Browse by: "P"

A great deal of research in psychology and policy studies has demonstrated that when citizens feel fairly treated in their encounters with government agencies, they are more likely to accept and comply with regulatory rules and decisions, to feel included in society and to trust their government. This paper explains how careful design of rocedures in the development and administration of laws and regulations and targeted training of officials can enhance perceived fairness and produce greater decision acceptance and compliance. It draws on a large number of empirical studies in different policy settings and countries to identify three key factors that drive perceived fairness: voice, respect and explanations. Successful programs to improve subjective justice must be built upon a foundation of objective justice: attempts to simulate fairness without actually providing objectively fair procedures tend to provoke very negative reactions when the true nature of the unfair process is discovered. Findings of this paper feed into OECD work on trust, open government and stakeholder engagement.

Performance budgeting and accrual budgeting are analytic tools that provide information and insights which are not available through conventional approaches. But neither innovation is ready for widespread application as a decision rule in the budget process. This article urges fuller understanding of these innovations and their implications, and more systematic use of performance and accrual information for policy makers

This article describes how the principles of management for results have worked in practice over the past two decades in Australia. The current performance information framework involves, among other things, the accrual-based outcomes and outputs policy, performance agreements between heads of agencies and their responsible ministers, and regular review and assessment, particularly at agency level.

This article describes the performance budgeting reforms of the government of Canada, the five main lessons learned over the past 30 years, and the current initiatives to strengthen performance measurement for the future.

This article describes the development and current content of the performance management system in the Danish central government. Since the 1980s, innovations have included results-based management, performance contracts, activity-based budgeting, accrual accounting and budgeting, and the use of evaluations and reports.

Korea is in the initial stages of implementing performance-based budgeting. The system was introduced as part of a comprehensive fiscal reform package in the late 1990s. This article discusses the background, framework and implementation of performance budgeting and its impact in the budget process.

Poland currently has a traditional budget system that is primarily based on organisational units and control of inputs. But Poland is in the process of introducing a new budget system, the performance-based budgeting system, in order to improve public finance management and strengthen allocative and operational efficiency, multi-year budgeting, and transparency and accountability. Poland faces hard choices on how to harness the advantages of performance management while minimising the costs in terms of organisational capacity and funding. This article assesses the reform process to date, examines cross-cutting institutional, technical, and strategic issues, and provides a series of recommendations for each stage of the budget process: budget preparation, approval and execution, and reporting, accounting and audit. JEL classification: H500, H610, H830 Keywords: Poland, budget process, performance budgeting system, performance-based budget, PBB, public finance management, allocative efficiency, operational efficiency, multi-year budgeting, transparency, accountability

The effective and efficient use of public resources has vital importance for Turkey. To serve this purpose, public financial management was reformed and a performance budgeting system was launched in Turkey. This article assesses the current situation of the implementation of the performance budgeting system in Turkey from the perspective of public administrations under the general budget. It examines all stages of the performance budgeting process (strategic planning, performance programming, budgeting, accountability reporting and auditing) as well as all elements of the system (legislation, methodology, co.ordination, guidance, ownership, implementation, and factors affecting the process). It identifies the strengths of the system and the problems faced. JEL classification: H110, H610.

This article discusses the reforms introduced in the Netherlands since the 1980s to improve the transparency and efficiency of government programmes: programme budgeting, policy orientation, and interdepartmental policy reviews. The impact on the budget structure and process is described. An annex explains some typical characteristics of the Dutch budgetary process.

Performance-based budgeting seems to be a promising tool for improving the management and accountability of public finances. However, its application causes many difficulties. This article briefly reviews international experience with performance-based budgeting and explores its application in the Netherlands since the late 1990s, including a case study of the Safety Programme. The focus is on transparency and the quality of the performance information. Compared to the former input budget, performance-based budgeting constitutes a major step forward. Given the many difficulties in implementing performance budgeting, it is recommendable, though, to critically revise its scope and shape.

In the past decade, based on a change in paradigms in university policy, performance funding on a cantonal and central state level has been introduced in Switzerland: the universities have been granted higher autonomy, combined with global budgets and contract management by the responsible authorities (cantonal authorities). At the same time, the allocation of the central state subsidies, which is only of a secondary nature, has no longer been based on input but on the achievement of targets (new University Funding Law from the year 1999). The introduction of these new performance-oriented elements – higher autonomy combined with global budgets and contract management and target-oriented allocation of central state subsidies led to intensive, sometimes controversial debates in the different parliaments and media. This work examines whether - and to what extent - these new incentives have led to behavioral changes at the universities. To test this, the work has analysed the development of efficiency - as an input/output comparison in the university production process - and that of effectiveness - as the degree to which targets formulated in the University Funding Law are achieved.

In this paper the author examines the implementation of key performance indicators in Canadian post-secondary education institutions. More specifically he charts their implementation from the perspective of students and the effect they have on the quality and delivery of education. Key performance indicators (KPI) in Canada are administered by the ten provincial governments. In each of the jurisdictions in which they have been introduced KPIs have tied various forms of institutional performance to core funding and capital funding allocation.The paper offers a comparative analysis of how certain criteria are promoted by the establishment of KPIs. It examines the introduction of KPIs in three provinces: Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. In each case the complex set of politics and institutional relations at stake in the establishment of KPIs are examined. A comparative examination of each case provides signposts for best practices as well as instructive lessons in where and how quickly the very definition of accountability becomes a highly politicised term of contention. Finally, the paper makes proactive policy suggestions, from the standpoint of students, about the criteria that should be used in the establishment of KPIs. At all points the paper (re) inserts the perspective of students into the ongoing dialogue about accountability and the changing identity of higher education....

Based on the results of the OECD 2005 questionnaire on performance information, this article provides an overview of the development and use of performance measures and evaluations in the budget process across OECD countries. This trend is both widespread and long-term. However, questions remain about the real extent of change and if and how performance information is used in budgetary decision making. The article examines: the different institutional roles and responsibilities in developing performance information; the main trends, challenges and success factors for implementation and how this information is used in the budget process; and what factors contribute to its use or lack of use. The article also classifies different approaches to performance budgeting. Two significant findings are that the majority of countries engage in performance-informed budgeting at the Ministry of Finance level (that is, performance information is most often used along with other information to inform but not to determine budget allocations) and that the main reason for not using performance information is the lack of a method to integrate it into the budget process.

This article examines how the Chinese government came to endorse the concept of performance management, and analyses the experiments with performance management since the early 1990s (mainly at the local level). The incentives are examined, especially the performance-based reward and promotion system. The article discusses China’s experience with performance management in various sectors, including organisational restructuring and human resource management in the civil service, performance and results management and the “objective responsibility system”, and the attempts to improve accountability and performance in the delivery of public services. Citizen participation in performance management is also examined, and case studies of local practice.