In search of budgetary excellence: the government finance officers association award for distinguished budget presentation

During the twentieth century, American governments progressed from essentially no use of government budgeting to experimentation with a host of budgeting strategies designed to improve the control, efficiency, and decision making capacity of governing agencies. In 1984, the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada sought to synthesize many of these approaches into a broad definition of budgetary excellence by the establishment of an Award for Distinguished Budget Presentation. This article reviews the effort to define budgetary excellence, then offers a discussion of the lessons learned during the first years of the program's operation. he of the products of the program's operation.     

Types of budgeting and budgeting problems in aclerican cities

This research investigates the types of budgeting formats used in over 200 United States cities and provides information about the budgetary problems facing American cities. The perception of budgeting problems differs significantly among cities with different types of budgeting. Cities using line-item budgeting are more likely to view the problems as more severe than do the cities using reform budgeting. The problems are the least severe in cities using planning, programming budgeting.     

Do Nasty and Pleasant Surprises Regarding Tax Revenue Explain Spending Drifts? The Case of the Swiss Cantons

This article aims to explain the difference between the expenditure reported in governmental end-of-the-year budgets and the amounts previously forecasted in the approved beginning-of-the-year budgets. We measure how political, financial, and institutional variables affect this spending drift. We focus on two much-debated factors, namely, tax revenue budgeting errors and the stringency of fiscal rules. Our econometric approach uses a panel based on the 26 Swiss cantons covering the period of 1980 to 2011. Results suggest that stringent fiscal rules discourage budget overruns, whereas underestimating tax revenue—i.e., a budgetary “pleasant surprise”—offers the opportunity for some overspending.     

Environmental dimensions of managing public budgets and public enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study examines the nature of the environment in which public budgets and public enterprises are managed in developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It develops a model of the environmental dimensions in the general environment and dimensional components in the task environment of public budgeting and public enterprise management including the economic, political, socio-cultural, and technological dimension which determine public budget and public enterprise management in developing countries like those in Sub-Saharan Africa. The implications of those environmental dimensions and their components are evaluated for budgetary processes and budgetary outcomes in selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa - Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. The impact of economic dimensions in inducing repetitive budgeting in the budgetary processes of developing countries was highlighted. The results of the analysis of expenditure patterns in these countries tend to support the greater strength of the economic functional dimension in influencing budgetary outcomes. The implications of the environmental dimensions of the model for the management of public enterprises was also investigated. Numerous dimensional components of the major dimensions of the model developed in the study were found to have had an impact on the development of the public enterprise sector in developing countries like those in Sub- Saharan Africa. Moreover, the performance of public enterprises was strongly linked to the dimensions and components of the model. The interactive effects of public enterprise management on public budgeting in developing countries is also addressed as a consequence of the environmental model. Reform efforts must contend with altering the environmental state depicted in the model or accommodating to it.     

CHANGING PATIERNS OF BUDGETING IN ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Worsening financial circumstances have prompted local authorities to review the appropriateness of traditional budgetary arrangements. Using Wildavsky's concept of incremental budgeting as a guiding framework this paper examines how and why authorities have altered their budgetary processes. Results indicate that underlying incrementalism is the assumption of growth, although certain aspects of incrementalism are more affected than others by declining revenues.     

Budgeting,policy and administration: patterns and dynamics in the U.S

This article examines the relationships between policy, administration, and budgeting I argue that the administration of government is directly and primarily influenced by changes in policy and budgeting. A conceptual framework of the interrelationship between these three factors is presented. This framework is applied to Schick's classic periodicization of twentieth century U.S. history. Three value orientations of budgeting—control, management, and planning—were evident at different times during these periods. The framework is then applied to the period since 1981, labeled a phase of limitation. This phase has been an unhealthy development in American government.     

Public Participation in Budgeting: The New Path of Budget Reform in Thailand

The purposes of this article are three fold. First is to explore the status of public participation budgeting in central, regional, and local administrative levels of Thailand. Second is to develop a model of public participation budgeting that fits with the contexts of each level. Third is to recommend some directions for budgetary reform in Thailand. This article employs qualitative methodologies using a multi-method approach for data collection, including in-depth interviews, focus groups, and work visits. The findings are discussed and compared with international experiences. Finally, a public participation budgeting typology is proposed and guidelines for budget reform are provided.     

Budgetary chaos and evasion: the case of somalia

In 1990 and 1991, several Sub-Saharan African nations (Liberia, Somalia, and Ethiopia) experienced violent disintegration of existing governments. Other nations (Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya, and Zaire) continued to show signs of being on the brink of violent upheaval, while Zambia experienced a major democratic shift in its government. The forces of change in Africa seem to be mirroring political change that has and continues to take place in eastern Europe and in the territories of the former Soviet Union. This paper is a case study of national budgetary and financial management during a period of national disintegration. The information comes from observations formed during the final days of the political regime of one of these Sub-Saharan African nations - the Republic of Somalia.

