a standard business XBRL implementation strategies in various countries by going beyond a
reporting language known as eXtensible Business Reporting Language single country to compare implementations of four different countries.
(XBRL) have shown some initial success in addressing these chal- Therefore, the primary research question is “What are the determinants
lenges. At the heart of XBRL is a data dictionary (taxonomy) that stan- of successful XBRL/SBR implementation in increasing the potential of in-
dardizes the financial terms used. Such standardization allows for formation transparency and efficiency in managing business and finan-
meaningful comparison of financial information across businesses cial data?”
and allows for the aggregation of financial information across a busi- The next section begins with a basic definition of information
ness sector for monitoring purposes. Moreover, such a taxonomy en- transparency and efficiency as the main outcomes or policy objec-
ables the development of software applications to make the financial tives. It then draws from various bodies of literature to identify the
information machine-readable. Once stored in XBRL format, busi- factors affecting successful e-government implementation of XBRL.
nesses can transmit the information electronically to government for The empirical investigation of these factors starts with data and
reporting purposes. Hence, the burden of manual processing can be methods, and then four cases of XBRL implementation are examined
significantly reduced. Government, when using XBRL as a standard, to explore the relevance these factors and their nuances have for dif-
can be more efficient in gathering and analyzing financial and business ferent contexts. Discussions and the conclusion focus on the implica-
information. XBRL also allows for business rules to be embedded, tions and limitations of the findings and opportunities for future
which enables automatic validation of business rules in financial re- research.
ports. Such automation is a significant efficiency gain, as seen, for ex-
ample, in the U.S. FDIC's implementation project (Federal Financial 2. Improving information transparency and efficiency with
Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), 2006). e-government XBRL implementation
Advancements in information technology offer opportunities for im-
proving the collection and dissemination of financial and business infor- The implementation of XBRL aids in the improvement of informa-
mation. Web 2.0 technologies form a participatory platform to socially tion transparency and efficiency in regulatory compliance. Transpar-
construct knowledge and online communities (Lytras, Damiani, & de ency entails truthful communication of government operation and
Pablos, 2009; O'Reilly, 2005). These technologies allow citizens to performance (Koppell, 2005, p. 96). Bertot et al. (2010) make a strong
share information on financial institutions and government account- case for the use of information and communication technologies to
ability. For example, the U.S. government's website Recovery.gov tracks further enhance transparency, which underlies the present study.
the spending of government funds disbursed under the American In terms of financial and business information, information transpar-
Recovery and Reinvestment Act and allows citizens to report fraud. ency is about ultimately making such information available. This
Moreover, the development of the semantic Web (Web 3.0) further involves collecting, analyzing, and disseminating business and finan-
complements the participatory platform to make the Web more of a cial information, as well as organizational performance on such func-
database/software in which data online are standardized and machine tions to further ensure the health of financial systems. The collection
readable to organize around topics of interest (Devedžić, 2006; Siegel, aspect may include, for example, setting data standards for financial
2009). Such a semantic web has the potential to let citizens assess finan- reporting to generate useful information for transparency. The dis-
cial risks of government policies by combining relevant data sets and semination encompasses making business and financial information
harnessing the power of online data processing and analysis. XBRL is a available to the public.
data standard (taxonomy) that lays the foundation for business and fi- To achieve regulatory goals, targeted transparency is considered
nancial information to be machine-readable and standardized for effective (Fung, Graham, & Weil, 2007). When citizens (consumers)
meaningful comparison. Once XBRL is made available on the Web, it are given relevant information, they are able to drive the market
has the potential for introducing a new era of open government. and advance the public interest (Fung et al., 2007, p. 3). For example,
To date, there has not been enough scholarly attention on improv- the publication of motor vehicle safety ratings has been used as a reg-
ing transparency in business and financial information and on realiz- ulatory tool to improve vehicle safety as a public interest (Fung et al.,
ing efficiency gain in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating such 2007, p. 3). Analogy can be made for business and financial informa-
information. Scholars recognize the importance of transparency in tion to ensure the protection of the interests of investors and the pub-
preventing financial crises (Khademian, 2009) and the potential of lic when they can help monitor business behavior online. However, it
applying information and communication technologies to improve should be noted that e-transparency for government may have a het-
transparency and open government (Bertot, Jaeger, & Grimes, 2010; erogeneous effect on various dimensions of trust in government
Dawes & Helbig, 2010). However, there has only been limited re- (Grimmelikhuijsen, 2009). As a result, e-transparency needs to be
search on the actual e-government XBRL implementations that have carefully managed (Bannister & Connolly, 2011).
the potential to increase transparency and efficiency in business and Efficiency in the regulatory compliance and monitoring of financial ac-
financial information. Moreover, the few published studies on XBRL tivities is one of the main policy objectives of XBRL/SBR implementations.
implementation are limited to a single country such as the study of Efficiency gain can be seen in various steps of the process in achieving reg-
XBRL implementation in the Netherlands (Bharosa, van Wijk, ulatory compliance and transparency. Efficiency in gathering business
Janssen, de Winne, & Hulstijn, 2011) and the one on the U.S.'s SEC and financial information by using XBRL/SBR can be gained by business
(Debreceny et al., 2005). reporting once to meet multiple regulatory requirements from multiple
This study aims to fill this knowledge gap. The main contribution is government agencies (Madden, 2009). This is made possible by standard-
to advance the theory and practice of XBRL e-government implementa- ization in business and financial terms and reporting using single XBRL
tion by focusing on the implementation of XBRL rather than on taxonomy. Automation in validation and management of business and fi-
discussing its benefits. It covers two main types of XBRL implementa- nancial information is the second area of efficiency gain. The software
tion: a) single agency implementation and b) cross-agency standard programs can take advantage of information filed in XBRL format to per-
business reporting (SBR). The SBR's objective is for businesses to form validation and fraud detection, which is much faster than the
 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563 555

manual approach while saving labor cost. The experience of FDIC pro- of institutional change requires an enhanced understanding of the
vides initial evidence of such savings (Federal Financial Institutions rules and norms involved. Ostrom et al.'s (1994) classification of con-
Examination Council (FFIEC), 2006). The last area of efficiency gain stitutional, collective-action level, and operation-level rules are in-
is in dissemination and user analysis. A large amount of machine- structive in anticipating the changes required and effectiveness of
readable business and financial information can be made available on incentive systems. Opportunities exist for public administrators and
websites with a fraction of the costs of paper-based approach. More im- citizens alike to be agents of change in making strategic choices in
portantly, citizens and investors can easily download the information the area of e-government (Yang, 2003).
