Assessing Country Readiness for Results-Based Monitoring and Evaluation Systems (original) (raw)
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Public sector performance measurement in developing countries
Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, 2007
Purpose-This paper aims to explore the influence of specific characteristics of the public sector in developing countries (i.e. a low-institutional capacity, a limited involvement of stakeholders, and high levels of corruption and informality), and of reforms of this sector, on public sector performance measurement (PSPM). Design/methodology/approach-Based on a review of prior literature, the paper develops understanding of the demand for and supply of performance information in developing countries, and of changes in this area. Findings-The paper argues that public sector organisations in developing countries are likely to face an unbalanced position, i.e. disequilibrium between the demand for and supply of performance information. More precisely, the public sector reforms-which are partly stimulated by a growing involvement of some stakeholders-lead to an increasing demand for performance information but, because of the low-institutional capacity and the high level of corruption, this increasing demand is not always followed by a sufficient supply of performance information. This leads to an "unsatisfied demand" position. Research limitations/implications-The paper concludes with an overview of issues related to PSPM in a developing country context that require further investigation. Practical implications-The arguments presented in this paper are summarised in an overview of factors that influence the demand for and supply of performance information in the public sector in developing countries. This overview might be helpful to those who are involved in the design of performance measurement systems in these countries. Originality/value-So far, relatively little is known about PSPM in a developing country context. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap.
Beneficial effects of public sector performance measurement
Recently, major attention has been devoted to performance measurement in public sector, especially from the aspects of qualitative assessment. For that reason the financial performance measures are limited in overall assessment of an organisation performance. There are also difficulties in quality measurement because of a variety of different services and their intertwinement. New tools, such as balanced system of indicators, customer relation management, benchmarking etc. are subjects of research and implementation. Transition countries follow the trends in developed countries ; thus, the obligation to monitor and provide information on public sector performance becomes a part of their legislature. This primarily refers to spending of public revenues, i.e. rationality of performance, while the qualitative aspect or effectiveness is still not measured. The problem lies in the need for a clear vision definition and in goal setting. Realisation of goals and their measurement is relate...
Before the mining begins: an enquiry into the data for performance measurement in the public sector
2010
Policy aims at desired and foreseen effects. That is the very nature of policy. Policy needs to be evaluated, so that policy makers know if the specific policy measures indeed reach – and if so, how, how efficient or effective, with what unintended or unforeseen effects, etc. – these intended results and objectives. However, measuring policy effects is not without disadvantages. The policy evaluation process can cause side effects. Evaluating policy implies making fundamental choices. It is not an easy exercise. Moreover, policy actors are aware of the methods with which their activities – their (implementation of) policy – will or could be evaluated. They can anticipate the evaluation, e.g. by changing the official policy goals – a crucial standard in the evaluation process – or by choosing only these goals that can be met and avoiding more ambitious goals that are more difficult to reach. In this context, policy actors abstraCt
An Attempt to Align Public Sector Performance Measurement: A Global Perspective
2019
This study examines through extensive review of relevant theoretical and empirical literature on public sector performance measurement, with a view to realign performance measurements across the public sector. Many public organizations have been under great pressure in recent years to increase the efficiency and transparency of outputs, to rationalize the use of public resources and to increase the quality of service delivery and the outcomes. A number of theories have been discussed to give theoretical framework to the measurement system in the public sectors. Stakeholders’ theory for instance clearly explains why there is diversity in public sectors performance measurement. The major findings on public performance measurement, reveals that Public sector organizations have recently adopted multidimensional performance measurements in order to respond to the increasing dissatisfaction of the public stakeholders in the use of traditional measures. A solution to these problems has bee...
Understanding the changing role of public sector performance measurement in less developed countries
Public Administration and Development, 2010
This article develops a framework for understanding changes in the demand for and supply of performance information in public sector organizations in less developed countries (LDCs). New Institutional Sociology (NIS) is used to argue that pressures from specific stakeholders stimulate organizations to produce particular performance information. The article distinguishes three groups of stakeholders (i.e. funding bodies, statutory boards and purchasers), and elaborates on the performance dimensions these stakeholders are interested in. The group of funding bodies, with their interest in financial performance information, used to be the most important group of stakeholders. However, statutory boards and purchasers are gaining importance as a result of recent public sector reforms, which include decentralization, marketization and the implementation of anti-corruption programs. As a consequence of pressures coming from these stakeholders, new performance dimensions, such as the quality and quantity of services and the political governance structure, will be added to organizations' performance measurement (PM) systems. Whether these and other-often more traditional financial-performance dimensions will be balanced and integrated throughout organizations depends on the power positions of the various stakeholders. The arguments presented in this article intend to stimulate public sector organizations in LDCs to design and redesign PM systems as a response to changing stakeholder interests.
2011
One of the primary functions of government is to ensure that resources consumed by government are proportionate with the benefits they deliver to society. In recent times and in many countries, there have been significant pressures on governments to assess how budgetary resources were used to achieve desired policy results. New concepts of transparency, value for money, economy-efficiency-effectiveness models, and civil society participation have significantly transformed the role of government. The shift from inputs and compliance to outputs and outcomes is continuing to change the nature of how governments the world over set, budget for, debate and deliver policy priorities. This brief provides an overview of the role of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in informing budgetary decisions and presents one tool: The Readiness Assessmentthat can help determine the M&E capacity and demand present in a country. Case studies on the use of this assessment are included from Egypt, Romania, and a country in East Asia. This note expands upon an earlier PREM Note on "Assessing country readiness for resultsbased monitoring and evaluation systems, 1 " describing in detail the connection between M&E systems and budgetary processes.