| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 37 pages). |
| Series |
Rand Corporation monograph series |
|
Rand Corporation monograph series.
|
| Note |
"RAND Education." |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| 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. |
| Note |
Print version record. |
| 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. |
| Subject |
Government accountability -- United States.
|
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Organizational effectiveness -- United States.
|
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Performance -- Management.
|
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Government accountability.
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Management.
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Organizational effectiveness.
|
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Performance.
|
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United States.
|
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POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Affairs & Administration.
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EDUCATION -- Educational Policy & Reform -- General.
|
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Government accountability. (OCoLC)fst01746414
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Organizational effectiveness. (OCoLC)fst01047852
|
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Performance -- Management.
(OCoLC)fst01057835
|
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
|
| Added Author |
Stecher, Brian M.
|
|
Rand Education (Institute)
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Toward a culture of consequences. Santa Monica, CA : RAND, 2010 9780833050168 (OCoLC)656098798 |
| ISBN |
9780833050359 (electronic bk.) |
|
0833050354 (electronic bk.) |
|