for monitoring and analysis purposes. e-Government implementation is more likely to succeed when a
A multinational corporation can benefit from using XBRL to in- strategic implementation choice addresses the unique characteristics
crease transparency and governance by bringing standards and ana- of the structural and institutional contexts. The experiences of infor-
lytical capability to financial information in various systems around mation integration projects underscore the importance of addressing
the world (Roohani, Furusho, & Koizumi, 2009). The Premuroso and the institutional, organizational, and technical contexts (Pardo & Tayi,
Bhattacharya's (2008) study has shown that corporations as early 2007). Realizing effective implementation involves a network of or-
adopters of XBRL for the U.S. SEC's filing exhibit better governance ganizations, and Provan and Kenis (2008) offer some preliminary
and performance than non-adopters. Nonetheless, it should be also recommendations for better governance that can address the unique
noted that the extent to which the full potential of XBRL being real- configuration of key structural and relational contingencies. For
ized depends on harmonization or even standardization of a global example, a lead organization is more likely to be an effective gover-
XBRL taxonomy (Bonsón, Cortijo, & Escobar, 2009), the development nance structure than one that is participant-governed, especially
and use of analytical software programs taking advantage of XBRL when there is only moderate/low goal consensus and the need for
data that allow shareholders to monitor and improve corporate gov- network-level competencies is high.
ernance (Alles & Piechocki, 2010), and the resolution of data quality The above discussion points toward both the importance of under-
issues (Debreceny, Farewell, Piechocki, Felden, & Gräning, 2010; standing the institutional/structural contingencies surrounding an
Watson, 2009). e-government implementation and the proper configuration of gov-
ernance structure to address these contingencies. Empirical analysis
2.1. Determinants of e-government implementation success of e-government implementation requires identification of these in-
stitutional and structural contingencies and an assessment of the ex-
The literature review below organizes various insights from di- tent to which a proper governance structure is put in place.
verse bodies of research literature, showing how these insights shed
light on electronic government implementation success. These bodies 2.1.2. Strong management and political support
of literature cover diverse topics, such as e-government, institutional- A successful implementation of a large-scale complex information
ism, collaborative public management, regulatory compliance, and technology/system project usually requires strong management sup-
management information systems. port. The literature on management information systems emphasizes
the role of top management support. Top management support is able
2.1.1. Addressing institutional and structural contingencies to address resistance to change accompanying the introduction of
Institutional context matters in e-government implementation. new information technology and can provide the needed resources
Seidman (1970) argues for the importance of institutional settings for implementation. Several studies of complex information system
and organizational structure and processes in determining the rela- implementation, such as Enterprise Resource Planning or Executive
tive power and influence of various actors in a policy or program. In- Support systems, underscore the importance of top management
stitutions, in the sense that they consist of a set of rules, affect commitment (Bingi, Sharma, & Godla, 1999; Poon & Wagner, 2001;
organizational and individual behaviors via the force of isomorphism Willcocks & Sykes, 2000).
(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and reputational control (Ostrom, 1998). Political commitment in achieving public service goals via elec-
Fountain's (2001) examination of U.S. federal agency adoption and tronic means is also critical because e-government projects tend to
use of information technology further highlight the influence of insti- modify and change existing practices. Studies of bureaucratic politics
tutions and organizations in the implementation of technology. suggest that governmental actions are a product of bargaining and
The history of institutional development also constrains or enables compromise among various units of government (e.g., Allison,
e-government implementation. Douglas North (1990) has highlighted 1971). In many ways, the introduction of new information technology
the path-dependent nature of institutional change. A federal adminis- can pose challenges to the existing political and institutional struc-
trative system is more conducive to consensus building and collabora- tures of the public organizations involved (Fountain, 2001). The adop-
tion in e-government if a more centralized administrative system tion and use of information technology are as much a managerial
prefers central planning and implementation of e-government. The decision as a political decision; the decision usually occurs against the
high cost of system change usually prevents administrative reform backdrop of administrative reform (Ho, 2002; Tolbert, Mossberger, &
until the existing system collapses. Change in the level of constitutional McNeal, 2008). One empirical study in e-government has underscored
rules is far more difficult than rules at the operational level, since the the importance of political support; this case study focused on the sup-
former kind of change can alter the distribution of resources and port of county supervisors for the adoption of a website (Ho & Ni, 2004).
power (Ostrom, Gardner, & Walker, 1994). Political commitment is likely to play a more critical role in the con-
The role of institutions becomes more pronounced in comparative text of an e-government implementation that requires a high level of
studies of e-government. Institutions are an important explanatory cooperation and coordination. Consideration of turf is important in
variable for the variation in e-government practices as shown in sev- understanding the success and failure of any policy implementation
eral comparative studies of e-government (Chen & Knepper, 2005; that involve multiple government agencies (O'Toole, 1997; O'Toole &
Heeks, 1999; Hernon, Cullen, & Relyea, 2006; Welch & Wong, 2001). Montjoy, 1984). Any implementation that requires cross-boundary
For example, a country that has a set of facilitating laws and regula- collaboration is likely to run into turf issues (Bardach, 1996). For
tions for transparent government is more likely to make unfiltered example, who owns data and who has control over data are usually
public service performance information online than one that does highly debated issues in information system projects that cut across
not have such laws (Chen & Hsieh, 2009). multiple agencies (Dawes, 1996). Sometimes, political commitment
Implementing e-government as institutional change presents both can come in the form of a legal mandate that requires government
a challenge and an opportunity. The historical and contextual nature agencies to adopt a new information system. Such a scenario would
556 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563

be a useful way of facilitating the implementation of a public sector management capacity, as a significant portion of IT services, can be
knowledge management network driven by information technology delivered via service contracts with IT service companies. Reddick
(Dawes, Cresswell, & Pardo, 2009). (2004) suggests that IT management capacity at the state level has
a positive effect on the adoption of state e-government transactions.
