RECONSTRUCTING PUBLIC-SECTOR ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH INDIGENOUS CULTURAL VALUES

Abstract

Purpose. This study reconstructs the meaning of public-sector accountability in regional financial management by mobilising the indigenous cultural values of Amanati from Gorontalo Province, Indonesia, as an analytical lens. It addresses the persistent gap between formal-administrative compliance and substantive moral accountability in emerging-economy public governance. Design/methodology/approach. Adopting a qualitative interpretive paradigm, the study draws on in-depth semi structured interviews with six purposively selected informants, supplemented by participant observation and documentary analysis conducted between March and September 2025. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's reflexive thematic analysis, and trustworthiness was established through source and method triangulation following Lincoln and Guba's criteria. Findings. Formal accountability mechanisms across the six stages of regional financial management are implemented in compliance with regulations, yet remain procedurally dominant and morally shallow. The integration of five Amanati values Mopowulalo (transparency), Umotulidu (honesty), Liya-liyatu (integrity), Ikilale (commitment), and Bubaya (responsibility) strengthens substantive accountability at every stage. The study identifies BITO, an indigenous socio-moral retribution mechanism, as a preventive and corrective control that operates beyond formal sanctions, culminating in the Amanati Accountability Model (Akuntabilitas Dudaha). Research limitations/implications. The study is contextually bounded by a single province and the interpretive nature of the inquiry. Future research could operationalise Amanati values into measurable indicators and test their relationships with accountability quality through mixed-methods or quantitative designs. Originality/value. The study advances agency theory and ethical-infrastructure theory by introducing an indigenous, value-based accountability framework grounded in local cultural ethics, contributing to the literatures on indigenous accounting, behavioural public-sector accounting, and decolonial accountability scholarship in emerging economies.