Public sector performance measurement in developing countries: a literature review and research agenda

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...

[1]  C. Hood.  A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS , 1991 .

[2]  Arup Banerji,et al.  Better Governance for Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Enhancing Inclusiveness and Accountability , 2003 .

[3]  Allen G. Schick,et al.  Why Most Developing Countries Should Not Try New Zealand's Reforms , 1998 .

[4]  S. Agere.  Promoting good governance , 2000 .

[5]  NON-PROFIT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR , 2008 .

[6]  D. Jones.  Uses and limitations of performance measurement in the civil service: An assessment from the Singapore and New Zealand experiences , 2000 .

[7]  Zahirul Hoque,et al.  Political and Industrial Relations Turbulence, Competition and Budgeting in the Nationalised Jute Mills of Bangladesh , 1997 .

[8]  R. Batley.  The new public management in developing countries: implications for policy and organizational reform , 1999 .

[9]  S. Ospina,et al.  Performance evaluation, public management improvement and democratic accountability , 2004 .

[10]  Michael Johnston,et al.  The search for definitions: the vitality of politics and the issue of corruption , 1996 .

[11]  G. S. Maryanov.  Decentralization in Indonesia : legislative aspects , 1957 .

[12]  J. Straussman,et al.  Searching for balance: Vietnamese NGOs operating in a state‐led civil society , 2004 .

[13]  D. Shaw.  UN Research Institute for Social Development , 2002 .

[14]  Bryane Michael,et al.  Explaining organizational change in international development: the role of complexity in anti-corruption work , 2004 .

[15]  G. Larbi,et al.  The New Public Management Approach and Crisis States , 1999 .

[16]  Paul Hoggett,et al.  NEW MODES OF CONTROL IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE , 1996 .

[17]  Emidia Vagnoni,et al.  Power, organization design and managerial behaviour , 2004 .

[18]  Tim Hess,et al.  Using models as tools in education and training. , 2002 .

[19]  T. J. Brignall,et al.  An Institutional Perspective on Performance Measurement and Management in the 'New Public Sector' , 2000 .

[20]  T. Hopper,et al.  A cultural political economy of management accounting controls: A case study of a textile Mill in a traditional Sinhalese village , 2005 .

[21]  S. Agere.  Promoting good governance : principles, practices and perspectives , 2000 .

[22]  Aaron Wildavsky,et al.  Planning and Budgeting in Poor Countries , 1974 .

[23]  I. Sanderson,et al.  Performance Management, Evaluation and Learning in ‘Modern’ Local Government , 2001 .

[24]  K. Hope,et al.  Decentralization, the New Public Management, and The Changing Role of The Public Sector In Africa , 2000 .

[25]  K. Henderson.  Urban service delivery in developing countries – Escaping western bureaucratic solutions , 2001 .

[26]  C. Hood.  The “new public management” in the 1980s: Variations on a theme , 1995 .

[27]  A. Cassels,et al.  Better health in developing countries: are sector-wide approaches the way of the future? , 1998, The Lancet.

[28]  John W. Meyer,et al.  Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony , 1977, American Journal of Sociology.

[29]  Competitive elections in developing countries , 1987 .

[30]  A. W. Johnson.  PLANNING AND BUDGETING , 1959 .

[31]  Christopher D. Ittner,et al.  Implementing Performance Measurement Innovations: Evidence from Government , 2004 .

[32]  J. Litvack.  Rethinking Decentralization in Developing Countries , 1998 .

[33]  C. V. Rijckeghem,et al.  Corruption and the Rate of Temptation: Do Low Wages in the Civil Service Cause Corruption? , 1997 .

[34]  M. Haque.  RECENT TRANSITION IN GOVERNANCE IN SOUTH ASIA: CONTEXTS, DIMENSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS , 2001 .

[35]  Michael P. Todaro,et al.  World Development Report 1990. , 1990 .

[36]  Robert W. Backoff,et al.  Comparing Public and Private Organizations , 1976 .

[37]  Michael Barzelay,et al.  The New Public Management: Improving Research and Policy Dialogue , 2001 .

[38]  Wouter Van Dooren,et al.  What Makes Organisations Measure? Hypotheses on the Causes and Conditions for Performance Measurement , 2005 .

[39]  Ross H. Mcleod,et al.  The struggle to regain effective government under democracy in Indonesia , 2005 .

[40]  A. Helmsing.  Decentralisation, Enablement, and Local Governance in Low-Income Countries , 2002 .

[41]  F. Heady,et al.  Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective , 1995 .

[42]  Leila L. Frischtak,et al.  Governance capacity and economic reform in developing countries , 1994 .

[43]  Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson,et al.  Accounting transformation in an advanced welfare state: the case of Sweden , 1998 .

[44]  Pachampet Sundaram,et al.  The specificity of public service reform , 2004 .

[45]  A. Booth.  The evolving role of the central government in economic planning and policy making in Indonesia , 2005 .

[46]  Angela M. Eikenberry,et al.  The Marketization of the Nonprofit Sector: Civil Society at Risk? , 2004 .

[47]  S. Nsouli.  Capacity building in Africa : the role of international financial institutions , 2001 .

[48]  D. Splettstösser.  Electronic decision-making for developing countries , 1998 .

[49]  A. Nickson.  Does the NPM work in less developed countries? The case of the urban water supply sector , 1999 .

[50]  M. Haque.  Reinventing Governance for Performance in South Asia: Impacts on Citizenship Rights , 2003 .

[51]  M. Haque.  The Changing Balance of Power Between the Government and NGOS in Bangladesh , 2002 .

[52]  T. Hopper,et al.  ACCOUNTING FOR PRIVATISATION IN BANGLADESH: TESTING WORLD BANK CLAIMS , 2003 .

[53]  Carol Graham,et al.  Strengthening Institutional Capacity in Poor Countries , 2002 .