2.1.3. Proper incentive scheme for technology adoption Project and change management skills are critical for successful
Research on adoption and use of information technology shed information system implementation. Complexity of e-government
light on the conditions under which an individual user is likely to projects increases with expansion of the types and number of organiza-
adopt new information technology. The technology acceptance tions participating in them; in such cases, social, technical, and
model identifies perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as behavioral issues all come into play (Pardo & Scholl, 2002). This imple-
two overarching factors in determining a user's intent to adopt a mentation complexity lies in mapping the resource dependence of or-
new piece of information technology (Davis, 1989). One example of ganizational relationships and resolving issues related to addressing
usefulness is assistance in improving job performance. Perceived these interdependencies (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003; Rethemeyer &
ease of use relates to the usability of the information system as well Hatmaker, 2008). Project management is an essential skill in managing
as the technical capacity of the user. The Unified Theory of Acceptance large information system projects (Yardley, 2002). The failure of gov-
and Use of Technology (UTAUT) further examines the conditions ernment IT projects also highlights the need for better project manage-
leading to the perception of usefulness and ease of use (Venkatesh, ment skills.
Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003). It synthesizes other theoretical perspec- Phase-in implementation is one of the main strategies for change
tives, such as those that can be gleaned from literature on innovation, management. A phase-in implementation has several benefits. First, it
to understand the social dynamics involved in human perception of increases the return on resource investment by focusing on
technology. The perception of usefulness can be fostered by a trusted high-value components. For example, digital security policy will begin
peer who is able to show the benefits of using a new system. The per- with the identification of high-value digital assets and then focus orga-
ception of usefulness can also be changed by a mandate stipulating nizational resources on these assets. Second, it allows for more time for
the use of a new information system. Moreover, of course, actual im- maturing and developing technology for e-government implementa-
proved usability can improve the perception of usefulness. tion. This is particularly germane to cases wherein the development of
Various studies of organizational adoption of information tech- a new software program is part of the implementation. Lastly, such
nology have highlighted a number of organizational characteris- strategy helps lower the implementation cost of small organizations
tics. Technical capacity of a government has a positive relation when they are phased-in after large and medium organizations.
with the adoption of information technology. The technical capac- Focusing on the creation of public value should be at the core of
ity of the key decision makers in an organization is likely to shape project and change management. What separates e-government pro-
the decision for the adoption of information technology for that jects from information system implementation in the private sector is
organization (Lee, 2008). Moreover, Moon and Norris (2005) have the attention to public value. The focus on public value also implies
underscored the importance of managerial innovativeness in the certain trade-offs because government tends to pursue multiple poli-
adoption of e-government websites for local government in the United cy objectives rather than one at a time. For instance, the Earned Value
States. Management (EVM) approach, introduced by the U.S. Office of Man-
Policy tools are available to change the cost–benefit analysis of agement and Budget, articulates certain earned values, such as im-
technology adoption and use. On the individual level, incentive sys- proved adoption rate, data quality enhancement, and improvements
tems can be designed to increase the perceived benefits of technology in service quality (as related to e-government projects and for a par-
adoption and use, while also reducing the cost by improving usability. ticular period). Public value should also guide change management.
On the organizational level, government can design incentives for or- Initiating reporting compliance with large firms makes sense when
ganizational adoption. That is, government can change the percep- one of the policy objectives is to lower the burden of compliance on
tions of benefit by articulating the benefits for the participating small firms.
organization and reducing the cost of technology through providing
technical assistance. 3. A comparative case study of XBRL implementations
Policy tools can be voluntary or mandatory in nature. The lessons
from implementing voluntary programs in the United States are in- 3.1. Data and methods
structive. Usually limited effectiveness is observed when there is a
lack of rigorous regulatory structure in the background. Welch, This study employs an embedded comparative case study
Mazur, & Bretschneider's (2000) empirical investigation of the Cli- approach, based on the classification by Yin (2003), to address its
mate Challenge program underscores this argument. Nonetheless, primary research question. Case study is productive when contempo-
opportunities exist when firms can associate participation in these rary events are the focus and there is no control over them (Yin, 2003,
voluntary programs with the benefits of branding. Mandating the pp. 4–9). XBRL implementations are contemporary and still evolving,
use of a particular technology solution or standard can significantly which scholars have little control over. Moreover, the multiple-case
affect the adoption decision because it would make the cost of design is useful for seeing whether some of the factors contributing
non-adoption high. Nevertheless, a wide range of options is available to implementation success can be replicated in other cases (institu-
between the two extremes of requiring by mandate and merely en- tional contexts). Comparing multiple cases is more advantageous
couraging participation in a voluntary program. than a single case to increase the number of “N” for exploring theoret-
ical propositions (King, Keohane, & Verba, 1994; Ragin, 1987).
2.1.4. Competent incremental implementation with the creation of public The cases chosen for the present study involve large-scale national
value XBRL implementations completed with varying degrees of success,
Managerial capacity is important for successfully implementing an namely the U.S. SEC's Interactive Data Project, the Netherlands's
e-government project (Brown, O'Toole, & Brudney, 1998; Chen & National Taxonomy Project (NTP) (later became a Standard Business
Perry, 2003; Melitski, 2003). The lessons from network management Reporting (SBR) project), Australia's SBR project, and Singapore's
also point toward the importance of managerial capacity. For exam- business reporting. To increase reliability, the choice of multiple
ple, McGuire and Silvia's (2010) empirical research support the cases follows a replication logic rather than a sampling one (Yin,
importance of managerial skills in managing intergovernmental col- 2003, p. 21). These cases were also chosen because of their diverse in-
laboration at the local level. Specific to e-government projects, IT stitutional contexts. The goal is to generate insights that are more
 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563 557

likely to be applicable to a wide range of contexts. Moreover, this The taxonomy project was the crucial step toward reducing the ad-
multiple case study design features an embedded approach in ministrative costs incurred by businesses when they interact with
which specific programs, historical events, and participating organi- government. The Cabinet regarded this project as one of its top prior-
zations and individuals can all serve as sub-units of a case (Yin, ities, especially with the goal of achieving “cheaper, easier, and high
2003, pp. 33–35). Efforts have been made to examine critical events quality regulatory reporting for business”. 1
and the behavior of key participating organizations inside a particular The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice formed a partner-
implementation case. ship in 2004 to initiate the project and they provided the necessary re-
The tactics suggested by Yin (2003, p. 34) on increasing validity sources (The Dutch Taxonomy Project, 2008). The project office has
were followed for this comparative case study design. A diverse been housed in the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Justice's respon-
array of data sources was used to increase construct validity. These sibility for business reporting compliance issues made it a natural
sources include official documents, journal and magazine articles, im- partner. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Tax and Customs Admin-
plementation reports, presentations, and interviews. Most of the data istration, the Chamber of Commerce, Statistics Netherlands, and the Ad-
are obtained via the website of XBRL International, a non-profit orga- visory Board for Administrative Burden are other main governmental
nization that serves to provide resources and assistance for the devel- agencies participating in this project. Three main groups constitute
opment of XBRL, or from those of the program offices for various the organizational players in the business community. The first group
implementation projects. consisted of reporting businesses and their trade associations, notably
The data collection process began by talking with several individuals the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers and the
who had knowledge of government XBRL implementation in various Royal Association MKB Netherlands. 2 The second group consisted of
countries. This served as the point of departure for identifying the re- the intermediaries that handled the reporting, including the Dutch Fed-
source sites and the basis for building technical knowledge about eration of Accountants. The last group was the software developer in-
XBRL. Then an extensive review of the documents was conducted, fo- dustry that held the keys to translating the taxonomy into software
cusing on the four selected XBRL implementation cases. This generated code. Overall, approximately 1.5 million businesses will be affected on
an in-depth understanding of the implementation cases, including the the reporting side, 30,000 accountants will serve as intermediaries,
history, political and organizational contexts, scope, project leader and and 180 software developers will work on XBRL solutions (Madden,
organizational participants, management strategies, and results. 2009). The 1.5 million reporting businesses encompass all sectors of
Next, the researcher conducted interviews with project managers the economy.
