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Title Toward a culture of consequences : performance-based accountability systems for public services : executive summary / Brian M. Stecher [and others]
Published Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2010

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 37 pages)
Series Rand Corporation monograph series
Rand Corporation monograph series.
Contents Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Preface; Contents; Table; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; Executive Summary; Research Approach; Findings; Decision to Adopt a Performance-Based Accountability System Is Shaped by Political, Historical, and Cultural Contexts; Selection of Incentive Structures Has Proven Challenging; Design of Performance Measures Requires a Balance Among Competing Priorities; Successful Implementation Must Overcome Many Potential Pitfalls; Evidence of System Effectiveness Is Limited and Leads to Varying Conclusions by Sector; Recommendations for System Developers
Design of the Performance-Based Accountability SystemIncentives and Performance Measurement; Implementation; Evaluation; Areas for Further Research; Concluding Thoughts; APPENDIX: The Five Sectors; Back Cover
Summary Performance-based accountability systems (PBASs), which link incentives to measured performance as a means of improving services to the public, have gained popularity. While PBASs can vary widely across sectors, they share three main components: goals, incentives, and measures. Research suggests that PBASs influence provider behaviors, but little is known about PBAS effectiveness at achieving their performance goals or about government and agency experiences. This document summarizes a study that examined nine PBASs in five sectors: child care, education, health care, public health emergency preparedness, and transportation. In the right circumstances, a PBAS can be an effective strategy for improving service delivery. Optimum circumstances include having a widely shared goal, unambiguous observable measures, meaningful incentives for those with control over the relevant inputs and processes, few competing interests, and adequate resources to design, implement, and operate the PBAS. However, these conditions are rarely fully realized, so it is difficult to design and implement PBASs that are uniformly effective. PBASs represent a promising policy option for improving the quality of service-delivery activities in many contexts. The evidence supports continued experimentation with and adoption of this approach in appropriate circumstances. Even so, PBAS design and its prospects for success depend on the context in which it will operate. Also, ongoing system evaluation and monitoring are integral components of a PBAS; they inform refinements that improve system functioning over time
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references
Notes English
Print version record
Subject Government accountability -- United States
Organizational effectiveness -- United States
Performance -- Management
Performance technology -- Management
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Affairs & Administration.
EDUCATION -- Educational Policy & Reform -- General.
Government accountability
Organizational effectiveness
Performance -- Management
Government - U.S.
Law, Politics & Government.
Political Institutions & Public Administration - U.S., General.
United States
Form Electronic book
Author Stecher, Brian M
Rand Education (Institute)
ISBN 9780833050359
0833050354
1282940430
9781282940437
9786612940439
6612940433