Generating the public financial management knowledge base: analyzing method and direction as a sub-discipline of public administration

Abstract

Public Budgeting and Finance with principal focus on how the public financial management knowledge base is generated. We find remarkable diversity of authorship and academic domicile. However, we note an absence of simulations and experiments and that much of the survey research does not comport with "best" practice. Practitioners were five times more likely to contribute than graduate students, and content continues a disciplinary tendency to neglect linkages between the macro-economy and public financial management.Our findings may reflect a public administration research ethos detailed by Frank Thompson and colleagues (1998) that is negatively impacted by lack of extramural funding.

The Financial Crisis of 2008

“…In a recent piece, my colleagues and I (Frank, Christian, & Scutelnicu, 2009) analyzed content of nearly 600 articles from 1996 to 2006 in the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting, & Financial Management and Public Budgeting & Finance. We found no articles related to the macroeconomy or financial literacy.…”

Public Administration and Macroeconomic Issues: Is This the Time for a Marriage Proposal?

“…An examination of three important PA textbooks 2 by Roberts (2013) revealed no systematic reference to "large forces" including economic transformation. Frank et al (2009) analyzed articles from two major public budget and financial management journals 3 from 1996 to 2006. They found no article related to macroeconomic issues, central bank policy, or financial literacy (Frank et al, 2009).…”

“…Frank et al (2009) analyzed articles from two major public budget and financial management journals 3 from 1996 to 2006. They found no article related to macroeconomic issues, central bank policy, or financial literacy (Frank et al, 2009). The result was surprising because, on the face, this subdiscipline should address these topics.…”

Social Equity in the Trump Era

“…In related research, based on a review of 584 articles in two “public financial management” (PFM) journals, Frank, Christian, and Scutelnicu (2009) point out that the disconnect also runs in the opposite direction. PFM research, they conclude, shows a general intellectual indifference to macroeconomic issues such as globalization, immigration policy, savings rates, and tax policy, making it harder to link insights of PFM to social equity.…”