Governments that Achieve Results : Introducing Performance Mechanisms and Exploring the Trust Dimension

Abstract

Over the past few decades, a significant
 number of advanced countries and, more recently, some
 developing countries have moved the focus of their budget
 arrangements to emphasize performance. The recently
 published book results, performance budgeting and trust in
 Government follows from a conference on performance
 budgeting held in Mexico in June 2008 where a large range of
 experiences from Latin America and Organization for Economic
 Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries was presented.
 Its intention is to provide readers and governments wishing
 to improve elements of their performance budgeting with an
 understanding of the many elements involved in implementing
 these reforms, particularly in performance-informed
 budgeting (PIB), focusing on the challenges and the variety
 of approaches taken to meet these challenges. In many OECD
 and middle income countries, performance budgeting has been
 associated with the use of modern techniques of public
 management that emphasize individual and organizational
 responsibility and accountability for results. The books
 starts by providing an overview of PIB, building on two
 decades of experience and lesson learning, and sets out the
 key themes that provide the basis for discussions in the
 subsequent chapters. It looks at the roles of key
 decision-makers and institutions in creating a network of
 structured performance agreements4 throughout the budget cycle.