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With performance as a core theme of public sector reforms, this article explores performance management systems in inter-organizational settings while testing the effect of performance measurement on its use for accountability and control. Using economic neo-institutional perspective in a hierarchical context with turbulent political history, the article investigates the variations in the use of performance information in inter-institutional settings across different legal categories of state organizations.

The performance management framework of Van Dooren et al. (2010) is employed as the basis for this research that explains the link between performance measurement and use. To explore the management of performance in Pakistan, the survey data was collected in 2018; after two democratic governments completed their tenures.

The research indicated a lower extent of performance measurement and use by the parent ministries in the democratic regimes. This finding adds to the implications of economic institutional theory in a politically turbulent context, where political actors place less emphasis on performance and more emphasis on procedures. It was confirmed that the ministries use the measured performance information for accountability and control on the results, but the moderating role of legal categories in the performance framework did not get confirmation.

The article empirically tests the performance management framework from a Western context in a developing country that has not been discussed frequently in the performance management systems literature.

Following the adoption of performance-based budgeting (PBB), the government has consistently striven to enhance performance information quality. However, long-term empirical evidence on how efforts to reform PBB have shaped the quality of performance information across various public sector organisational contexts is still lacking. This study aims to examine the effects of PBB reform on the quality of performance information in various public sector organisational settings by employing contingency theory.

This research systematically tracked renewal rates and trends of performance indicators over time, particularly during the period when new practices aimed at enhancing the quality of performance indicators were introduced. It compares various organisational complexities, including budget size, types of output deliveries and tasks performed, to identify patterns and mechanisms that influence the quality of performance indicators in budget documents from 2011 to 2022 across ministries and agencies. The study integrates the analysis of both macro and micro factors related to reform developmental stages and organisational complexity.

This empirical investigation identifies the increasing number of performance indicators as the reform process advances. However, the prevailing low renewal rates present an anomaly compared to previous studies. Capacity constraints and rigid rules have made organisations reluctant to change or significantly modify their indicators for budget decision-making. A comparative analysis of quality trends across different organisational complexities and time periods reveals a gradual shift toward more results-oriented indicators, with varying degrees of improvement. This suggests how organisations adapt to and respond to PBB reforms over time, with quality improvements either persisting and advancing or diminishing after the initial implementation phase.

This study has limitations, as factors such as governance structure, political climate, bureaucratic culture and fiscal constraints may restrict the generalisability of the findings. To better understand these trends, it is essential to identify the optimal renewal rates of performance indicators and explore how changes in the quality of performance information affect its use and consequence in budget decision-making.

We emphasise the necessity of tailored reform strategies that consider varied organisational complexities to achieve better reform progress. At the operational level, the preparation of implementation guidance and the evaluation of performance indicators should be customised to reflect organisational complexities. This contextual factor significantly contributes to the learning processes of organisations. The continuous refinement of PBB practices in absence of proper evaluation can result in adjustments that are merely symbolic. Such modifications risk undermining stakeholder trust in the potential benefits of the reforms and may be perceived as an additional administrative burden. To further clarify these trends, it is essential to identify the optimal renewal rates of performance indicators and explore how changes in the quality of performance information affect its use and consequence in budget decision-making.

Longitudinal research is critical to understanding how the quality of performance information evolves through successive PBB cycles as organisations refine their measurement practices. Public sector reforms are dynamic, unfolding over time and progressing through different stages, influencing organisations in various ways at each phase. Therefore, it is crucial to consider time-related factors when studying the process and impact of PBB reforms. This approach is complemented by contingency theories to assess the outcomes of PBB reforms across different stages and organisational contexts. Indonesia, as a case study, offers a typical example for developing countries, characterised by capacity constraints, low stakeholder involvement, high informality, hierarchical structures and strong incremental budgeting practices.

This paper seeks to extend the analysis of performance management regimes by Bouckaert and Halligan to other countries in order to contribute to the developing theory of forms and challenges in public sector performance management.

The state of performance management and the context in which it has evolved is assessed in seven different countries using dimensions drawn from Bouckaert and Halligan's work along with elements from earlier work by Pollitt and Bouckaert. These are summarized in a table and comparisons made to generate additional insights into the factors that influence the shape and speed of public management evolution.

The paper finds that the Bouckaert and Halligan framework for analyzing public sector performance management is useful, albeit with some modifications. Specifically, it finds that administrative culture is a key factor influencing the speed of reform and that the attitude of elites (politicians and civil servants, in most cases) is also a vital piece of the puzzle that was not included in Bouckaert and Halligan, but did appear in the earlier framework of Pollitt and Bouckaert. It also finds evidence that economic and political crises occurring together accelerate the introduction of integrated performance management systems, but that trust in government does not appear to be a significant factor. Finally, the paper observes that, absent political crisis/commitment, governments will prioritise “external” performance measures such as customer service, participation and transparency objectives over “internal” performance measures such as financial, staff management and whole of government reporting.

The countries studied provide a rare insight into lesser‐known performance management regimes and the use of the Bouckaert and Halligan framework allows for comparisons to earlier (and future) research. The findings will be of interest to scholars in public administration reform and performance management.

