The discretionary use of performance information by different local government actors – analysing and comparing the predictive power of three factor sets

Abstract

In recent years, empirical research on performance information use has gained momentum, but quantitative studies, which include different actor groups, are less widespread. Building on prior research within this field, our study offers insights into various antecedents for performance information use -including individual, performance-measurement-specific, and organizational context factors. By applying a quantitative survey of different actor groups at the local government level in Austria, we draw a picture of different user profiles for mayors with administrative authority, chief officials and chief financial officials. Hence, we are able to confirm findings from former studies with other national backgrounds and contribute to a better understanding regarding some new individual aspects influencing discretionary performance information use in a strategy formulation context. Points for practitionersIt is important to gather insights on the factors driving performance information use, as the latter is a crucial indicator for whether the introduction of performance measurement is worth the effort. Moreover, the results show that the performance information use intensity of mayors, chief officials and chief financial officials is driven by different factors. The study not only contributes to a better understanding of performance measurement utilization in general, but also points to the existence of different user profiles, therefore offering implications for the development of performance management implementation strategies.

Determinants of Village Fund Allocation

“…The findings of this study confirm those of some researches (Agranoff, 2014;Goodman, French, & Battaglio, 2015;Hansen, 2015;Saliterer & Korac, 2014) which notes that the accurate application of the principle of accountability carry an impact on the performance of a government, including that of the government officials. The optimal performance of the village officials is largely determined by their capabilities.…”

The use of budgetary and financial information by politicians in parliament: a case study

“…Furthermore, there is little empirical evidence about the use of information disclosed in the financial reports or about the factors that affect the use of financial information, in practice, by politicians. Referring to performance information, Saliterer and Korac (2014) conclude that the availability of information is the driver of use. Askim (2007) refers to the context to explain that, in specific political areas, politicians use more information, suggesting that decisions made by politicians need to be contextualized, so specific cases of use of such information could be better identified and the purposes of that use better understood.…”

Actors’ dynamics toward performance-based budgeting: a mix of change and stability?

“…Hence, the roles of different key actors, ranging from politicians and legislators, to auditors, managers and public servants in ministries/agencies who are involved in the process of adoption and practical use of PBB, are of utmost importance, although few scholars have investigated and compared how and why these actors may influence PBB (Berry and Flowers, 1999; Melkers and Willoughby, 2001; Ridder et al , 2006; Willoughby and Melkers, 2000). At the same time, considerable attention is still paid to understand and explain the budgetary use of performance information among both practitioners and academics (Bleyen et al , 2017; Cuganesan, 2017; Downes et al , 2017; Jakobsen and Pallesen, 2017; OECD, 2013; Saliterer and Korac, 2014; Sicilia and Steccolini, 2017; Sohn and Bae, 2018).…”