ABFM's 38th Annual Research Conference 2026

SHARED CHALLENGES, SHARED RESOURCES: MANAGING PUBLIC BUDGETING AND FINANCE IN A MULTI-LEVEL SYSTEM. The conference invites scholars and practitioners to explore how public finance systems function in a multi-level governance environment, covering topics such as how responsibilities and resources are aligned, how grants, mandates, and revenue authority shape fiscal behavior, and how budgeting institutions adapt to shared challenges while maintaining accountability and sustainability. Key topics include: Accounting and Financial Reporting, AI in Public Finance, Behavioral and Experimental Public Finance, Budget Theory and Mechanisms, Capital Planning and Budgeting, Citizen Participation in Budgeting, Current Development in State and Local Finance, Debt Financing and Management, Federal Budgeting Challenges and Reforms, Fiscal Health and Resilience, Fiscal Federalism, International/Comparative Budgeting, Not-for-Profit Finance/Financial Management, Intergovernmental Finance/Fiscal Federalism, Intersections between climate, disaster management, Health, Housing, Transportation, etc. and Budget Policy, Performance Budgeting, Public Finance and Economic Development, Public Pension Management and Investment, Public Procurement and Contracting, Public-Private-Nonprofit Partnerships, Tax Policy and Administration, Transparency and Accountability in Public Finance.