Integrating Performance Information into Legislative Budget Processes

Literature review and challenging research agenda on politicians’ use of accounting information

“…In general, survey-based studies that assess politicians' appreciation of performance information present 'positive' findings (Brun and Siegel, 2006;Ho, 2006). Field case studies about politicians' actual use of performance information have indicated, however, that this is minimal, or even absent (Bourdeaux, 2008;Raudla, 2012;Grossi et al, 2016). These findings seem to support the conclusion about the papers analysed in this section and the previous one.…”

“…There is, however, a lack of consensus in the findings. Low levels of appreciation and use are found in studies conducted at the central government level in the UK (Johnson and Talbot, 2007); at the state level (Bourdeaux, 2008) and the federal level (Stalebrink and Frisco, 2011) in the USA; in Estonia's central government (Raudla, 2012); in Dutch municipalities (ter Bogt, 2004); and in German and Italian local governments (Grossi et al, 2016). Other studies, however, show opposite, more 'positive' findings, especially Askim (2007) for Norwegian municipalities; Brun and Siegel (2006) for the Swiss central and intermediate governments; Saliterer and Korac (2013) for municipalities in Austria; and Ho (2006) for local governments in the USA's midwest.…”

“…Before answering this question, we need to look at the contexts that contribute to the usefulness and use of accounting information. Although there seems to be little consistency in the above studies, some pointers can be given: the quality of the accounting information matters (Ho, 2006;Grossi et al, 2016); the availability of budgetary powers is an enabler for accounting information use (Bourdeaux, 2008;Raudla, 2012); and cash information is preferred to accrual information (Yamamoto, 2008;Liguori et al, 2012;Buylen, 2014). Liguori et al (2012) investigated the extent to which politicians and managers in Italian local government appreciated three types of partly NPM-related accounting elements, i.e.…”

Taking Stock: Assessing and Improving Performance Budgeting Theory and Practice

“…For example, Behn (2002) mentions that energetic leadership for performance distinguishes ''an active strategy'' (p. 19) from a passive performance system because leadership support nurtures behavioral changes. Furthermore, the importance of legislative support is gaining attention (Bourdeaux, 2006;Bourdeaux, 2008;Posner & Fantone, 2007). In particular, Bourdeaux (2008)'s research goes beyond the mentioning of the importance of legislature and examines how performance can be integrated with legislative budget process through policy networks maintained by key committee staff.…”

Legislators’ Need for Civil Society Expertise: Tunisian Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Opportunity

“…If legislators trust the entity that provides the analysis (Bourdeaux 2008;Raudla 2012), and if the information benefits the odds of their reelection and fuels their desire to play an active role in the policy-making process, those legislators will be more open to legislative advocacy. In such cases they are likely to be influenced by CSO opinions.…”