Public-sector accountability: a journey from performance measurement to performance governance

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, the public sector has been characterised by continuous upheavals and pressures to demonstrate increased accountability. Buhr (2012) has drawn attention to the momentum for changes in government financial reporting, largely associated with New Public Management (NPM) ideology and an increased emphasis on performance measurement and reporting. Accordingly, performance measurement and governance systems have been progressively modified and developed, encouraging an incredibly rich body of research and studies in the field. By exploring the link between the concepts of accountability, performance measurement and governance, the chapter advances proposals in relation to gaps in the current literature that can inform both future research and practice in the area of public-sector accountability and governance.