| An academic debate in the theory and practice of administrative reform has implicitly cast doubts on the potential for outcome budgeting as a future major budgetary reform. Regrettably, these doubts are compounded by the fact that budgetary reforms are often oversold and do not always fulfill their promises.; Some scholars and practitioners have argued that, unlike past reforms, which aimed to optimize programs, outcome budgeting seeks to improve organizations. They further characterized outcome budgeting as the potential major budgetary reform of the 21st century, and some government agencies have touted this budgeting system, in terms of implementation, as an important paradigm of effective governmental management and an accountability tool.; Paradoxically, other scholars contend that the research on this budgeting system is still very weak, and that there is no generally agreed upon definition of outcome budgeting in the public administration literature. Moreover, many efforts for its implementation have been, unfortunately, marred by confusion about its basic definition and the challenges of integrating outcome and performance measurement systems into the budgeting system.; The purpose of this study is to introduce empirical evidence that would bring some resolution to the debate concerning the merits of outcome budgeting. This study aimed, particularly, to investigate what a sample of experts, direct participants, and experienced users believe constitutes an outcome budgeting system, in terms of its definition, goals and objectives, including the level of integration of outcome and performance measurement into the budget process.; We present findings from an outcome budgeting survey administered to budget and finance officers, analysts, and auditors working in federal, state, and local governments. Contingency tables were used to organize and analyze categorical data. The chi-square, a standardized test statistic commonly used with categorical data, is also used to assess the significance of the results. The study also used the Scheffe's method, an appropriate statistical approach to pre-planned comparisons of means using an unbalanced number of observations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