A well-coordinated public sector is often considered to be of major importance, but at the same time it appears to be a huge challenge. Public sector reforms struggling with the coordination conundrum are numerous and countries display a certain dynamic in their adoption of coordination instruments throughout time. On the one hand, it is sensible to presume that – to a certain extent – countries are stimulated to adopt similar coordination instruments, because of isomorphic processes induced by factors such as the spread of the new public management line of thought or the multiplication of exchanges of good practices at an international level. On the other hand, culture-linked elements might have an important role to play in explaining idiosyncrasies. By examining the conceptual link between coordination and culture through an empirical analysis for four counties (UK, New Zealand, France, and Sweden), it is the aim of this chapter to explore the relevance of culture for understanding coordination trajectories of individual countries.

The chapter furnishes empirical evidence about the extent and profiles of autonomy of EU agencies, the modalities whereby they are steered and controlled, and the interactions they have in EU policy networks. It thus provides the bases for a more complete picture of the EU multi-level administration.

The research is a survey-based design. A questionnaire was administered between July 2009 and April 2010 to 30 EU agencies included in the study population. The questionnaire was sent to the executive director of all the agencies included in the study. Questions were closed-ended, either in the form of multiple choices – with one answer or with check-all-that-apply and an option for ‘other’ to be filled – or in scale format. The resulting data set included ratio, interval, ordinal, and nominal scales. The reference model employed for the investigation relies on the analytical model developed within the framework of the research project COST Action IS0651 CRIPO (Comparative Research into Current Trends in Public Sector Organization – see also ‘Acknowledgements’) for the study of public agencies in Europe (Verhoest, Van Thiel, Bouckaert, & Lægreid, 2012).

EU agencies display a rather low level of managerial, especially financial, autonomy; conversely, they enjoy relatively high policy autonomy. As to the way in which multiple ‘parent’ administration steer EU agencies, it emerges a composite picture, in which the crossroads of steering and control by the parent administrations and accountability by the agency lies in the executive director. In terms of interactions within policy networks, EU agencies interact in a significant way with the European Commission, with national-level agencies in the pertinent policy field, and with specific technical bodies where they are part of the configuration of the policy sector, whilst interactions with national ministries as well as with other EU agencies are rare. No single model can capture in full the overall features of EU agencies, although the ‘community level institution’ model seems to capture a number of the profiles of these agencies.

Both the literature on EU multi-level administration and research agendas in public management can benefit from inclusion of – and in-depth empirical knowledge about – EU agencies. The chapter provides important empirical evidence to these purposes.

EU agencies are actors in European public policy-making, albeit to a varied extent depending on the sector. The extent of autonomy and the way in which they are held to account are crucial aspects for an enhanced understanding of their influence on European public policy-making, as is their location in European policy networks.

Research presented in this chapter is the first systematic empirical investigation of EU agencies encompassing networking, steering and control and autonomy of EU agencies, based on primary data.

From an anthropological point of view there are four fundamental ways of living on earth, which can be related to “four basic cultural types: hunting and gathering, herding livestock, village farming, and modern civilization (…). Culture can be defined as the relationship of a society to the primordial nature or law of the earth” (Lawlor, 1991, p. 142).

This paper seeks to explore one particular aspect of recent PA research: the apparently widening gap between top academic research and practitioner concerns. This topic was commissioned by the Editor of IJPSM. Evidence of this sliding away from the “real world” is presented. The reasons for it are discussed including Q1 increased measurement, competition and professionalization within academia. Whilst these trends bring significant benefits, a case can nevertheless be made for re-balancing PA research. The purpose of this paper Q2 is to sketch some ways of approaching these trends.

This paper was commissioned by the editor. The author has chosen to examine the often-cited gap between academic research and current practitioner concerns. The author has done this using as the author’s main evidence base all the main articles published by the highest impact journals over the years 2015 and 2016.

Over the past 30 years more and more of the PA research published in the highest impact journals has become further and further removed from the immediate concerns of practicing administrators and managers. At the same time publication in these journals has become more salient for academic careers.

Whilst the identified trends bring significant benefits (in terms of increasing professionalization and methodological sophistication) they also carry negative consequences for the historically important dialogue between academics and practitioners. A case can be made for attempting to re-balance PA research. Some ways of approaching this are sketched.

The academic practitioner dialogue, which, historically, has been vital for academic PA, is currently under some stress. Professionalization and competition within the academic world seem to have widened the gap between the top journals and the “real world.” A case is made that the PA academic community needs to find ways of giving this issue more systematic discussion.

If the argument is largely correct, then current trends threaten the future of academic PA research. This paper is not the first to identify this threat, but it is one of the first to give it extended consideration and systematically to consider possible causes and remedies.

This paper aims to outline the contents of the special issue on public management reform in countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition, discussing alternative explanatory frameworks, and proposing paths for future research.

This article provides reviews of the papers in the special issue.

Some broad sets of factor affecting implementation of public management reform in Napoleonic countries are outlined, schematised in a specific table, and discussed in the light of potential alternative frameworks, like cultural analysis.

Research limitations include the availability of empirical evidence given the width of the phenomenon under investigation (public management reform in five countries). Implications for the development of a broader comparative research agenda on countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition (and others) are proposed.

The special issue, of which this paper provides an overview, fills a gap in the literature by providing systematic and comparative analysis of public management reform in five under‐investigated countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition, arguably an important contribution to the widening of the comparative research agenda in public management.

Hayes and Clark note that in many manufacturing companies managers: do not have adequate measures for judging factory‐level performance or for comparing overall performance from one facility to the next. Of course, they can use the traditional cost‐accounting figures, but often these figures do not tell them what they really need to know. Worse, even the best numbers do not sufficiently reflect the important contributions that managers can make by reducing confusion in the system and promoting organizational change.