to understand their respective programs' implementation strategies. The XBRL implementation in the Netherlands went through two
Interviews with the lead project managers were conducted for the main phases. The first four years of implementation from 2005 to
Netherlands, Australia, and the U.S. SEC. There was one for each im- the end of 2008 focused on building the XBRL-based taxonomy (The
plementation project. In the case of Singapore, there were several Dutch Taxonomy Project, 2008). It has narrowed standards and har-
e-mail exchanges with the project manager but no official interview. monized data elements and received recognition from the Dutch gov-
These open-ended communications explored the nature of the XBRL ernment for filing business and financial information. In early 2009,
projects, implementation strategies, determinants of implementation the Dutch Taxonomy Project became the Standard Business Reporting
success, and extent of success. program; it better reflects the overall mission of reducing the busi-
To increase validity, this study conducted explanation building ness reporting burden and increasing government efficiency. This
and pattern matching as suggested by Yin (2003). Data analysis is a SBR program was assigned to the “Central Government Reform Pro-
combination of testing theoretical propositions and building ground- gram” (Standard Business Reporting NL (HNTP), 2009). Regulatory
ed theory. The researcher used the theoretical propositions developed reporting using XBRL by business is voluntary. The Dutch SBR pro-
via literature review as a guide for identifying and cataloging key gram and its predecessor, the taxonomy project, do not mandate
factors, which was then followed by pattern matching, explanation the use of XBRL. Businesses can base their XBRL adoption decision
building, process-tracing and recommended tabulation techniques. on their own cost/benefit analysis (Bharosa et al., 2011). More recent-
More specifically, event listings were made to identify the main man- ly, there has been a movement toward using the Dutch SBR as the ex-
agement decisions and their proper context and considerations for clusive channel for filing certain tax reports to encourage XBRL
each implementation case. The main determinants for success were adoption (Hameleers & Kupers, 2011).
also tabulated for multiple cases for cross-case analysis to explore
any patterns or relationships. In addition, data analysis also allows
for the introduction of new concepts or relationships as revealed by 3.2.2. Australia
empirical evidence and when consistent with the grounded theory The Australian Standard Business Reporting (SBR) using XBRL as
approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Yin (2003) considers exploring al- the default standard began in 2006 and received broad-based sup-
ternative interpretations as a cornerstone of quality data analysis for port. The primary reason Australia's SBR chose XBRL was because it
case study research. In the present study, efforts were made to con- could minimize the regulatory reporting burden on businesses
sider alternative explanations to improve the rigor of analysis. while maximizing the protection of public and private interests via
regulation. Other methods can result in a reporting burden that may
3.2. Case description with structural characteristics cost senior management up to 25% of their time. XBRL can reduce
and even eliminate such inconsistency resulting from various regula-
Below is a brief description of the context for each implementation. tory reporting requirements that use different definitions.
Attention is paid to motivations, implementation agency, stakeholders, The Ministry of Treasury has led the SBR initiative. Starting in
and implementation strategies. The key structural characteristics are August 2006, the ministry worked and consulted with key stake-
summarized in Table 1. holders to expand to all levels of government and all main stake-
holders in the business community. This was done to examine the
3.2.1. The Netherlands
1
The Netherlands' effort to implement XBRL is arguably one of the The Dutch Taxonomy Project, December 2007, Standard Business Reporting:
first implementations conducted on a national scale. The Netherlands Government collaboration: The key to reducing the regulatory reporting burden for busi-
ness, Powerpoint presentation made at XBRL International Conference in Vancouver,
began its comprehensive national taxonomy project with XBRL as the Canada, p. 31, http://www.xbrl-ntp.nl/english, accessed on November 1, 2009.
default taxonomy. The open-source platform and its supporting inter- 2
Standard Business Reporting NL, October 2008, Advantages of cross domain stan-
national community were two main reasons for selection of XBRL. dardization of financial data, p.12.
558 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563

Table 1
Structural characteristics of XBRL implementation.

Netherlands Australia Singapore U.S. SEC

Policy goals Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency and transparency Efficiency, transparency, and accuracy
Implementation structure Multiple agency covering One lead agency with Single agency covering all Single agency covering publicly traded companies
the entire economy collaboration from businesses
multiple ones covering
the entire economy
Reporting compliance Voluntary Voluntary Mandatory reporting, voluntary From voluntary to mandatory with phase-in
full reporting

business case of SBR and its possible introduction. Collaborating govern- companies using FS Manager. The final version of the FS Manager
ment agencies included the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority went live for filing in November 2007. Approximately one quarter of
(APRA), the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), these reports were the full report version (Majid & Koo, 2008).
the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Australian Bureau of Statistics The scope of this implementation can be characterized as one
(ABS), and State and Territory Revenue Offices (SROs). On the business agency, multiple (or all) industries. ACRA regulates all registered
side, the program works closely with members of the SBR Business Ad- businesses in Singapore. Approximately 30,000 listed companies in
visory Forum as well as entities from the accounting profession, such as Singapore in all industries were included in this implementation ef-
the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and CPA Australia. The SBR pro- fort. 3 Most of these companies were small and medium sized enter-
gram was officially launched in August 2007 and it was housed under prises (SMEs). The reporting of essential financial information using
the Ministry of Treasury. The SBR program has received both political XBRL format is mandatory. However, businesses can voluntarily
and resource commitment since its inception. This program continued choose whether to report other financial information using XBRL.
