How does performance-based budgeting reform affect the extent of performance information use? An empirical study of Indonesia

Abstract

Studies on performance-based budgeting (PBB) suggest that, despite sustained reform efforts, stakeholders continue to make only limited use of performance information (PI) in budgetary decision-making. Our empirical study seeks to clarify this trend by applying a framework combining PI use objectives and multiple theoretical perspectives on PBB reform. We employed a survey method to gather the opinions of Indonesian senior government managers who interact with key stakeholders in the budget decision-making process. Although the overall changes in the results were marginal, the findings indicate that PBB reforms in the country have moderately strengthened the use of PI in the budgeting process, more so for control and learning purposes than for accountability. This trend is better explained from the perspective of the communicative process and political process. Performance-based budgeting reforms require time and continuous refinement of reform strategy to deliver the promised results after adopting the system. Indonesia's efforts in PBB reforms offer valuable insights, especially in improving PI quality and restructuring authority to strengthen the use of PI. The combined matrix can serve as a tool to assess the challenges of PBB reform and inform context-specific reform design. In our case, priority should be given to reducing the imbalanced use of PI for accountability as the instrumental use in budgetary decision-making.

Points for Practitioners

Refining reform strategies by improving performance information quality and structuring the authority of the actors involved to enhance performance information use is crucial, especially in countries with comparable bureaucratic contexts to Indonesia. The modest result reminds us to manage expectations and avoid overestimating the impact of PBB reforms. The combined matrix used to test the theoretical framework enables policies to be formulated that address imbalances in PI use, while also reflecting the developmental stage of a country's reform.