The twenty-one year political regime of Mohamed Siad Barre in Somalia came to an end in January 1991 when rebel forces captured the capital city of Mogadishu, forcing Barre and his remaining followers to flee the capital. In the weeks and months leading up to the end of the regime, the normal functioning of the government had effectively ceased, collapsing under the weight of corrupt practices and substantial inefficiencies resulting from the government policies.

This paper describes some of these practices as they related to the national budgetary and financial management processes. In particular, the existence of chaos and evasion in national budgeting was evident with the existence of repetitive budgeting, lump sum budgeting, escapist budgeting, underfunding, externally driven policy, and information gaps. The analysis conducted suggests the importance of sound budget practices for the stability of a government. The conclusions derived focus on the issue of the role of political instability, attempts to modernize, and general systems organization as they relate to Somalia.     

The Role of Citizen Participation and the Use of Social Media Platforms in the Participatory Budgeting Process

In the United States participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively new and innovative approach to municipal budgeting that has implications for improving the role of citizen participation in the budgetary process. The research is based on personal interviews with local community leaders involved in the PB process in the 49th Ward of Chicago, Illinois; the 6th Ward of St. Louis, Missouri; and the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Highlights are provided of the specific experiences and perceptions of these community leaders with a particular emphasis on the use of social media platforms in engaging citizens in the PB process. This article concludes with recommendations for creating a PB infrastructure, for increasing citizen participation in the PB process, and for assessing and increasing the impact of PB in cities within the United States.     

Cultural Resistance,Output Measures,and Audit Practice: Impact on Non-Implementation of Program-Based Budgeting in Nigeria

Excessive spending on recurrent expenditure hampers economic growth. A program-based budgeting approach has been proposed to discipline fiscal excesses of agencies outside direct civil service machinery but government is inactive. This study hypothesized that difficulty in securing output measures, resistance from politicians, agency heads, and workers; current audit practice; and cost–benefit considerations, hinder implementation. Analysis of perceptual data reveals that resistance from politicians and employees is the major factor that hinders implementation of a program-based budgeting in Nigeria. In addition, difficulty in securing measures to quantify outputs thwarts implementation initiatives, and current audit practice whereby private audit firms audit operational activities of agencies only at year-end subvert program reviews. The study recommends that politicians be advised on political considerations in budgetary allocation; a performance measurement committee be set up to develop measures of outputs acceptable to workers; and a body of auditors be nationalized to undertake audit of government agencies.     

PUBLIC BUDGETING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: EVOLUTION AND PRACTICE OF AN IDEA

One of the major dimensions of public budgeting relates to the generation of growth, employment, and more favorable income redistribution in the economy. This dimension had come to acquire a good deal of importance during the last seventy years. The use of public budgeting for purposes of promoting economic growth, employment, income distribution, has so far been considered as a part of development economics in general, and more specifically, as a part of economic planning. Indeed, such use has been so extensive that it is difficult to consider budgeting for economic development without a consideration of organized economic planning and associated formulation of medium term and annual plans. Planning itself has gone through several vicissitudes during these decades. As an extension, budgeting too has gone through several phases. By 1985, nearly 300 plans were formulated by developing countries. During the same period, the approaches in industrial countries of the west incorporated some elements of organized planning into their budgetary systems. By early 1990s, however, there was a noticeable sense of fatigue with planning. The state which was seen thus far as a solution to market failure, came to be viewed as a major problem in itself, standing between the legitimate aspirations of the community and their realization. Countries, particularly those belonging to the Soviet block, moved away from planning for economic development and came to adopt market friendly policies. In the process, several countries have abandoned formulation of economic development plans. In these countries, there has been a revival, and, therefore, strengthening of public budget as the one and only instrument of economic development conceived, sponsored, funded, and to a significant extent, implemented by the government. Plans, which at one stage had generated the illusion of permanence, proved after all, to be as transient as many other things in the world.     

Fiscal Stress Management During the Financial and Economic Crisis: The Case of the Baltic Countries

The Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—were severely hit by the global financial and economic crisis in 2008–2011. In response to the crisis, all three states chose to undertake extensive fiscal consolidations. This article examines the strategies adopted by the Baltic governments for managing fiscal stress and consolidating their budgets in the light of the existing literature on cutback budgeting. In all three countries, the governments combined expenditure and revenue measures, with a larger share of adjustment taking place on the expenditure side. Among expenditure measures, a mix of across-the-board and targeted cuts was adopted, though the importance of targeted cuts increased over time. The case studies also indicate that although the theoretical propositions of the cutback budgeting literature point to the correct directions overall, further refinement is needed in several theoretical issues.     

Professionalism and public administration: A bibliography

Abstract

This paper tests public budgeting to ascertain if it has both a long‐run equilibrium and short‐run incremental process. In the model, the decision‐maker strives to achieve budgetary balance over the long‐run but is constrained in the short‐run and follows incremental decision‐making. The interaction between expenditures and revenues, along with several control variables, is tested for each of the Canadian provinces using data between 1961 and 2000. The results show that in the long‐run, expenditures force the budget toward balance in all the provinces with the exception of British Columbia. In that province, there was a fiscal synchronization of revenues and expenditures working in combination. In the short‐run, incrementalism occurs in nine of the ten provinces.     

