Image from Google Jackets

Toward a culture of consequences : performance-based accountability systems for public services : executive summary / Brian M. Stecher [and others].

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Rand Corporation monograph seriesPublication details: Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2010.Description: 1 online resource (xii, 37 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 0833050354
  • 1282940430
  • 9780833050359
  • 9781282940437
Report number: MG-1019/1Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Toward a culture of consequences.DDC classification:
  • 352.3/5 22
LOC classification:
  • JK421 .T79 2010
Online resources:
Contents:
Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Preface; Contents; Table; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Executive Summary; Research Approach; Findings; Decision to Adopt a Performance-Based Accountability System Is Shaped by Political, Historical, and Cultural Contexts; Selection of Incentive Structures Has Proven Challenging; Design of Performance Measures Requires a Balance Among Competing Priorities; Successful Implementation Must Overcome Many Potential Pitfalls; Evidence of System Effectiveness Is Limited and Leads to Varying Conclusions by Sector; Recommendations for System Developers.
Design of the Performance-Based Accountability SystemIncentives and Performance Measurement; Implementation; Evaluation; Areas for Further Research; Concluding Thoughts; APPENDIX: The Five Sectors; Back Cover.
Summary: Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs), which link incentives to measured performance as a means of improving services to the public, have gained popularity. While PBASs can vary widely across sectors, they share three main components: goals, incentives, and measures. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBAS effectiveness at achieving their performance goals or about government and agency experiences. This document summarizes a study that examined nine PBASs in five sectors: child care, education, health care, public health emergency preparedness, and transportation. In the right circumstances, a PBAS can be an effective strategy for improving service delivery. Optimum circumstances include having a widely shared goal, unambiguous observable measures, meaningful incentives for those with control over the relevant inputs and processes, few competing interests, and adequate resources to design, implement, and operate the PBAS. However, these conditions are rarely fully realized, so it is difficult to design and implement PBASs that are uniformly effective. PBASs represent a promising policy option for improving the quality of service-delivery activities in many contexts. The evidence supports continued experimentation with and adoption of this approach in appropriate circumstances. Even so, PBAS design and its prospects for success depend on the context in which it will operate. Also, ongoing system evaluation and monitoring are integral components of a PBAS; they inform refinements that improve system functioning over time.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Date due Barcode
E-books E-books Hugenote College Main Campus Digital version Not for loan Only accessible on campus.

Includes bibliographical references.

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Preface; Contents; Table; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Executive Summary; Research Approach; Findings; Decision to Adopt a Performance-Based Accountability System Is Shaped by Political, Historical, and Cultural Contexts; Selection of Incentive Structures Has Proven Challenging; Design of Performance Measures Requires a Balance Among Competing Priorities; Successful Implementation Must Overcome Many Potential Pitfalls; Evidence of System Effectiveness Is Limited and Leads to Varying Conclusions by Sector; Recommendations for System Developers.

Design of the Performance-Based Accountability SystemIncentives and Performance Measurement; Implementation; Evaluation; Areas for Further Research; Concluding Thoughts; APPENDIX: The Five Sectors; Back Cover.

Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs), which link incentives to measured performance as a means of improving services to the public, have gained popularity. While PBASs can vary widely across sectors, they share three main components: goals, incentives, and measures. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBAS effectiveness at achieving their performance goals or about government and agency experiences. This document summarizes a study that examined nine PBASs in five sectors: child care, education, health care, public health emergency preparedness, and transportation. In the right circumstances, a PBAS can be an effective strategy for improving service delivery. Optimum circumstances include having a widely shared goal, unambiguous observable measures, meaningful incentives for those with control over the relevant inputs and processes, few competing interests, and adequate resources to design, implement, and operate the PBAS. However, these conditions are rarely fully realized, so it is difficult to design and implement PBASs that are uniformly effective. PBASs represent a promising policy option for improving the quality of service-delivery activities in many contexts. The evidence supports continued experimentation with and adoption of this approach in appropriate circumstances. Even so, PBAS design and its prospects for success depend on the context in which it will operate. Also, ongoing system evaluation and monitoring are integral components of a PBAS; they inform refinements that improve system functioning over time.

Print version record.

JSTOR Books at JSTOR Open Access

Powered by Koha