Showing papers in "Public Budgeting & Finance in 1994"
40 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the National Performance Review (NPR) has been used as a model for the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (CBLP) for the federal government's legislative budget process.
Abstract: This chapter explains how the budgets, administrative controls, and financial-management practices proposed by the National Performance Review (NPR) differ from those that are currently used in the federal government. It also explains how the federal government's legislative budget process would need to be modified to accommodate the changes proposed by the NPR. Robert N. Anthony believed that the federal government could deal with the spillovers without sacrificing mission-driven, results-oriented responsibility budgeting. Effective delegation of authority is possible in benchmark organizations in part because capital budgeting and operational budgeting are treated as related but distinct processes. Reconciling accountability with discretion under the NPR's administrative design would necessitate fundamental changes in the financial practices of the federal government. Under procedures established by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Congress adopts comprehensive outlay targets for the federal government before it takes action on individual spending proposals.
28 citations
TL;DR: Wildavsky had an amazingly broad set of interests in social science and public policy as indicated in other articles in this symposium as mentioned in this paper, and a perusal of a recent curriculum vita reveals that he wrote or coauthored thirty books with several forthcoming, 186 articles and book chapters, and some additional papers awaiting publication.
Abstract: Aaron Wildavsky had an amazingly broad set of interests in social science and public policy as indicated in other articles in this symposium. A perusal of a recent curriculum vita reveals that he wrote or coauthored thirty books with several forthcoming, 186 articles and book chapters at latest count, and some additional papers awaiting publication. The topics covered in this vast oeuvre of books and articles, in unpublished casual papers, and in newspaper and magazine articles too numerous to count, reveal the incredible spectrum of his curiosity and knowledge. His work encompasses budgeting and fiscal policy (domestic and international), political culture, community power and leadership, risk analysis and safety, environmental policy, the American presidency, presidential elections, American diplomacy, U.S. oil and gas policy, the art and craft of policy analysis, policy implt1mentation, how to conduct research, how to read and write, academic collaboration, development and evolution of the social sci~nces, political and religious philosophy, Moses and Joseph as leaders and administrators, the politics of religion, the experience of his father as a youth in Poland, academic leadership and administration, communism and morality, the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation, and more ... much more. To say that Aaron was a profound thinker and prolific writer runs the risk of understatement. Of this large body of material, Wildavsky wrote and coauthored nine books and forty articles and book chapters on budgeting and fiscal policy. It is this work that is reviewed selectively here. A bibliography of Wildavsky's work on budgeting and fiscal policy is provided at the conclusion of this essay. Any attempt to survey the
17 citations
TL;DR: In the 1990s, states experienced considrable fiscal stress, which led to changes in five policy areas: (1) state financial aid; (2) local revenue diversification; (3) sorting out of responsibilities between the state and local governments; (4) tax and spending limitations; (5) and mandate relief as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: States experienced considrable fiscal stress during the first four years of the 1990s. This has led to changes in five policy areas: (1) state financial aid; (2) local revenue diversification; (3) “sorting out” of responsibilities between the state and local governments; (4) tax and spending limitations; (5) and mandate relief. Some of the most significant changes occurred in California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss key features of local government finance and autonomy among unitary and federal governments in Latin America and conclude with six proposals for promoting effective decentralization, and focus on the Chilean case, which has been a widely celebrated success story in economic development literature.
Abstract: A major issue in Latin. America is the decentralization of public finances and the autonomy of local government. This article begins with a brief review of the ongoing decentralization debate. We then discuss key features of local government finance and autonomy among unitary and federal governments in Latin America. Against that backdrop, we focus on the Chilean case, which has been a widely celebrated success story in the economic development literature. We argue that despite major gains by municipal governments over the past two decades, financial decision making powers still rest with the national government. This creates financial complacency among local governments. To remedy this, we conclude with six proposals for promoting effective decentralization.
13 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a set of measures that are recommended to the leadership of the European Union to enhance budgetary balance and control within a highly decentralized system, one that requires the coordination of budgetary policy in more than a dozen nations, are presented.