to receive broad-based support; it was incorporated into the Council
of Australian Governments' (COAGs) new regulation reform agenda in 3.2.4. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
2008. The primary motivations for the SEC to leverage XBRL include in-
Australia's SBR/XBRL implementation has developed a taxonomy creasing efficiency of financial data gathering, improving data quality,
and built processes and tools for standardization. The SBR program re- and achieving transparency. The interactive data project highlights
leased the first cycle of the SBR taxonomy in March 2008. Taxonomy the importance of transparency in achieving the SEC's larger mission
was developed via multiple iterations. By September 2008, cycle 2 tax- of providing timely and quality financial information to investors.
onomy was completed, and 20 forms in scope could be supported. With Broadly defined, the stakeholders for the XBRL project include inves-
the release of cycle 3 taxonomy in March 2009, all 86 forms in the SBR's tors, issuers, auditors, analysts, technology professionals, regulators,
scope were covered. The iterative nature of the taxonomy development and an entire spectrum of organizations and individuals who file
allowed for ongoing discussions with software developers to assist in and use financial data (Booth, 2007).
building processes and tools for standardization. The program office ap- The SEC is the sole agency leading the project. It is not required to co-
proved the contract for the design and development of a single sign-on ordinate with any other government agencies. However, because XBRL
solution and a set of core services in July 2008. Software development implementation is considered federal rule-making, public notice and
was well underway by August 2009. The official filing of business re- comments are required. All public traded companies regulated by the
ports using XBRL format commenced in July 2010. SEC are covered by this implementation. These are companies listed
This XBRL implementation impacts approximately 2.1 million on the NYSE and NASDAQ and securities brokerage firms, covering a
businesses in Australia on the reporting side (Madden, 2009, p. 9). wide range of industries.
Over 100,000 accountants and more than 240 software developers The SEC's XBRL implementation has evolved over time, shifting
are also affected by the implementation. The use of the XBRL format from the voluntary to the mandatory use of the XBRL format. Initially,
is voluntary for regulatory reporting purposes. The benefits of stan- the SEC took a non-mandatory approach when launching its volun-
dardization via XBRL, as the Australian government argues, should tary program in April 2005. Participation was rather limited. Less
help persuade businesses to adopt it. than 2% of the companies covered by SEC rules and mostly large
ones joined the voluntary program (Efendi, Smith, & Wong, 2009).
3.2.3. Singapore In mid 2008, the SEC considered a proposed mandatory rule and
The primary motivation for Singapore's adoption of XBRL is to im- made the final decision to transition to the mandatory approach in
prove the efficiency, transparency, and accuracy of financial and busi- December 2008. Year 2009 marked the first year of SEC implementa-
ness information reporting. Efficiency lies in the implementation of a tion in which companies of market capitalization of $5 billion or more
one-stop portal for businesses. Such implementation also enhances were included. Year two brings all other large accelerated filers, and
the transparency of financial activities in Singapore, and in turn pro- year three requires all remaining filers. 4 The transparency brought
motes an environment conducive for business. Accuracy is also an im- by XBRL reporting combined with the Interactive Data Initiative is
portant goal. XBRL was the standard of choice due to its nature likely to become increasingly enhanced as more companies partici-
platform and strong support from both the software development pate in XBRL reporting and as more analytical tools are developed
community and other stakeholders (Majid & Koo, 2008). to take advantage of XBRL financial information.
Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Agency (ACRA)
has spearheaded the XBRL implementation. ACRA has engaged the 3.3. Implementation characteristics and potential outcomes
main stakeholder groups and worked diligently to address their con-
cerns. More specifically, ACRA worked closely with the Institute of This analysis focuses on the four implementation characteristics
Certified Public Accountants of Singapore (ICPAS), which represents that were identified in the literature review, and which served as
accountants doing most of the reporting for small and medium the basis of this empirical investigation. The intermediate outcomes
sized businesses. The implementation began with a thorough feasibil-
ity study that had begun as early as 2003. With positive findings, 3
Koo, Ivan, 2008, Business Reporting in Singapore, Powerpoint presentation at 17th
ACRA proceeded with awarding the implementation project contract XBRL International Conference, available on http://17thconference.xbrl.org/.
in February 2006. The first year of implementation saw over 40,000 4
SEC, February 10, 2009, Interactive Data to Improve Financial Reporting; Final Rule.
 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563 559

Table 2
XBRL implementation characteristics and outcomes.

Netherlands Australia Singapore's ACRA U.S. SEC

Fit to structuralLow Medium High High

characteristics(joint office w/ limited authority) (central w/ moderate authority) (one agency w/ full authority) (one agency with full authority)
Political and Medium Medium High High
managerial (political commitment with a (political priority, resource infusion i.e. (sustained and strong political (strong political and managerial
support cross-agency office, limited man- workshop etc.) support, strong managerial support from the agency)
agerial resource infusion) commitment and resource input)
Incentives for Low/moderate Low/moderate(voluntary, significant outreach High Low → high
adoption (voluntary, limited outreach and and education effort coupled with (regulatory compliance, free (regulatory compliance,
(cost/benefit training effort, taxonomy in collaboration w/ the software industry) software program, attention to business analytics)
analysis) place) SMEs)
Incremental Moderate Moderate Strong Strong
implementation (lack of an articulated phase-in (lack of one based on industry or essential (pilot, testing, change (learn lessons from voluntary
strategy strategy) information) management, from partial to full pilot, phase-in to drive the mar-
reporting) ket and network effect)
Potential outcome: Moderate efficiency, low Moderate efficiency, medium transparency High efficiency, medium Medium efficiency, high
efficiency gain transparency transparency transparency
and information
transparency

of XBRL implementations are also identified. Empirical evidence is achieve regulatory goals with the appropriate approach of their
drawn from the various data sources explained in the Data and choice.
