Public Financial Management Evidence Mapping

Review of evidence for the effect of Public Financial Management (PFM) interventions on outcomes in low and middle income countries

From:: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published: 1 January 2015

Document Type:: Literature Review
皇冠体育appme:: Governance and Conflict
First published:: 1 January 2015
Authors:: Lucas, B., De Lay, S., Jadeja, K. and Mills, L.

Abstract

This paper reviews the extent of evidence for the effect of Public Financial Management (PFM) interventions on outcomes in low and middle income countries. It is based on a database of 197 studies compiled after a rigorous search process. 皇冠体育app number of studies in the field was surprisingly low, reflecting a series of challenges in acquiring robust evidence. Studies tended to emphasise the budgeting stage of the financial management cycle, with relatively few studies about the implementation stage. Evidence on outcomes was patchy. Most studies considered multiple interventions, reflecting the need for holistic approaches to PFM systems, but this frustrated attempts to attribute results to particular interventions. 皇冠体育app most common outcomes noted were improved transparency and improved accountability. Evidence maps summarise the findings, showing the extent of evidence across combinations of intervention and outcome. 皇冠体育appse suggest that we have scant evidence for most combinations, with the exception of work in participatory budgeting and related fields.

This report is accompanied by an Excel spreadsheet containing the bibliographic information for the papers included in the study and the tables and charts that are reproduced in this report. 皇冠体育app spreadsheet is available from the GSDRC website or on request from [email protected].

Citation

De Lay, S.; Mills, L.; Jadeja, K.; Lucas, B. Public Financial Management Evidence Mapping. Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK (2015) 26 pp.

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