Abstract: This article provides a set of measures that are recommended to the leadership of the European Union to enhance budgetary balance and control within a highly decentralized system, one that requires the coordination of budgetary policy in more than a dozen nations. These measures are intended to be relevant to European budgetary coordination efforts but also appear to apply to U.S. federal initiatives to reduce the annual budget deficit and total debt. The individual measures recommended include holding increases in expenditures at or below the rate of GDP growth, establishing envelopes for major accounts, placing all entitlement on a pay-as-you-go basis, means testing of entitlements and elimination of automatic entitlement indexing, considering the option of marginal reductions in some entitlement programs, and voting on budgets as single, omnibus packages. The proposal to establish executive line-item budget authority also is evaluated-and rejected.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a three-stage model of budgeting for line ministries that would promote the discipline and adaptiveness needed to cope with these severe conditions is presented. But, the model is not suitable for the case of line ministries.
Abstract: Improving budgeting in developing countries is difficult-due to their limited and uncertain resources and the politicized process of resource allocation. This article outlines a three-stage model of budgeting for line ministries that would promote the discipline and adaptiveness needed to cope with these severe conditions. Our model of budgeting has three stages: analyzing, fitting, and implementing. The practice of budgeting in Kenya is reviewed with this budget model and prescriptions developed. Two theses are presented. First, the fitting stage (reducing budgets to ceilings) is overemphasized and the analyzing and implementing stages are neglected. Second, the budget process lacks mechanisms for promoting analysis. Budget discipline and adaptiveness can be improved with three reforms: first, a budget calendar that clearly defines and provides adequate time for the three stages of budgeting; second, workplan-based budgeting that integrates financial data and promotes rapid fitting of ceilings while maintaining balanced expenditure; and third, cost-center budgeting that links recurrent and development budgets based on complement.
12 citations
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the implications of Swiss direct democracy for new approaches to public management and specifically, performance measurement are discussed, with a focus on the role of performance measurement in public management.
Abstract: Current international development in public management is characterized by a rare unanimity among countries. Trends in public administration, business administration, applied economics, and public law indicate a stronger emphasis on performance and a weakening of input-oriented analysis and steering. At the foundation of this development is performance measurement (PM). However, the political and administrative circumstance of its implementation differ widely. The following article deals with the implications of Swiss direct democracy for new approaches to public management and, specifically, performance measurement.
10 citations
TL;DR: The authors discusses why the VAT was an inappropriate choice for Niger, analyzes the reasons for the decline in tax revenue, and proposes alternative policies consistent with the administrative capacity of the Niger government and the existing socioeconomic environment.
Abstract: The value-added tax (VAT) requires considerable sophistication on the part of both the taxpayers and the tax authorities in order to function effectively; not all countries meet this criteria. After Niger implemented the VAT in 1986, instead of realizing an increase in tax revenue it witnessed a decline, creating a major budget crisis. This article discusses why the VAT was an inappropriate choice for Niger, analyzes the reasons for the decline in tax revenue, and proposes alternative policies consistent with the administrative capacity of the Niger government and the existing socioeconomic environment.
10 citations
TL;DR: The Italian public sector especially local government has been experiencing an era of considerable change over the last four years following reforms introduced by the National Legislature (Parliament) The reforms influence many aspects of local government operations: organization, policy, management, finance, accounting and auditing as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Italian public sector, especially local government, has been experiencing an era of considerable change over the last four years following reforms introduced by the National Legislature (Parliament) The reforms influence many aspects of local government operations: organization, policy, management, finance, accounting, and auditing This article analyzes some aspects of accounting reform in the new laws and directives in order to demonstrate how the traditional concept of accountability for local governments is changing The direction of reform is clearly toward federalism and away from national authority and control in the public sector
TL;DR: The authors analyzes the genesis of certificates of participation (COP) in the municipal securities market and illustrates problems in the market through case studies of the Richmond Unified School District default and the Brevard County referendum crisis.