methods section. A summary of the four characteristics and interme- The combination of cross-agency coordination and the diversity
diate potential outcomes are in Table 2. and number of stakeholders involved in XBRL/SBR implementation
place a much higher demand on the Netherlands and Australia. In re-
sponse, the Netherlands and Australia need to have a central imple-
3.3.1. Fit to institutional and structural characteristics
mentation agency with a significant number of resources. A fitting
The implementation of XBRL for standard business reporting
strategy under the constraint of the voluntary approach would re-
(SBR), encompassing an entire national government, as seen in the
quire even more resource input to conduct outreach, education, and
cases of the Netherlands and Australia, requires a central and re-
even provision of specific incentives for participation. Against this
sourceful government agency for coordinating among governmental
backdrop, the Netherlands scored low on fit due to joint-office imple-
offices as well as stakeholders in professional associations (account-
mentation with limited authority and resources. Australia scored rel-
ing) and software industry. The federal government of Australia has
atively better with its one agency implementation strategy, which
to work across government agencies at the federal level as well as
gave moderate authority to decide various aspects of implementation.
those at the state and local levels. The complexity of working with a
The strategies of Singapore's ACRA and the SEC do not require the
large number and diverse group of stakeholders as identified earlier
level of centralization and resource inputs as those needed for the
in Australia's case would require a more centralized approach for im-
cases of the Netherlands and Australia. The single-agency strategy
plementation. The Netherlands' implementation was characterized
for both the ACRA and SEC cases exceeds what is needed for success-
by a similar level of complexity. A significant amount of work went
ful implementation; only a minimum degree of interagency coordina-
into coordinating various government agencies as well as stake-
tion is involved. Neither case has the institutional constraint on
holders in business communities. In comparison, the SEC's implemen-
implementing a mandatory approach, which requires less resource
tation was a single agency effort that did not require coordination
for coordination and outreach than a voluntary approach. With
with other governmental agencies in setting data standards and
these minimal constraints, both cases fared well, having full authority
reporting requirements. Singapore's ACRA implementation was also
in determining the appropriate regulatory strategy.
a single agency effort. However, the complexity of working with busi-
nesses from all sectors of economy still requires a strong central point
3.3.2. Political and managerial support
of coordination to address the diversity of financial information
Political support takes the form of articulating XBRL implementa-
involved.
tion as a public policy priority. Such support for standard business
The institutional constraint on using a voluntary approach places
reporting with XBRL should ideally involve the head of the state in
further demand on the implementation office. The implementation
lending support for government-wide implementation. In the context
office has to persuade other government agencies to make XBRL
of a single-agency XBRL implementation, political support for making
implementation a policy priority as well as provide training and
XBRL central to achieving agency mission is sufficient. Managerial
outreach for all stakeholders. As revealed in the interviews with
support ideally should take the shape of top management commit-
XBRL/SBR program managers, the voluntary approach is a fundamen-
ment to the project and implementation resources. More political
tal policy direction set at the beginning of the implementation. 5 The
and managerial support is needed when the complexity of implemen-
political and implementation cost of switching to a mandatory one
tation increases with the multiplication of diverse organizational
are rather high and likely to derail the entire project. In contrast,
interests.
Singapore's implementation of XBRL did not face the institutional
Australia's implementation received a medium level of support,
constraint of having voluntary approaches as a preferred policy op-
relative to the high level of support needed to succeed. It received ini-
tion. Business communities in the United States have preferred volun-
tial political support in 2006 as part of a broad-based administrative
tary programs with regard to regulatory efforts. However, regulatory
reform. This political support was sustained by the inclusion of
agencies are not constrained by a particular preference and can
SBR/XBRL as the Council of Australian Governments' (COAG) new reg-
5
ulation reform agenda of 2008. Managerial commitment to implemen-
This statement is based on information gathered from both the phone interview
conducted with the project manager of the NTP program in the Netherlands in late
tation totaled nearly $243 million over four years (Madden, 2009).
November 2009 and the phone interview with the program manager for Australia's Examining the Australian SBR office website indicated a high level of
SBR/XRBL program in early November 2009. activities and managerial support from the Treasury Office. The XBRL
560 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563

International Conference in 2009 was additional evidence indicating The Australian SBR Office has sought to address the challenges asso-
the clear managerial commitment and resource received in implemen- ciated with incentivizing small and medium-sized businesses by work-
tation. In contrast, the Netherlands' implementation received compara- ing with small business associations. 7 The SBR Office has worked closely
tively less support, relative to the higher standard required for standard with these associations to understand their concerns and jointly devel-
business reporting. There was initial political support to launch the op the business case. Small business associations then conducted
taxonomy project as an innovative effort to reduce the administrative outreach to articulate to their members the relevance of XBRL imple-
burden placed on business compliance with regulatory reporting. The mentation. Moreover, the Australian SBR Office has worked closely
rebranding effort in 2009 to be a standard business reporting program with software developers to provide technical input that can help
signaled another wave of political interest with the involvement of bring down the cost of software development, ultimately, to reduce
key agencies. However, in terms of managerial support, the resource the cost of XBRL software. The Netherlands office has also worked close-
allocated to the Program office was deemed falling short than what's ly with stakeholders, but has not exhibited the same level of engage-
needed to carry out the tasks of coordination, education, and outreach ment as seen in the Australian case.
across various governmental agencies. Both the SEC and Singapore's ACRA provided strong incentives for
The SEC's implementation has received high-level sustained polit- businesses to use XBRL. They did this primarily through a regulatory
ical and managerial support. Political support originated on the belief mandate and secondarily through other mechanisms designed to
of providing financial information to investors as the main strategy reduce the cost of compliance. The SEC moved from a voluntary to
for promoting the financial health of the nation, which embodied mandatory approach. It did this in order to increase the benefits
the core mission of the SEC. Moreover, political support was articulat- of reporting (i.e. as a way of avoiding penalties incurred with
ed in the Bush's Administration advocacy of e-government. Moreover, non-compliance). This strategy created a network effect that aimed
XBRL implementation has been considered one of the central projects to lower the cost of software for small and medium-sized businesses. 8
and commitments of the Obama administration's open government Singapore's ACRA also made efforts to reduce the cost of regulato-
goal. A high priority has been set on making government information ry compliance. Specifically, ACRA provided free software that could be
available to citizens. Thus, managerial support came from Chair Cox's used to compile financial information in the XBRL format and file re-
championing of XBRL implementation during his term.6 The strategic ports online. ACRA also went through extensive consultation with
alignment between this project and the broad-based federal govern- businesses to improve the usefulness of the free software so as to in-
ment e-government initiatives helped with securing financial resources. crease its ease of use. Providing free online consultation also reduced
Similarly, the XBRL implementation in Singapore has received a the cost of compliance.
