The age of performance: are our concepts and data up to the task?

Abstract

Simple distinctions between "government" and private" service delivery are not adequate to address the genuine complexity of services that are, in one form or another, delivered in full or in part by the public sector. This leads to the use of erroneous or incomplete indicators being used in the policy formulation process, resulting in less than optimal policy decisions. In this context we present the concept of the "Public Domain", borrowed from the OECD, which accommodates the pure public and private sector, as well as everything else in between. However this does not address the data gap created when indicators related to the public sector fail to account for the different modalities of public service delivery.

We discuss this data gap and the problem that it creates in measurement, using examples from various sectors as well as the public/private sector modality of the voucher. We then present initial work underway to collect and disseminate available data on "actionable indicators" that benchmark the structure and performance of government bureaucracies. We offer an initial assessment of the data subject to cross-national comparison and identify the most evident gaps are, sketching a research agenda. In doing so, we hope to support improved points of entry for dialogue among local, national, and regional actors concerning the identification and prioritization of appropriate actions to improve public sector performance, as well as reinforce the accountability for improvement and tracking of changes over time.