Abstract: This article analyzes the genesis of certificates of participation (COP) in the municipal securities market. We document the trend in the use of COPs and illustrate problems in the market through case studies of the Richmond Unified School District default and the Brevard County referendum crisis. The valuable fiscal administration lessons drawn from the growing pains of a maturing sector of the municipal securities market can help municipal governments and investors avoid the tragic consequences that seem to inevitably accompany the circumvention of legal debt restrictions and public accountability.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe some of the fiscal characteristics of local governments in Hungary with an analysis of the dilemmas of transition and illustrate the difficulty of developing a fully operational market economy within a democratic context in the post-Communist era while, at the same time, maintaining social protection for citizens through the continued provision of a wide array of social benefit programs.
Abstract: Fundamental change in the economic systems of the nations-of central Europe is now taking place. The economic transition has broad social and cultural consequences, among these the alteration of local government service provision and financial management. In this article, the authors describe some of the fiscal characteristics of local governments in Hungary with an analysis of the dilemmas of transition. Efforts to create and enhance local government financial management capability are detailed. This article portrays the difficulty of developing a fully operational market economy within a democratic context in the post-Communist era while, at the same time, maintaining social protection for citizens through the continued provision of a wide array of social benefit programs. The essential dilemma for local government social program managers and budget officials is that service demand far surpasses the financial resources available to continue services at the levels to which people grew accustomed under the Communist regime.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine financial disclosure in U.S. cities and find that participation in the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting program, and the Chief Financial Officer's familiarity with the activities of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board are positively associated with more disclosure.
Abstract: This article examines financial disclosure in U.S. cities. It considers factors that affect the level of municipal financial disclosure, in particular the effect of administrative factors. It finds that participation in the Government Finance Officers Association Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting program, and the Chief Financial Officer's familiarity with the activities of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board are positively associated with more disclosure. These latter factors are interpreted as measures of professionalism and are furthered by the adoption of municipal codes of ethics which stress openness and responsiveness to stakeholder interests. Such general policies are indirectly associated with heightened levels of financial disclosure. Financial disclosure is also associated with city size and demands from capital markets.
TL;DR: The history of the vaccine tax policy issues and the experiences of the financing mechanism are detailed and the possibility of similar interventions exist are considered.
Abstract: The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was funded with an earmarked tax in an attempt to prevent a perceived crisis that was developing in the United States regarding the availability and affordability of vaccines for life-threatening childhood illnesses. The federal government felt compelled to intervene in a perceived failure of the private marketplace. In short, the inability of several pharmaceutical firms to obtain liability insurance due to high damage awards forced them to leave the marketplace or self-insure. This article details the history of the vaccine tax policy issues and updates the experiences of the financing mechanism. As the federal government attempts to broaden its role in the health care delivery system, the possibility of similar interventions exist.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the nature of the problem in overlapping jurisdictions of New York City and New York State and explain how the two New York's political leaders have managed their budgets in recent years.
Abstract: The objective of governments is to efficiently provide essential services and infrastructure to their jurisdictions at a competitive tax rate within the constraint of a balanced budget. In recent years, several states have found it difficult to maintain this standard. This article examines the nature of the problem in the overlapping jurisdictions of New York City and New York State. Specifically, it explains the nature of projected budget gaps that have emerged in New York, and describes how the two New Yorks' political leaders have managed their budgets in recent years. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that expenditures significantly exceed revenues, thus leading to inevitable budget gaps, and that policies designed to close the gap have harmful consequences.
TL;DR: The Politics of the Budgetary Process appeared in 1964, and its appeal lay in its transformation from a restricted, somewhat technical study into a much broader inquiry into the reality of how budgeting was actually conducted as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The researcher who wishes to say something meaningful about budgeting must avoid the twin pitfalls of assuming that budget functions may be prescribed in identical and unchanging terms whatever the context, or of losing himself or herself in a morass of bewildering and idiosyncratic detail of scant interest beyond the moment. Aaron Wildavsky steered between these two traps by generating theories relating budgeting to time and place—from ideas, politics, economics, and social milieus. The Politics of the Budgetary Process appeared in 1964, and its appeal lay in its transformation from a restricted, somewhat technical study into a much broader inquiry into the reality of how budgeting was actually conducted. He expanded the conventional boundaries of discussion of public budgeting by expanding the functions of the budget. As an all-encompassing general theory, which would enable comparisons across time and space, Budgeting failed to measure up.