high level of political and managerial support. Political support was
the result of the strong national emphasis on making Singapore a
business friendly environment through reducing the burden of regu- 3.3.4. Incremental implementation strategy
latory reporting. This support came also from Singapore's emphasis From the very beginning, the Netherlands and Australia have
on improving its investment environment. Thus, increasing financial taken an implementation approach that involves a wide range of gov-
transparency has been one of the main strategies. The project has re- ernmental agencies and the entire economy. This across-the-board
ceived sustained managerial support. Needed resources were allocat- approach is not incremental in terms of stakeholders. Such an ap-
ed for investing in the development of XBRL reporting compliance proach, however, poses greater risks and requires more political
software and making it freely available to businesses. Managerial sup- support and resources to sustain implementation. In terms of taxono-
port was also evident in the amount of resources directed at provid- my development, both cases of XBRL implementation have worked
ing technical assistance in the use of the government-sponsored through various versions. In general, the voluntary approach is not
software program. ideal for incremental targeting of a particular industry or agency.
The Netherlands' SBR Office has tried to work closely with one or
two industries as a way to increase adoption.
3.3.3. Providing incentives for adoption Singapore's ACRA has engaged several incremental implementa-
Both the Netherlands and Australia provided low to moderate in- tion strategies. 9 At first, a pilot project was implemented to test the
centives for businesses to adopt the XBRL format. The fundamental utility of a software program and users were solicited to provide
challenge for both cases of implementation was seen in the voluntary input during the course of the process. ACRA also engaged in change
approach to reporting and in the transition cost associated with mov- management. It worked closely with stakeholders to clarify the chal-
ing to the new system. Both cases of SBR/XBRL implementation have lenges associated with adopting XBRL. Thus, ACRA opted to develop
devoted a significant portion of their effort to making the business and provide an online XBRL filing service on its official website.
case for switching to the new format. One argument pointed out the Providing the option of filing a partial report versus a full report is
efficiency gains resulting from having integrated financial informa- an example of incremental mandatory reporting. The SEC's incremen-
tion. An integrated view of financial information, it was noted, tal, phase-in, approach is most visible in its extensive period of exper-
enhances both various reporting objectives as well as business intel- imentation with voluntary participation, then switching to mandatory
ligence (Stantial, 2007). For small and medium businesses, however, participation. The SEC spent over three years experimenting with a
the smaller scale of operation does not gain from the integration of fi- voluntary approach. It gathered input regarding the proposed manda-
nancial data across borders and business units. In most cases, for tory rule, collecting views and reactions from stakeholders during its
smaller and medium-sized businesses, the additional expenses re- “notice-and-comment” period. The SEC learned about the costs and
quired to be in compliance with the new format come from account- benefits of adoption from the business point of view, and began to un-
ing service providers that tend to charge extra fees for using the XBRL derstand the need for a network effect in adoption. Thus, the phase-in
format. The hope, of course, is that accounting services would pass on
their efficiency gains through using the XBRL format to their clients.
But this can work against the interests of the accounting firms. 7
This is based on a phone interview with the Australia's SBR program manager in
late November, 2009.
8
These assessments have been confirmed with the information gathered from a
phone interview with the Director of the Interactive Data Project at the U.S. SEC in
6
This was based on the statements gathered from a phone interview with the Senior January 2010.
9
Adviser to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox who oversaw XBRL implementation from Such an incremental approach was a deliberate choice based on correspondence
2005 to 2009 in December 2009. with the ACRA's XBRL project manager in December 2009.
 Y.-C. Chen / Government Information Quarterly 29 (2012) 553–563 561

approach began with large filers, and this provided the network effect program intent. For example, the limited information transparency
that would lower the cost of software programs. achieved for the Netherlands and Australian cases probably stems
from the emphasis on efficiency gains resulting from reducing reporting
3.3.5. Progress toward information transparency and efficiency burdens. On the other hand, one of the reasons the SEC scores high on
The assessment of implementation outcomes for these four cases is both efficiency gain and information transparency may be due to the
rather preliminary given the relatively short history and still-evolving clear objectives driving its XBRL implementation. Moreover, a clear
nature of XBRL. The assessment below draws from the information alignment between XBRL implementation and the agency's core mis-
available to date on efficiency gains and improvements in transparency. sion plays to the SEC's advantage.
In the cases of Australia and the Netherlands, the primary goal of XBRL This preliminary finding suggests that public managers need to
implementation was to gain efficiency through reducing the adminis- have a clear sense of goals for XBRL implementation in particular
trative burdens of regulatory reporting. Transparency is not listed as and e-government implementation in general. Making information
one of the main policy objectives for these XBRL/SBR programs. Howev- transparency and efficiency in information gathering and dissemina-
er, one can see that having business and financial data in XBRL format tion a priority would help attain these program goals. This finding
would improve transparency and interoperability of data across various also underscores the necessity of better alignment of implementation
governmental units. goals with the core mission of the main implementing agency. The
One main measure of program outcome is the rate of adoption of theoretical implication of this finding points toward the prominent
XBRL. For Dutch implementation, the first year of reporting with XBRL role played by institutional constraints and the notion of path depen-
only saw few participating businesses (The Dutch Taxonomy Project, dence, which confirms the main arguments of institutionalism, even
2008). The two subsequent years did see an increase in the number of in this new context of XBRL implementation.
businesses using XBRL, but the total number only constituted a small A government-wide implementation requires a high level of polit-
fraction (several percentage points) of all businesses covered.10 The Aus- ical support and resource input due to inherent complexity and po-
tralian XBRL/SBR was officially launched for filing on July 1, 2010. There is tential conflicts resulting from turf battles. Although the potential
some indication of interest in XBRL/SBR filing, at least judging by the benefits could be large, the initial investment is substantial and
number of Australian businesses (36,000) that has received electronic must be sustained over 3–5 years to reach a critical mass of adopters
keys for filing purposes.11 The potential savings for the Australian pro- and have a positive return on the investment. The challenge facing
gram is estimated to be nearly $800 million once it is fully implemented. the Netherlands and Australia comes from getting and sustaining
In the case of the Netherlands, the savings of compliance costs for compa- this level of support. By contrast, a single agency implementation, as
nies was estimated to be around $515 million a year (Baker, 2008). It is in the cases of the U.S. SEC and Singapore's ACRA, is relatively man-
worth noting that these savings are estimates and likely to change ageable. Thus, the managerial implication points toward the need to
depending on the level of implementation success. budget ample resources over a sustained period of time. It is also im-
For Singapore's ACRA and the United States' SEC, both efficiency and portant to clearly articulate the projected returns on the resource in-
transparency are important goals of XBRL implementation. From the vestment to sustain political and managerial support. Thus, this
view of government, efficiency gains would stem from automating preliminary finding reinforces the argument for the importance of po-
data gathering, data validation, and dissemination. The adoption of litical and managerial support in successful e-government implemen-
XBRL by businesses is critical to ensure efficiency gains. Given the man- tation, especially in a more diverse and networked setting.
