Dilemmas in Performance-Based Budgeting

Abstract

The central theme of this book concerns the many dilemmas and paradoxes of performance-based budgeting. The modern concept of performance-based budgeting is by now at least 70 years old and this poses the question, whether the limited results achieved might provide an indication that it has reached a phase in its life-cycle that it has become time for its retirement. This book argues the opposite. This book contains case studies from many countries in the world—including most developed countries, but with a focus on countries in transitional, developmental conditions, where implementation failures often limit the success of realized reforms, and where the dilemmas surrounding performance-based budgeting might be extremely prominent. In-depth evaluation of real cases serves as an important learning tool both for the academic and professional field. Implementation mistakes can perhaps not be prevented, but as international experiences show, can be resolved—the book may help in this way.