Study background

Middle and lower income countries aspiring to

international best practices in budgeting.

In Eastern Europe early reformers have struggled to

make performance budgeting effective.

What can aspiring countries learn from their

neighbours experiences and those of advanced

reformers in OECD countries?

Methodology:

Common questionnaire

Seven in depth country case studies; Australia,

Estonia, France, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, USA

Studies prepared 2014-15, by national experts and

academics closely involved in reform efforts

Peer reviewers; Neil Cole (CABRI), Teresa Curristine

(IMF), Allen Schick (UMD), Nicola Smithers (WB),

Mark Ahern (WB)

We define performance budgeting by our aspirations

for it

OECD definition: “Performance budgeting is the use

of performance information to link funding with

results with the purpose of increasing efficiency,

effectiveness, transparency and accountability”

The gap between our aspirations and the observed

effects of performance systems are usually large,

resulting in disappointment

Challenges in Performance Budgeting

Setting Objectives: A primary challenge for

governments is to decide the purpose of performance

budgeting

Looking Beyond the Budget: Managers are the most

likely users of performance information

Capacity Constraints: Governments underestimate

the costs of a performance budgeting system

successfully.

Information Overload: Countries typically produce too

many metrics.

Prioritizing Strategic Goals: Metrics for the most

salient service delivery areas are more likely to be

used.

Managing Performance Perversity: Too much

emphasis on performance can motivate gaming

behavior.

Routinizing Performance Information Use: through

program evaluation, audit, and learning routines

Changing Behavior: The pace and ambition of

changes should reflect difficulty of building a

performance culture.

Balancing Political and Bureaucratic Support: A

political champion brings pros and cons

Be clear about the objectives of the reform

Rather than standardized reporting, focus on

most crucial service delivery areas and

strategic policy priorities

Rather than rely on budget process, part of

comprehensive approach to policy analysis &

management

Focus on program managers as most likely

users

NEXT GENERATION APPROACH

Make performance budgeting system

consistent with capacities

Long-term approach values consistency across

multiple reform efforts and incremental

adaptive change based on experience

NEXT GENERATION APPROACH

Thank you