Criteria and Methodologies for Assessing Efficiency of Environmental Government Programs in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Existing approaches to performance evaluation for environmental government programs require improvement. In the Russian context, the obstacles to objective evaluation include: target indicators for state programs are not set according to SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) criteria; the importance of budget efficiency indicators for investment decision-making is underestimated; and, some approaches to ex post evaluation of government programs are oversimplified. Specific recommendations are given that would allow improvement of the methodology for ex ante appraisal and ex-post evaluation of environmental programs. A flowchart is developed to guide decision-making on whether to terminate or continue the program on the basis of its overall evaluation rating, which is calculated using a modified Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), and the degree of conformity between actual and planned volume of financing. The flowchart represents a formalized procedure for the adjustment of the program implementation period and schedules for the achievement of target values for individual indicators; review of target indicator values; funding amounts and schedules; and change of management. A case study of two Russian environmental programs, Pure Water and Water Industry Development, is used to test the approaches recommended by the author.
 
 Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v11i2.1190