The DOI matches its Crossref record; 27 of the 27 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Use and Usefulness of Performance Measures in the Public Sector
Abstract
The paper focuses on the empirical evidence on the use and usefulness of performance measures in the public sector. It begins with consideration of the features of the public sector which make the use of performance measures complex: the issues of multiple principals and multiple tasks. It discusses the form that performance measures may take, the use made of these measures, and the responses that individuals may make to them. Empirical examples from the fields of education and health, with a focus on the USA and UK, are examined. There is clear evidence of responses to such measures. Some of these responses improve efficiency, but others do not and fall into the category of ‘gaming’. Generally, there has been little assessment of whether performance measures bring about improvements in service. The paper ends with consideration of how such measures should be used and what measures are useful to collect.
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Citations
Cites
Incentives and Organizations in the Public Sector: An Interpretative Review
Dixit, A. (2002) · The Journal of Human Resources · doi:10.2307/3069614 · Cited by 1,104
Heckman, J. J., Smith, J., & Clements, N. (1997) · The Review of Economic Studies · doi:10.2307/2971729 · Cited by 915
On the unintended consequences of publishing performance data in the public sector
Smith, P. (1995) · International Journal of Public Administration · doi:10.1080/01900699508525011 · Cited by 822
Improving the Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in New York State
Hannan, E. L. (1994) · JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association · doi:10.1001/jama.1994.03510340051033 · Cited by 756
Is More Information Better? The Effects of “Report Cards” on Health Care Providers
Dranove, D., Kessler, D., McClellan, M., & Satterthwaite, M. (2003) · Journal of Political Economy · doi:10.1086/374180 · Cited by 666
(1998) · Research Space · Cited by 660
The Promise and Pitfalls of Using Imprecise School Accountability Measures
Kane, T. J., & Staiger, D. O. (2002) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/089533002320950993 · Cited by 503
Knights, Knaves or Pawns? Human Behaviour and Social Policy
LE GRAND, J. (1997) · Journal of Social Policy · doi:10.1017/s0047279497004984 · Cited by 399
Use of Public Performance Reports: A Survey of Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery
Schneider, E. C., & Epstein, A. M. (1998) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.279.20.1638 · Cited by 386
de Bruijn, H. (2002) · International Journal of Public Sector Management · doi:10.1108/09513550210448607 · Cited by 292
Cited by
WHAT’S MEASURED IS WHAT MATTERS: TARGETS AND GAMING IN THE ENGLISH PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
BEVAN, G., & HOOD, C. (2006) · Public Administration · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00600.x · Cited by 1,580
A public value perspective for ICT enabled public sector reforms: A theoretical reflection
Cordella, A., & Bonina, C. M. (2012) · Government Information Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.giq.2012.03.004 · Cited by 543
The use of performance measurement systems in the public sector: Effects on performance
Speklé, R. F., & Verbeeten, F. H. M. (2014) · Management Accounting Research · doi:10.1016/j.mar.2013.07.004 · Cited by 448
Performance Indicators: Good, Bad, and Ugly
Bird, S. M., Sir David, C., Farewell, V. T., Harvey, G., Tim, H., & Peter C., S. (2005) · Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A: Statistics in Society · doi:10.1111/j.1467-985x.2004.00333.x · Cited by 377
Performance management practices in public sector organizations: Impact on performance
Verbeeten, F. H. M. (2008) · Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal · doi:10.1108/09513570810863996 · Cited by 338
Metadata
- Authors
- Propper, C.
- Venue
- Oxford Review of Economic Policy
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2003-06-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 250-267
- ISSN
- 0266-903X (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2121
- OpenAlex
- W2074231949
- Cited by
- 340
- References
- 27
- FWCI
- 33.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Data sources
Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
