From scholarly idea to budgetary institution: the emergence of cost-benefit analysis (original) (raw)

Budgeting and Budgetary Institutions

2007

Conclusions 48 Notes 49 References 49 The Budget and Its Coverage 53 Salvatore Schiavo-Campo Good Governance and Public Expenditure Management 54 The Meaning of Fiduciary Risk in Public Finance 55 The Unity of the Budget 55 Coverage, Periodicity, and Definitions 56 Principles of Expenditure Policy Choices and of Budget Coverage 60 Extrabudgetary Funds 61 Beyond Direct Expenditure 72 Basic Budget Legislation 81 Notes 86 References 87 Capital Budgets: Theory and Practice 89 A. Premchand Evolution 90 Current Practices 101 Notes 108 References and Other Sources 108 Budget Methods and Practices 109 Alta Fölscher The Nature of the Problem 109 Beyond Incrementalism: Rationality and Incentives in Budget Methods 118 Conclusion 134 Note 134 References 134 vi Contents 3 4 2 A Primer on Performance Budgeting

Continuing the Search for a Theory of Public Budgeting

This paper argues that the search for a theory of public budgeting has proceeded mainly on assumptions of the rationalist paradigm. This approach yielded mostly technical explanations for budgeting phenomena. These explanations fail to capture the complexities of public budgeting and yield incomplete theories. Without attempting to break new ground, the authors argue that budgeting theory should be guided by heuristic concepts borrowed from open systems theory. This offers greater potential for reconciling the rational and non-rational aspects of budgeting and permits constructive synthesis of insights from extant theories of budgeting without rejecting the rationalist paradigm. This approach views budgeting as only one of the complex functions governments perform to cope with their environment and to maintain stability.

The Governmental Budget: Do Politics Influence the Outcome of the Governmental Budgeting Process

Political Economy: Budget, Deficit, & Debt eJournal, 2023

This paper will attempt to answer a common question that has been asked of me, in my elected official capacity, on more than one occasion, by undergrad interns from several local universities. Do politics influence the outcome of the governmental budgeting process? To answer this question, this document will explore a governmental budget, the budgeting process, its actors, the political environment of governmental budgeting, and some recommendations to reduce the level of politics. There is no shortage of information on the governmental budgeting process, the politics involved, and the types and approaches to budgeting, yet; in this paper, I will focus only on the fundamental form of budgeting. Furthermore, this paper is not meant to be an end-all source. It is very general and should be viewed in the context of other sources.

Institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation of budget. Symmetrical analysis of rhetoric associated to the introduction of budget and “beyond budgeting”

2009

This study focuses on the roles of rhetoric and of the various actors in institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation attempts. Our paper jointly investigates the process whereby budgeting became institutionalised between 1930 and 1960 and the attempts of the CAM-I to deinstitutionalise it from 1990. Paradoxically, the same two arguments have been used to support the institutionalisation of and the attempts to deinstitutionalise budgets. Firstly, in the 1930’s the turbulence of the environment is used a rhetorical argument to support the implementation of budgeting. Since 1990, the turbulence of the environment has generated a feeling that budgeting should be abandoned. Secondly in the 1930’s and 1950’s budgets contributed to the emancipation of managers, while since 1990 they have been deemed as rigid frameworks preventing managers from acting freely. These contradictions reveal that we can not explain such changes by the rhetorical schemes alone. The network of actors in which these schemes are embedded has a large part in the influence of rhetoric in the change from one institutional order to another. It is particularly the actors to whom these rhetorical schemes are addressed which give them their meanings. Finally, the similarities between the rhetoric used can be explained if we analyse it as the means to transcend the fluctuating contradictions of institutional logics.

The use of budgetary symbols in the political arena: An historically informed field study

Accounting, Organizations and Society, 1988

Within accounting, an emerging perspective has held that budgeting is complicit in the creation of a social reality. Seen in such terms, budgetary dialogue is one manner In which societal expectations are expressed, thereby transforming contemporary organizations. Further, it is argued that organizationaI practice must specifically embody and reproduce these societal expectations in order for the organization to exist. This paper describes a field study directed at assessing the usefulness of such a perspective on budgeting by examining the nature of the budgetary process between a major state university and its state government.

The contractual nature of budgeting: A transaction cost perspective on the design of budgeting institutions

Policy Sciences, 1996

Viewing budgets as contracts, transaction cost theory focuses on the costs of negotiating and enforcing the myriad political agreements by which policymakers allocate the government's resources. This essay provides an overview of transaction cost theory and its implications for the design of budgeting institutions. It contrasts the behavioral premises (bounded rationality and opportunism) of the transaction cost approach with those of more traditional budgetary theories, and examines whether commitment and agency costs have structured budget actors' institutional choices. Investigation of the usage of key budget instruments- entitlements, multi-year appropriations, and tax expenditures - suggests that Congress has been more discriminating in its institutional choices than is commonly supposed. Sensitivity to the importance of transaction costs would increase the effectiveness of budget reforms.