Participatory Budgeting in Germany – A Review of Empirical Findings

Participatory budgeting (PB) is one of the most popular democratic innovations worldwide. PB is connected with high stakes regarding mobilizing political inactive citizens, efficient and effective budgetary policy as well as positive effects on citizens (e.g., civic education, democratic attitudes). However, in many Western countries empirical evidence for such benefits is scarce. This also holds for Germany. Since the conduction of PB demands financial and personnel resources, a thorough evaluation is necessary. This article systematically summarizes the current state of research to make the literature on PB in Germany accessible to international scholars as well as political and administrative practitioners. It focusses on the context (which municipalities conduct PB and why), process (role of local administration and council, participation, deliberation), and outcome/impact dimension (outcomes and impact on policies and citizens). To conclude, further research venues are briefly outlined, followed by an outlook on PBs future and practical implications.     

THE DOG THAT DIDN'T BARK: HOW PUBLIC MANAGERS HANDLE ENVIRONMENTAL SHOCKS

Do negative budgetary shocks reduce performance in public organizations? If so, by how much and in terms of which criteria? Are public managers able to make internal management choices to limit or eliminate the effects of such shocks? These questions are investigated in a set of hundreds of organizations over an 8‐year period. For the most part, budgetary shocks of 10 per cent or more have only limited or no negative impacts on performance in the short term. The most salient policy objective and production for more disadvantaged clientele are especially insulated from shocks. Decisions about internal resource allocation and personnel management can be shown to protect core production while sacrificing more peripheral activities and capital investment. Questions that remain to be investigated include whether short‐term protection comes at the expense of some longer‐term losses, and—ironically—whether effective management under such circumstances weakens over time the political case for adequate budgets.     

Testing The Limits of Incrementalism: An Empirical Analysis of Expenditure Decisions by English Local Authorities, 1981–1996

Studies of budgetary outputs in public organizations are dominated by the theory of incrementalism. This perspective suggests that expenditure decisions are based on simple rules of thumb. We evaluate the validity of incrementalism by examining the annual spending decisions of 403 English local authorities over 15 budgetary cycles. Two budgetary norms are tested empirically: protect the real level of service provision, and follow central expenditure guidelines. Each of these norms is translated into two decision rules: marginality, or the size of deviations from the norm, and regularity, which refers to the consistency of such deviations over time. Few of the statistical results support the hypothesis that local expenditure decisions are dominated by general budgetary norms or specific decision rules. Our evidence therefore casts doubt on the validity of incrementalism as a theory of local budgetary outputs, and as an explanation of spending decisions in the public sector as a whole.     

THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE: BUDGETARY CONTROL IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

The problems of budgetary control in the EC have been assuming ever greater political importance recently. Yet behind the facade of concern is a lack of knowledge of the extent of the problem, and a seeming inability to take effective action to deal with some of the best known aspects of it. It is argued here that the achievement of budgetary control is particularly difficult in the context of the EC for a variety of reasons. Using a simple cyclical model of budgetary control, the constraints can be grouped into four main categories – conceptual, structural, operational and political. These are examined in turn drawing specific examples from community documentation. Finally, certain avenues for reform are suggested which may be implemented in the future.     

The boom-bust cycle in wyoming county spending: Implications for budget theories

This paper presents a case study of county spending in Wyoming during the 1970s and 1980s to test the applicability of several competing perspectives upon budget policy derived from higher level and more visible governments in the United States. Our findings about the consequences of Wyoming's boom and bust cycle during the 1970s and 1980s for county finances possess several implications for the competing theories of budget policy.

Concerning how budgets are made, they confirm the growing consensus that models of “budgetary incrementalism” are inadequate, as well as providing some evidence consistent with the “garbage can” model of decision-making. However, they also suggest that “the baby should not be thrown out with the bath water,” since temporal consistency and incrementalism are evident in several areas. Turning to the factors affecting budget substance, resource base turned out to be the most important factor influencing Wyoming county budgets. Several instances of special social needs and political leanings could be discerned as well. However, most of these also suggested that resource constraints were the principal driving force behind county budgeting in Wyoming.     

Contract Budgeting

Contract budgeting attempts to reconfigure public budgeting as a system of purchase contracts between provider agencies and central government. It draws its inspiration from a simple model of contract in which the purchaser buys clearly specified outputs from a provider at a preagreed price. Contract budgeting thus represents a fusion of output-based budgeting schemas with the newer enthusiasm for placing the public sector on a 'market' footing. This paper reviews the problems which confront any form of output based budgeting, and then analyses the specific issues of contractualization. It concludes that contract budgeting does not well fit the realities of budgeting in a complex public sector.