TL;DR: The evolution of U.S. public budgeting has been described by Schick (1966) as a progression from a control orientation to a management and then a planning orientation.
Abstract: The evolution of U.S. public budgeting has been described by Schick (1966) as a progression from a control orientation to a management and then a planning orientation. Lee (1992) has tracked the evolution of central budgeting staff largely from a group of accountants to a more varied set of backgrounds, dominated by public administration and general liberal arts educations. As Poland decentralizes fiscal and administrative responsibilities and powers to gminas (local self-governments), the gmina councils are beginning to view the budget as more than a financial accounting tool proscribed and prescribed by the central government. They are beginning to see the potential for using the budget as a policy and management tool. The evolutionary transformation of budgeting, which took fifty years in the United States, may take only five years in Poland. The evidence for this metamorphosis is based on interviews with several gmina city budgeters, with special attention devoted to the city of Lublin.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the FY 1995 budget requests within the context of long term budget trends, changes in the federal budget process, and the recently established political and fiscal budget constraints.
Abstract: The federal budgeting process is now limited by deficit reduction policy constraints. This article examines the FY 1995 budget requests within the context of long term budget trends, changes in the federal budget process, and the recently established political and fiscal budget constraints. It further examines enactment of the Omnibus Budget Enforcement Act of 1993, the policy changes it contained, and its further tinkering with the process of budgeting. Finally the article evaluates the first budgeting process of the Clinton administration and their initiatives in deficit reduction following these policy constraints.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an overview of measures instituted in Switzerland to control the growth of the public sector and public spending, and recent efforts to raise new tax revenues are also discussed.
Abstract: Switzerland is regarded as a bastion of financial conservatism, yet the Swiss federal government presently faces annual budget deficits of the highest magnitude in recent history. This article provides an overview of measures instituted in Switzerland to control the growth of the public sector and public spending. Recent efforts to raise new tax revenues are also discussed. To place the fiscal dilemma in perspective, an introduction to the structure of Swiss national government and the budgetary process is included. In analysis of Swiss budgetary politics, particular emphasis is given to the influence of the public referendum process on the political dynamics of resource decision making. The authors also analyze the area of the Swiss budget that is growing most rapidly—mandated entitlements—especially payments for unemployment compensation. A prolonged economic recession in Europe has created high unemployment and, consequently, high demand for unemployment compensation and other social “safety net” programs and spending. The most prominent feature of the Swiss political system is that it is headed by a stable coalition government in which leadership does not alternate between different political parties. This system confronts social and policy problems in a slow and deliberate manner due to the necessity for consultation and compromise in a multi-party coalitional government. The advantage of this system is stability and prudence, the disadvantage is perhaps short-term unresponsiveness to budgetary and policy dilemmas of the type now faced in Switzerland. Parallels are drawn between the Swiss budgetary problem and that faced by the U.S. executive and Congress.
TL;DR: The state and city of New York have chronic fiscal difficulties, namely, expenditures that tend to exceed revenues by significant amounts as discussed by the authors, and the deficits were moderate in the 1980s but have become large and acute in the 1990s as the state economy has been in a prolonged recession.
Abstract: The state and city of New York have chronic fiscal difficulties, namely, expenditures that tend to exceed revenues by significant amounts. The deficits were moderate in the 1980s but have become large and acute in the 1990s as the state and city economies have been in a prolonged recession. Deficits are expected to continue well into the future. Supply side factors, particularly high wage levels, are the main causes of the state's deficits. For the city, supply side factors, particularly high employment, and demand side factors are main causes. Federal aid reduction is a minor cause. The city's fiscal condition is compared with that of the thirty other largest U.S. cities in a regression analysis which updates Gramlich's analysis of the period immediately before the famous New York City fiscal crisis of 1975.