Addison, Douglas2014-02-042014-02-042013-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16871What determines the quality of budget execution around the world, measured in terms of a government's ability to accurately hit its own revenue and expenditure targets? The answers could be relevant to the topics of macroeconomic stability, national development, public service delivery, and political reputation. This paper takes a step toward finding answers through the exploration of a new database of budgets and budget outcomes and potential cross-country correlates of budget execution in levels and in composition. Few countries within the data sample execute their budgets well, in levels or in composition. Expenditure deviations are positively but rather loosely correlated with revenue deviations. Within this broad tendency, there is considerable variation in behavior not only across countries, but also across time within countries. In explaining the cross-country variations, the data confirm traditional drivers for common pool behavior while also supporting constructive roles for political institutions and the technical capacity for public financial management. This is good news for reform minded governments.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTINGAGENCY PROBLEMAGENCY PROBLEMSAGGREGATE BUDGETAGGREGATE EXPENDITUREAGGREGATE EXPENDITURESAGGREGATE FISCALAGGREGATE FISCAL DISCIPLINEAGGREGATE FISCAL OUTCOMESAGGREGATE REVENUEAID DEPENDENTANNUAL REVENUEAPPROPRIATIONARREARSBUDGET CONSTRAINTBUDGET CONSTRAINTSBUDGET DEFICITSBUDGET EXECUTIONBUDGET EXPENDITUREBUDGET FORMULATIONBUDGET INSTITUTIONSBUDGET MANAGEMENTBUDGET OUTCOMESBUDGET PROCESSBUDGET STRUCTUREBUDGET SUPPORTBUDGET TARGETSBUDGETARY ALLOCATIONBUDGETARY ALLOCATIONSBUDGETARY CONTROLBUDGETARY DATABUDGETARY EXPENDITUREBUDGETARY EXPENDITURESBUDGETARY INSTITUTIONSBUDGETARY OUTCOMESBUDGETARY PROCEDURESBUDGETARY PROCESSBUDGETARY RULESBUDGETARY TARGETSBUDGETINGCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPACITY CONSTRAINTSCAPITAL EXPENDITURESCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCAPITAL SPENDINGCIVIL SERVICECOLLECTIVE ACTIONCOLLECTIVE ACTION PROBLEMCOMMODITY PRICESCORRUPTIONCREDIBILITYCREDIBLE BUDGETCUT SPENDINGCYCLICAL POLICYDAY-CAREDEBTDEBT BURDENSDEBT REDUCTIONDEBT SERVICEDEBT STOCKSDEMOCRATIC COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCEDEVELOPMENT BANKDOMESTIC BORROWINGDUMMY VARIABLEDUMMY VARIABLESECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC SHOCKSECONOMIES OF SCALEEDUCATION POLICIESEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTSEXCHANGE RATESEXCLUSIONEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE ALLOCATIONSEXPENDITURE CATEGORIESEXPENDITURE COMMITMENTSEXPENDITURE OUTCOMESEXPENDITURE PROGRAMSEXPENDITURESEXTERNAL AIDEXTERNAL ASSISTANCEEXTERNAL AUDITEXTERNAL COMMERCIAL BORROWINGFEDERAL GRANTFINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITYFINANCIAL ASSISTANCEFINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSFINANCIAL REPORTINGFINANCIAL STATISTICSFISCAL AFFAIRSFISCAL CONSTRAINTSFISCAL DEFICITFISCAL DEFICITSFISCAL OUTCOMESFISCAL POLICIESFISCAL POLICYFISCAL PRUDENCEFISCAL REPORTINGFISCAL RULESFISCAL SUSTAINABILITYFISCAL TARGETSGOVERNMENT BUDGETSGOVERNMENT PERFORMANCEGOVERNMENT SPENDINGGROWTH RATEHOLDINGINFLATIONINFLATIONARY CONSEQUENCESINTEREST PAYMENTSINTERNAL CONTROLINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTJOB CREATIONLEVEL OF CONFIDENCELOCAL GOVERNMENTSMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMEMBER COUNTRIESMONETARY FINANCINGMONETARY FUNDNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNATIONAL INCOMENEGATIVE VALUENEGATIVE VALUESNET BORROWINGPAYMENT SYSTEMSPENSIONSPOLICY FORMULATIONPOLICY RESPONSESPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICIANSPORK BARRELPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRESSURE GROUPSPRICE CHANGESPRINCIPAL-AGENTPRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEMPRINCIPAL-AGENT PROBLEMSPRIVATE SECTORPROPORTIONAL SYSTEMSPUBLICPUBLIC ECONOMICSPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTPUBLIC GOALSPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC OFFICIALSPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SPENDINGPURCHASING POWERPURCHASING POWER PARITYREAL GROWTHRECESSIONREFORM PROGRAMSREVENUE FORECASTREVENUE FORECASTINGREVENUE POLICYREVENUE TARGETREVENUE VOLATILITYSEPARATION OF POWERSSERVICE EMPLOYMENTSOCIAL BENEFITSSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL SERVICESSOFT BUDGET CONSTRAINTSSPENDING LEVELSSTATE GOVERNMENTSSUPPLEMENTAL BUDGETSTAXTAX BASETAX BASESTAXATIONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOTAL EXPENDITURESTOTAL SPENDINGTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSPARENCYUNCERTAINTYUNEMPLOYMENTWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6657