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To investigate the effects of managerial level – a manager's position in the organizational hierarchy – and budgetary participation on managerial performance and job satisfaction.

Questionnaires were administered to 184 managers that participated in an executive development program conducted at a major US university. The responses to 178 questionnaires were subjected to multiple regression analysis.

The results suggest that both budgetary participation and managerial levels have a direct positive impact on self‐reported managerial performance and job satisfaction.

This study shares some inherent limitations with other survey research. All measures used are self‐reported and may be based on self‐perception. As such, they may not reflect formal participation in or influence over budget settings by the respondents. The sample was not randomly selected, and consequently the results might not be generalizable to all managers. In addition, some self‐selection bias might be present: managers who enroll in executive development programs could differ from other managers.

The results have practical implications for organizations that use a budgeting system. They provide further evidence of the positive impact of increased budgetary participation by managers at all levels.

This study fulfils a gap in prior research by examining the effect of managerial levels, a variable not previously included in studies of the impact of budgetary participation in the US. The findings have implications for future research into the effects of budgetary participation by emphasizing the need to include managerial levels. They also have implications for the implementation of participative budgeting in organizations.