Person:
Dorotinsky, William Leslie
Author Name Variants
Fields of Specialization
Public sector governance,
Public financial management,
Public expenditure analysis
Degrees
Departments
Global Practice on Governance
Externally Hosted Work
Contact Information
Last updated
January 31, 2023
Biography
William Dorotinsky is a global name in public finance, performance and results, and governance issues. He is currently responsible for knowledge, learning and partnerships in the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice He has previously served as acting director of the Practice, founded the Bank’s global expert team on public sector performance, and was the driving force behind the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) framework -- the international standard for national public finance systems. He also served with the IMF as a Deputy Division Chief, with the U.S. Federal Government Office of Management and Budget (where he held a secondment as deputy chief finance officer with the District of Columbia during its mid-1990s financial crisis), as well as with the Clinton Administration's Health Care Reform Task Force. He was also a U.S. Treasury resident advisor to the Governments of Hungary, Argentina and Croatia. In 2014, Dorotinsky received the International Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Government Accountants for advancing public sector financial performance internationally.
Publication Search Results
1 - 4 of 4
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Publication
Overview of Public Sector Performance Assessment Processes in Japan
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2010-08)The Government of Japan began introducing evaluation techniques in 2001 within the context of a Central Government reform program that involved the establishment of new ministries and the integration and abolition of existing ministries. Japans approach emphasizes assessing policies and activities, and then incorporating results into future planning and budgeting, with a focus on making public sector programs and activities more efficient. This is a synopsis of Japans experience with public sector performance assessment processes between 2001 and 2010. This note presents a range of initiatives underway in Japan, including policy and activity evaluation, as well as the spending review exercise designed to make public sector service delivery more efficient. The intention of this note is not to necessarily endorse Japans approach, but rather to document it as a case study. -
Publication
Securing Development: Public Finance and the Security Sector
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2017-05)This book highlights the role played by public finance in the delivery of security and criminal justice services. It seeks to strengthen policy and operational dialogue on security sector issues by providing national and international stakeholders with key information on security expenditure policy and management. The interplay between security, justice, and public finance is still a relatively unexplored area of development. Security and criminal justice are fundamental public goods provided by governments, and they often have significant claims on national budgets. Informed discussions on security sector expenditure policy and management are an essential part of the national budget cycle, through which central finance agencies fulfill their function of contesting sector expenditure proposals in the planning and budgeting process. Integrating the public finance perspective into broader security policy deliberations can significantly help defense, interior, and justice ministries and agencies address effectiveness and efficiency challenges arising in the provision of services in these sectors. Dialogue on security expenditure policy also strengthens international partners’ engagement on security issues, helping them make informed decisions regarding the appropriate level and form of external assistance. This book offers a framework for analyzing public financial management, financial transparency, and oversight, as well as expenditure policy issues that determine how to most appropriately manage security and justice services. It also provides advice on entry points for integrating expenditure analysis into security sector and broader governance reform processes. The book is the result of a project undertaken jointly by staff from the World Bank and the United Nations, integrating the disciplines where each institution holds a comparative advantage and a core mandate. The primary audience includes high-level, technically oriented government officials bearing both security as well as financial responsibilities, staff of international organizations working on public expenditure management and security sector issues, and development practitioners working in an advisory capacity. -
Publication
Common Practices in Setting Expenditure Ceilings within National Budgets
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-01)Developing a national budget has always entailed a complex set of negotiations between national Government priorities, line ministry priorities, and a national funding envelope. This note explains how to introduce a medium term horizon into a government’s budgeting process, including the key steps involved. It provides guidance on setting aggregate and line ministry ceilings, reviewing experiences from countries with extensive experience of ceilings (for example, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Australia, and Canada, among others), as well as those that have more recently adopted them. There is no one right way to set expenditure ceilings. Countries tailor expenditure ceilings to meet their specific needs, budget challenges, and capacity constraints. This note presents an iterative approach - starting from annual ceilings and gradually moving toward a medium-term expenditure framework - allowing for procedural, institutional, and organizational learning and adaptation along the way. -
Publication
Financial Management Information Systems : 25 Years of World Bank Experience on What Works and What Doesn't
(World Bank, 2011-04-26)This paper was prepared by the public sector and governance group of the World Bank poverty reduction and economic management network. Since 1984, the World Bank has financed 87 Financial Management Information System (FMIS) projects in 51 countries, totaling over US $2.2 billion, of which US $938 million was for FMIS-related Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions. This study presents the World Bank's experience with these investment operations, including substantial ICT components, in order to share the achievements and challenges observed, and provide guidance for improving the performance of future projects. This study is dived into five chapters. The introduction covers the definitions used and methodology applied in reviewing projects. Chapter 2 provides descriptive characteristics of the sample data drawn from Bank databases and describes general patterns in duration, regional distribution, costs, and ICT solutions implemented, among other aspects. Chapter 3 analyzes the performance of the projects, differentiating between ratings of the Implementation Completion Reports (ICRs) and the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) reports, as well as the factors contributing to the success and failure of projects and individual components. A detailed analysis of country case studies from Mongolia, Turkey, Albania, Guatemala, and Pakistan are presented in chapter 4. In conclusion, chapter 5 synthesizes the main lessons learned and prerequisites necessary for an effective FMIS project. The findings of this study are based on a comprehensive database of 55 closed and 32 active Treasury and FMIS projects implemented between 1984 and 2010 (pipeline projects were also analyzed in some sections). The data presented here was gathered from individual project ICRs, Project Appraisal Documents (PADs), the IEG reports, and complemented with interviews with task team leaders and relevant public sector and informatics specialists.