Abstract
Italy has often been cited as a laggard in terms of its adoption and implementation of New Public Management reforms. Nevertheless, managerial changes have been introduced in recent decades to improve the performance of public organisations in Italy and to reduce the gap with best practices in Europe. The reforms undertaken by the central government include the redefinition of budgeting procedures and budget structure, the reinforcement of performance management systems, and attempts to integrate the budgeting and performance cycles. In this context, the idea of performance-based budgeting appears relevant to the Italian context. This chapter aims to investigate and interpret the adoption, implementation, and use of performance-based budgeting reform by the Italian central government. Although several years have passed since performance-based budgeting was first introduced, the process has not met with consistent success. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the status of the reform process, analysing its main limitations and challenges.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The national government in Italy is composed of the Prime Minister, line ministers, who are responsible for the actions of their ministries—complex organisations in charge of elaborating policies and delivering services to achieve the ministries’ goals—and the Council of Ministers, which consists of the Prime Minister and the line ministers.
References
ANAC Autorità Nazionale AntiCorruzione. 2014. Relazione sulla performance delle Amministrazioni Centrali.
Andrews, Matthew. 2004. Authority, Acceptance, Ability and Performance-Based Budgeting Reforms. International Journal of Public Sector Management 17 (4): 332–344.
Anessi‐Pessina, Eugenio, and Ileana Steccolini. 2005. Evolutions and Limits of New Public Management—Inspired Budgeting Practices in Italian Local Governments. Public Budgeting & Finance 25 (2): 1–14.
Bianchi, Carmine, and John Antony Xavier. 2017. The Design and Execution of Performance Management Systems at State Level: A Comparative Analysis of Italy and Malaysia. International Journal of Public Administration 40 (9): 744–755.
Bleyen, Pieter, et al. 2017. Linking Budgeting to Results? Evidence About Performance Budgets in European Municipalities Based on a Comparative Analytical Model. Public Management Review 19 (7): 932–953.
Blöndal, Jón R., Lisa von Trapp, and Erik Hammer. 2016. Budgeting in Italy. OECD Journal on Budgeting 15 (3): 1–29.
Cepiku, Denita, et al. 2017. Performance Information Use in Public Administration: An Exploratory Study of Determinants and Effects. Journal of Management & Governance 21 (4): 963–991.
Di Mascio, Fabrizio, and Alessandro Natalini. 2015. Fiscal Retrenchment in Southern Europe: Changing Patterns of Public Management in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Public Management Review 17 (1): 129–148.
Grossi, Giuseppe, Christoph Reichard, and Pasquale Ruggiero. 2016. Appropriateness and Use of Performance Information in the Budgeting Process: Some Experiences from German and Italian Municipalities. Public Performance & Management Review 39 (3): 581–606.
Hijal-Moghrabi, Imane. 2017. The Current Practice of Performance-Based Budgeting in the Largest US Cities: An Innovation Theory Perspective. Public Performance & Management Review 40 (4): 652–675.
Hood, Christopher. 1995. The “New Public Management” in the 1980s: Variations on a Theme. Accounting, Organisations and Society 20 (2–3): 93–109.
Johnsen, Åge, and Jarmo Vakkuri. 2006. Is There a Nordic Perspective on Public Sector Performance Measurement? Financial Accountability & Management 22 (3): 291–308.
Kickert, Walter J.M. 2005. Distinctiveness in the Study of Public Management in Europe: A Historical-Institutional Analysis of France, Germany and Italy. Public Management Review 7 (4): 537–563.
Kuhlmann, Sabine. 2010. New Public Management for the ‘Classical Continental European Administration’: Modernization at the Local Level in Germany, France and Italy. Public Administration 88 (4): 1116–1130.
Liguori, Mariannunziata, Ileana Steccolini, and Silvia Rota. 2016. Studying Administrative Reforms Through Textual Analysis: The Case of Italian Central Government Accounting. International Review of Administrative Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315619023.
Lu, Yi, Katherine Willoughby, and Sarah Arnett. 2009. Legislating Results: Examining the Legal Foundations of PBB Systems in the States. Public Performance and Management Review 33 (2): 266–287.
Mauro, Sara Giovanna, Lino Cinquini, and Giuseppe Grossi. 2018. External Pressures and Internal Dynamics in the Institutionalization of Performance-Based Budgeting: An Endless Process? Public Performance and Management Review 41 (2): 224–252.
MEF. 2009. Performance Budgeting, spesa pubblica e contesto istituzionale: L’esperienza italiana. Retrieved from www.rgs.mef.gov.it.
Meneguzzo, Marco, and Valentina Mele. 2008. Designing and Implementing Innovation Policy in the Public Sector: The Italian Experience. In Innovations in Public Management and Governance in Italy, ed. Denitam Cepiku, Marco Meneguzzo, and Mariastefania Senese, 15–38. Rome: ARACNE Editrice.
Mussari, Riccardo, et al. 2016. Design, Trajectories of Reform, and Implementation of Performance Budgeting in Local Governments: A Comparative Study of Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Norway. In Local Public Sector Reforms in Times of Crisis, ed. Sabine Sabine Kuhlmann and Geert Bouckaert, 101–119. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
OECD. 2013. Government at a Glance. Paris: OECD.
Ongaro, Edoardo. 2009. Public Management Reform and Modernization: Trajectories of Administrative Change in Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ongaro, Edoardo. 2011. The Role of Politics and Institutions in the Italian Administrative Reform Trajectory. Public Administration 89 (3): 738–755.
Ongaro, Edorardo, and Giovanni Valotti. 2008. Public Management Reform in Italy: Explaining the Implementation Gap. International Journal of Public Sector Management 21 (2): 174–204.
Panozzo, Fabrizio. 2000. Management by Decrees. Paradoxes in the Reform of the Italian Public Sector. Scandinavian Journal of Management 16 (4): 357–373.
Pollitt, Christopher, and Geert Bouckaert. 2011. Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis-New Public Management, Governance, and the Neo-Weberian State. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ranalli, Francesco, and Alessandro Giosi. 2011. New Perspectives on Budgeting Procedures in Italy. International Journal of Public Administration 34 (1–2): 32–42.
Rebora, Gianfranco, Renato Ruffini, and Matteo Turri. 2017. A Serious Game: Performance Management in Italian Ministries. International Journal of Public Administration 40 (9): 770–779.
Servizio del Bilancio del Senato. 2007. La classificazione del bilancio per programmi e missioni. Elementi di documentazione (No. 11). XV Legislatura.
Ter Bogt, Henk J., and G. Jan Van Helden. 2000. Accounting Change in Dutch Government: Exploring the Gap Between Expectations and Realizations. Management Accounting Research 11 (2): 263–279.
Ter Bogt, Henk J., G. Jan van Helden, and Berend Kolk. 2015. Challenging the NPM Ideas About Performance Management: Selectivity and Differentiation in Outcome—Oriented Performance Budgeting. Financial Accountability & Management 31 (3): 287–315.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mauro, S.G. (2019). Public Sector Performance-Based Budgeting in Italy. In: de Vries, M.S., Nemec, J., Špaček, D. (eds) Performance-Based Budgeting in the Public Sector. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02077-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02077-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-02076-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-02077-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)