The public expenditure management system is in a state of flux. Traditional approaches of expenditure management have serious limitations in addressing current and future tasks. The new approaches toward improved expenditure management, which emphasize the creation of task-oriented agencies, performance agreements, and competitive tendering and contracting, have considerable potential in meeting the tasks. But it is essential to address the detailed operational aspects of these new approaches so that they do not contribute to a shadow government or a government that continues to be weak in regard to contracts and third-party transactions.
This collection is the first book-length work in many years to provide new theoretical direction to budget theory. Written by several of the most respected people in budgeting, including Allen Schick, Naomi Caiden, and Lance LeLoup, it explores such current topics as the scope of budgeting, the degree and source of variation in budgeting, and changes in budgeting process over time. New Directions will help to build a framework that is less confining than incrementalism, and will stimulate and guide future research. Some of the essays deal with the implications of looking at budgeting from a multi-year perspective, and the importance of allocating sources other than money (such as personnel ceilings); others pose questions about what a budget theory should look like, and how many budget theories are needed.
Managing Public Expenditure presents a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of all aspects of public expenditure management from the preparation of the budget to the execution, control and audit stages.
This book, by A. Premchand, a former Assistant Director of IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, provides a comprehensive discussion of the expenditure process in public authorities from a management perspective. It covers the various aspects, ranging from budget formulation to the courteous delivery of services to the public. In each, it considers the critical issues faced in industrial and developing countries and formerly centrally planned economies and discusses the efforts necessary to assure the public about the adequacy of public expenditure management machinery.
Printed on Demand. Limited stock is held for this title. If you would like to order 30 copies or more please contact [email protected] Contact [email protected], if currently unavailable. Public expenditure issues are encountered wherever there is a discussion of government, the public sector, and development. Over the years, the World Bank has invested considerable resources in analyzing public expenditures and the impacts of different interventions on sustainable development. This handbook provides a broad framework for thinking about public expenditure management and how it affects budgetary outcomes. It highlights the fact that good analysis and sound policy are not enough to ensure sound and sustainable development outcomes. Of particular interest is the concept of three levels of budgetary outcomes - aggregate fiscal discipline, strategic prioritization, and operational performance.
This volume is designed to help senior student affairs officers navigate through uncertain economic times. After a broad review of budget models and the leadership potential of the senior officer, we look at the role of student affairs officers in difficult budgeting decisions from several perspectives--from small, private colleges to the experiences of twelve senior student affairs officers at public universities. One chapter describes general revenue-generating and cost-saving strategies that student affairs divisions may consider during cutbacks; another focuses on key aspects of developing a comprehensive communication strategy: a third presents a case study of a single institution through the eyes of the vice president for student affairs. This volume ends with a summary survey of the authors' observations, conclusions, and advice. This is the 129th volume of the Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series New Directions for Student Services. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.
This paper defines and explains key stages of the government expenditure chain and describes the controls applied at each stage, including their objectives and key features as well as centralized vs. decentralized approaches in application of those controls. The paper also examines the influence of different administrative traditions on types of expenditure controls, including the authority and responsibility of various institutional actors. Finally, it discusses typical weaknesses/problems associated with different traditions of expenditure control and suggests specific measures for strengthening the control framework. While providing examples of expenditure control practices from more than 32 countries, the paper points out that more than two-thirds of the 85 low and middle income countries covered by the publicly available Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessments have weak systems of expenditure control that are also associated with higher levels of expenditure arrears and a lack of budget credibility. This paper will help public financial management practitioners to evaluate budget execution systems and identify priorities for strengthening expenditure controls. It will also usefully guide technical assistance work related to modernization of government budget execution and expenditure control systems, including the design and implementation of IT-based financial management information systems.
Behavioral economics questions the basic underpinnings of economic theory, showing that people often do not act consistently in their own self-interest when making economic decisions. While these findings have important theoretical implications, they also provide a new lens for examining public policies, such as taxation, public spending, and the provision of adequate pensions. How can people be encouraged to save adequately for retirement when evidence shows that they tend to spend their money as soon as they can? Would closer monitoring of income tax returns lead to more honest taxpayers or a more distrustful, uncooperative citizenry? Behavioral Public Finance, edited by Edward McCaffery and Joel Slemrod, applies the principles of behavioral economics to government's role in constructing economic and social policies of these kinds and suggests that programs crafted with rational participants in mind may require redesign. Behavioral Public Finance looks at several facets of economic life and asks how behavioral research can increase public welfare. Deborah A. Small, George Loewenstein, and Jeff Strnad note that public support for a tax often depends not only on who bears its burdens, but also on how the tax is framed. For example, people tend to prefer corporate taxes over sales taxes, even though the cost of both is eventually extracted from the consumer. James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, and Andrew Metrick assess the impact of several different features of 401(k) plans on employee savings behavior. They find that when employees are automatically enrolled in a retirement savings plan, they overwhelmingly accept the status quo and continue participating, while employees without automatic enrollment typically take over a year to join the saving plan. Behavioral Public Finance also looks at taxpayer compliance. While the classic economic model suggests that the low rate of IRS audits means far fewer people should voluntarily pay their taxes than actually do, John Cullis, Philip Jones, and Alan Lewis present new research showing that many people do not underreport their incomes even when the probability of getting caught is a mere one percent. Human beings are not always rational, utility-maximizing economic agents. Behavioral economics has shown how human behavior departs from the assumptions made by generations of economists. Now, Behavioral Public Finance brings the insights of behavioral economics to analysis of policies that affect us all.
Traditionally, economics training in public finances has focused more on tax than public expenditure issues, and within expenditure, more on policy considerations than the more mundane matters of public expenditure management. For many years, the IMF's Public Expenditure Management Division has answered specific questions raised by fiscal economists on such missions. Based on this experience, these guidelines arose from the need to provide a general overview of the principles and practices observed in three key aspects of public expenditure management: budget preparation, budget execution, and cash planning. For each aspect of public expenditure management, the guidelines identify separately the differing practices in four groups of countries - the francophone systems, the Commonwealth systems, Latin America, and those in the transition economies. Edited by Barry H. Potter and Jack Diamond, this publication is intended for a general fiscal, or a general budget, advisor interested in the macroeconomic dimension of public expenditure management.
