Publication: Political Economy of Public Financial Management Reforms: Experiences and Implications for Dialogue and Operational Engagement
Date
2017-11-15
ISSN
Published
2017-11-15
Author(s)
Fritz, Verena
Verhoeven, Marijn
Avenia, Ambra
Abstract
Using fiscal resources to achieve
results is critical for equitable development. Accordingly,
many countries have sought to strengthen their PFM systems,
following a fairly standardized set of reform
recommendations and approaches. Yet, the results achieved,
as well as the pace of reforms and the areas of progress
vary considerably across countries. From an impact
perspective, it is critical to understand what accounts for
such different rates of progress. While non-technical
drivers such as ‘political commitment’ are widely considered
important, to date there has been little systematic analysis
of how such drivers matter for reform progress, or how to
utilize such insights when developing and pursuing PFM
reforms. This report maps out what PFM progress looks like
across countries, regions, and income groups, and then
drills down into specific experiences. Based on a detailed
tracing of PFM reform progress in a small N sample of
countries, it explores the underlying nontechnical drivers
and constraints reformers faced, and how these influenced
the feasibility and robustness of efforts to strengthen PFM.
While not presuming to offer a complete set of answers on
how to better approach PFM reforms, the authors aim to
provide a stronger empirical basis for some key questions,
and to offer some concrete guidance on how reform
stakeholders and external supporters can take non-technical
drivers into account and better calibrate their approaches
to PFM reforms.
Citation
“Fritz, Verena; Verhoeven, Marijn; Avenia, Ambra. 2017. Political Economy of Public Financial Management Reforms: Experiences and Implications for Dialogue and Operational Engagement. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28887 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”