Culturally and politically embedded management controls in innovation transitions of PPPs: comparative cases from a developing economy

Chaminda Wijethilake is a senior lecturer in accounting at Essex Business School, University of Essex. Chaminda is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). Chaminda has published research papers in the areas of management control systems, sustainability strategy and operations management in journals including, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Financial Accountability and Management, Production Planning and Control, Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Business Strategy and the Environment and Advances in Management Accounting. Prior to joining Essex Business School, Chaminda served as a senior lecturer in the Department of Management and Finance at General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka.

Bedanand Upadhaya is currently a senior lecturer in accounting at Essex Business School. His research interests include corporate social responsibility and sustainability, climate change, organisational culture, public–private partnerships, management control systems and developing/emerging countries. Bedanand has published papers in leading international peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Journal of Business Research and Business, Strategy and the Environment. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK and a member of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA). During his PhD, Bedanand received the “Higher Degree Research Academic Research Excellence Award” from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Macquarie University, Australia. Prior to entering academia, he worked for over a decade in a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company.

Pawan Adhikari is a professor of accounting at Essex Business School, with previous roles at Nord University, Norway. He has served as Secretary and CEO of Nepal’s Accounting and Auditing Standards Board. Specialising in public sector accounting, he has over 20 years of expertise in this field. His recent research focuses on developing accounting theory and impact research in emerging economies. Funded by the GCRF at Essex, his impact studies identify challenges in improving public sector accounting and transparency in these regions, aiding policy making. He has received two grants from the World Bank/PEFA and researches participatory healthcare in Benin and climate change in South Asia. He also participates in a European Commission project to enhance capacity in Sri Lanka. Currently, he is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, with publications in CPA, AAAJ, FAM, IRAS, JAEE and AF. In 2019, he was awarded the best postgraduate supervisor at his faculty.

Teerooven Soobaroyen is a professor of accounting at Aston University, focusing his research on the links between accounting, accountability and governance. His studies cover diverse empirical settings, including firms in developing and emerging economies, corporate foundations, the public sector, charities, NGOS and higher education institutions. He has previously held academic roles at the University of Mauritius, Aberystwyth University, the University of Southampton and the University of Essex. At Southampton Business School, he led the Accounting Department and at Essex, he headed the Accounting Group. Since July 2021, Teerooven has been the Deputy Dean for Partnerships at Essex. He served as President of the British Accounting and Finance Association from 2020 to 2022 and is the Immediate Past President of the African Accounting and Finance Association. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies and the SAMPJ and on the editorial boards of several journals including Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Accounting Forum, Journal of Public Budgeting and others. Currently, he is guest editing an issue of the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management on Publicness, Accounting and Budgeting in Emerging Economies.

Kelum Jayasinghe is a chair in accounting at the University of Sheffield. Prior to joining Sheffield, he held positions at the University of Essex, University of Wales (Aberystwyth), University of Bradford (UK) and University of Colombo (Sri Lanka). Kelum has served as an expert panel member of the working group established for the development of UN’s Sendai Framework Words into Action implementation guides for accountability and governance, UNSIDR, 2016-2021. He has also provided his services as an external consultant for the PEFA-World Bank to produce three reports on participatory budgeting (2019), climate change investment (2020) and fiscal transparency and public accountability (2022). Kelum is globally recognised as a critical researcher in accounting and development policy. His international prominence is demonstrated through his extensive publication record in renowned journals, including Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ); Critical Perspectives on Accounting (CPA); Accounting Forum; Financial Accountability and Management (FAM); and Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies (JAEE). Currently, he serves on the editorial boards of JPBAFM, JAEE and AAFJ (as an associate editor). He is also a guest editor for special issues in four of these journals: FAM, RAEE, JAEE, AAFJ and JBAFM.