datory approach, the adoption rate is close to 100% for both ACRA and These cases also indicate that a proper incentive scheme for adop-
SEC projects. ACRA saw over 40,000 businesses reporting during its tion is essential in achieving the desired outcome of e-government
first year of implementation in 2009. Among those reporting, close to implementation. The U.S. SEC's experience can be seen as a natural
a quarter of them opted for full reporting. The SEC is also benefiting experiment. In this case, mandatory reporting is required to provide
from the efficiency gains stemming from automation, particularly the needed incentives for publicly traded companies to adopt XBRL.
improved timeliness in collecting and validating data. Mandatory The challenge faced by Australia and the Netherlands in getting vol-
reporting under SEC rules has just entered the second year. Publicly untary adoption also suggests the need to structure an incentive
traded companies have filed XBRL-formatted reports on schedule. scheme to shape business adoption decisions. Public managers
Transparency is important for ACRA because it allows select busi- could learn from this experience by focusing their efforts on develop-
ness information to be made available to investors. The ACRA's XBRL ing an incentive structure for businesses of all sizes. Making the use of
implementation offers comparative business data, which helps gov- XBRL mandatory is an effective means of tipping the cost/benefit cal-
ernment make public policy decisions as well as investors make in- culation in favor of adoption. Also another helpful strategy is to work
vestment decisions. Likewise, transparency is a top priority for the closely with the software industry to lower development costs and
SEC because the SEC serves the public and the economy as a whole thus reduce service fees associated with XBRL software programs.
through providing quality business information to individual and or- The preliminary finding points toward the limitations of using volun-
ganizational investors. Implementation progress can be tracked tary programs as policy instruments. Such a strategy would unlikely
through the SEC's Interactive Data Project, which lets users access fi- produce the network effect necessary for generating the benefits of
nancial data gathered in XBRL format. One immediate benefit of XBRL XBRL.
implementation is timeliness in gathering, validating, and dissemi- The last preliminary research finding supports the deployment of an
nating financial data. incremental strategy for successful implementation. The cases exam-
ined here suggest the need for an incremental approach. The use of
pilot projects, extensive collaboration with stakeholders, and phase-in
4. Discussions and conclusion implementation are all helpful. These cases together offer public man-
agers a rich menu of incremental implementation strategies such as
Analysis of these four cases of implementation suggests that infor- moving from partial reporting to full reporting, working first with
mation transparency and efficiency gain tend to be a matter of large businesses then with small ones, and beginning with voluntary
and later switched to mandatory reporting. Here, the theoretical under-
10
This statement is based on an interview with the project manager of the Taxonomy pinning underscores the importance of change management, especially
Project in the Netherlands in fall 2009.
11
This is based on a press release on the Australian SBR office. As of October 1, 2010,
in the context of complex e-government implementation.
there was no official count of the number of reports filed by businesses using this new It is important to note that this study is exploratory because of the
format on the same website. quality and details of case information and the evolving nature of
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large-scale XBRL filing. The Hague, Netherlands: Ministry of Finance and Ministry Yu-Che Chen, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of e-government and public management
of Justice. in the Division of Public Administration at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Chen's
Stantial, J. (2007, June). ROI on XBRL: Interactive data cuts reporting costs today. research interests are electronic governance, e-government implementation, and IT-
Journal of Accountancy, 203(6), 32–35. enabled interorganizational collaboration. Dr. Chen's most recent research projects
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage include the use of Web 3.0 (semantic web) for open government, Web 2.0 for citizen
Publication. participation, and digital governance with a global perspective.
The Dutch Taxonomy Project (2008). From NTP to SBR: Perspective on a special project. Dr. Chen's co-edited book entitled “Electronic Governance and Cross-boundary Collab-
Hague, Netherlands: Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice. oration” has recently been published. Moreover, he has over twenty journal articles and
Tolbert, C., Mossberger, K., & McNeal, R. S. (2008). Institutions, policy innovation, and book chapters, almost exclusively on the topic of e-government. His recent research
e-government in the American states. Public Administration Review, 68(3), publications can be found in scholarly journals such as Public Administration Review,
549–563. American Review of Public Administration, International Journal of Electronic Government
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M., Davis, G., & Davis, F. (2003). User acceptance of information Research, Government Information Quarterly, Public Performance & Management Review,
technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478. and Social Science Computer Review. His book chapters appear in the Encyclopedia of Digital
Watson, L. A. (2009). Sorry wrong number — Study finds financial results of 209 listed Government, E-government Research, and other books on electronic government.
Indian companies don't add up. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Dr. Chen has conducted extensive management research and consultation on e-government
6(3), 185–187. with the primary focus on local, state, and federal governments in the United States and has a
Welch, E. W., Mazur, A., & Bretschneider, S. (2000). Voluntary behavior by electric new interest on China's e-government. His management research on e-government XBRL
utilities: Levels of adoption and contribution of the climate challenge program to implementation in various countries and IT outsourcing in U.S. federal government has been
the reduction of carbon dioxide. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 19(3), published by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. He has provided expert consul-
407. tation to U.S. state and local government CIOs as well as e-government research centers in
Welch, E., & Wong, W. (2001). Global information technology pressure and govern- China and Taiwan. Moreover, he provides his expertise in leveraging information technology
ment accountability: The mediating effect of domestic context on website open- to national public administration associations and scholarly communities. He is the Chair for
ness. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory(4), 509–538. the Section on Science and Technology in Government for the American Society for Public
Willcocks, L., & Sykes, R. (2000). The role of the CIO and IT function in ERP. Communi- Administration. He has also served on various editorial advisory boards for books and
cation of the ACM, 43(4), 32–38. journals on e-governance and public administration.