Assessing Reforms of Government Accounting and Budgeting
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24 Pages Posted: 10 Nov 2004 Last revised: 19 Nov 2014
Date Written: November 5, 2004
Abstract
We analyze four (4) frameworks for assessing the success of government reforms of accounting and budgeting systems and apply our analysis to performance budgeting reforms in U.S. states. We conclude that performance measures are not useful for the legislative problem of allocating resources among disparate goals, but they are useful for improving the quality and reducing the cost of providing services. Two of the frameworks come from the budgetary literature and focus on allocations (Outcomes view and Process view). The other two come from the accounting literature and focus on incentives among key actors (Monitoring view and Signaling view). The actors considered in this study are Voters, Legislators, Government Managers and the Media. Our theoretical analysis suggests that the four frameworks are often complementary rather than mutually exclusive; however, the Signaling view may provide the best framework for two reasons: 1) it provides insights into the net costs and benefits of adopting a reform and 2) it provides insights into policy suggestions that are likely to increase the adoption of beneficial reforms. Three policy suggestions are given: 1) Legislators should focus on incentives for managers to report performance measures, 2) Performance budgeting should be done on a comparable basis across states, and 3) Influential actors such as legislators and the media should be studied in greater detail.
Keywords: Performance measure, Performance budget
JEL Classification: H72, L33, M40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation