Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

Performance Budgeting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Performance-Based Budgeting in the Public Sector

Part of the book series: Governance and Public Management ((GPM))

Abstract

Performance budgeting (PB) has been implemented during the last two decades in each of the three German-speaking countries, although not at all government levels. Switzerland is a pioneer in PB; federal government as well as most cantons and the larger municipalities have a harmonized format of a PB. Germany has PB-experiences primarily at local level and to a minor extent at state level. In sharp contrast, Austria has introduced PB at its federal level and expects changes to such a concept in a few of its subnational governments. In most country cases, the move to PB is accompanied by a change of the accounting system from cash to accruals. Because of rather recent implementation, experiences with PB-practice are rather scarce and also mixed.

The authors are grateful to Gerhard Hammerschmid, Renate Meyer, Thomas Prorok, Iris Saliterer, Kuno Schedler and Johann Seiwald for providing important information about specifics of the performance budgets in Austria and Switzerland.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Askim, Jostein. 2007. How Do Politicians Use Performance Information? An Analysis of the Norwegian Local Government Experience. International Review of Administrative Sciences 73 (3): 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852307081152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Helmut. 2015. Introducing Performance Budgeting in Austria—Experiences and Lessons. Vienna: Parliamentary Budget Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergmann, Andreas. 2012. The Influence of the Nature of Government Accounting and Reporting in Decision-Making: Evidence from Switzerland. Public Money & Management 32 (1): 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2012.643050.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bleyen, Pieter, Daniel Klimovský, Geert Bouckaert, and Christoph Reichard. 2017. Linking Budgeting to Results? Evidence About Performance Budgets in European Municipalities Based on a Comparative Analytical Model. Public Management Review 19 (7): 932–953. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2016.1243837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blöndal, Jon R., and Daniel Bergvall. 2007. Budgeting in Austria. OECD Journal on Budgeting 7 (3): 39–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brusca, Isabel, et al. 2015. Comparing Accounting Systems in Europe. In Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Europe; The Challenge of Harmonization, ed. Isabel Brusca, Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rosi, 235–251. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF). 2017. Wirkungsorientierung im Bundeshaushalt – mehr als Spending Reviews. In Monatsbericht des BMF—September 2017. Retrieved from http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Monatsberichte/2017/09/Inhalte/Kapitel-3-Analysen/3-5-Wirkungsorientierung-im-Bundeshaushalt-mehr-als-Spending-Reviews.html.

  • Burth, Andreas, and Dennis Hilgers. 2014. Cui Bono? Depicting the Benefits of the New Municipal Budgeting and Accounting Regime in Germany. Journal of Business Economics 84 (4): 531–570. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-013-0698-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Demaj, Labinot. 2017. What Can Performance Information Do to Legislators? A Budget-Decision Experiment with Legislators. Public Administration Review 77 (3): 366–379. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EFD. 2008. The New Accounting Model of the Swiss Confederation. Bern: EFD.

    Google Scholar 

  • EFD. 2016. Grundlagen der Haushaltführung des Bundes. Bern: EFD.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. 2012. Public Consultation—Assessment of the Suitability of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards for the Member States. Summary of Responses. Brussels: European Commission.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuchs, Sandro, Andreas Bergmann, Iris Rauskala, and Anna Schmitt. 2015. Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Switzerland. In Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Europe; The Challenge of Harmonization, ed. Isabel Brusca, Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rosi, 204–218. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137461346_14.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Geppl, Monika, and Stefan Kranabetter. 2014. Performance Budgeting in Austria. Example: Secondary Education. Vienna: Chancellery.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grossi, Giuseppe, Christoph Reichard, and Pasquale Ruggiero. 2016. Appropriateness and Use of Performance Information in the Budgeting Process: Some Experiences from German and Italian Municipalities. Public Performance & Management Review 39 (3): 581–606. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2015.1137770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmuth, Utz. 2010. Better Performance with Performance Budgeting? Analyzing Cases of Success and Failure in Public Administrations. International Public Management Journal 13 (4): 408–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2010.524833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmuth, Utz. 2011. The Impact of Performance Budgeting on Public Management. Dissertation, University of St. Gallen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilgers, Dennis, and Andreas Burth. 2015. Nutzen-Determinanten der kommunalen Doppik aus Sicht der Haushaltspolitiker. Der Moderne Staat 8 (1): 173–200. https://doi.org/10.3224/dms.v8i1.19116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IMF. 2017. Gender Budgeting in G7 Countries. Policy Paper. Washington: IMF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kientz, Jürgen. 2013. Integration der strategischen Planung in die Haushaltsplanung einer Kommune- dargestellt am Beispiel des Landkreises Lörrach. Dissertation, University of Kassel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korac, Sanja, et al. 2017. Between Overload and Keen Eye for Detail—Performance Information Use by Politicians in the Budgetary Process. Paper for EGPA-Conference 2017.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kraan, Dirk-Jan, Michael Ruffner. 2005. Budgeting in Switzerland. OECD Journal on Budgeting 5 (1): 37–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroll, Alexander, and Isabella Proeller. 2012. Steuerung mit Kennzahlen in den kreisfreien Städten – Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann-Stiftung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Küchler-Stahn, Nicole. 2010. Leistungs- und wirkungsorientierte Budgetierung: internationale Praxis und Gestaltungsoptionen für deutsche Kommunalverwaltungen. Berlin: BWV-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Küchler-Stahn, Nicole, and Adrian Gelep. 2015. Die elektronische Rechnungsverarbeitung in der öffentlichen Verwaltung. Verwaltung und Management 21 (2): 96–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Land Steiermark. 2018. Landesbudget Steiermark 2018. Retrieved from http://www.verwaltung.steiermark.at/cms/ziel/142120398/DE/.

  • Lüder, Klaus. 2013. Die Neue Verwaltungssteuerung des Landes Hessen - Interpretative Chronik einer Reform. In Moderne Finanzkontrolle und öffentliche Rechnungslegung. Denkschrift Manfred Eibelshäuser, ed. Walter Wallmannn et al., 237–299. Köln: Carl Link Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moynihan, Donald, and Ivor Beazley. 2016. Toward Next-Generation Performance Budgeting. Lessons from the Experiences of Seven Reforming Countries. Washington: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mühlenkamp, Holger, and Andreas Glöckner. 2009. Rechtsvergleich kommunale Doppik – Eine Synopse und Analyse ausgewählter Themenfelder des neuen doppischen kommunalen Haushaltsrechts der Bundesländer. Speyerer Forschungsberichte 260. Speyer: DHV.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller-Marqués Berger, Thomas, and Jens Heiling. 2015. Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Germany. In Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Europe; The Challenge of Harmonization, ed. Isabel Brusca, Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rosi, 93–107. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. 2014. Budget Review: Germany. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. 2016. OECD Performance Budgeting Survey Highlights. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. 2017. Government at a Glance. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portal, Marine, Evelyne Lande, Rowan Jones, and Klaus Lüder. 2012. French Revolution and German Circumspection: Reforming Budgeting and Accounting in National Governments. Public Money & Management 32 (5): 357–361. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2012.703421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prorok, Thomas, Peter Biwald, and Alexander Maimer. 2015. Kommunale Wirkungsorientierung - Die Position des KDZ konkret zusammengefasst. Forum Public Management 1: 10–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raupach, Björn, and Dennis Hilgers. 2012. Quo Vadis? Die Reform des Hamburger Haushalts- und Rechnungswesens. Verwaltung und Management 18 (6): 283–291. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24236579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rauskala, Iris, and Iris Saliterer. 2015. Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Austria. In Public Sector Accounting and Auditing in Europe; The Challenge of Harmonization, ed. Isabel Brusca, Eugenio Caperchione, Sandra Cohen, Francesca Manes Rosi, 235–251. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard, Christoph. 2003. Local Public Management Reforms in Germany. Public Administration 81 (2): 345–363. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichard, Christoph. 2012. Umsetzung und Praxis des neuen kommunalen Haushalts- und Rechnungswesens – eine Auswertung vorliegender Empirie. Verwaltung und Management 18 (3): 118–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reichard, Christoph. 2014. Leistungsinformationen im neuen Kommunalhaushalt – welche Rolle spielen diese Daten in der Praxis? Verwaltung und Management 20 (3): 125–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritz, Adrian. 2007. Performance Management and Output-Based Budgeting in Switzerland. Output and Outcome Data—An End in Itself or Relevant for Steering? In Modernizing Government in Europe, ed. Hermann Hill, 149–172. Baden-Baden: Nomos.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ritz, Adrian, and Fritz Sager. 2010. Outcome-Based Public Management and the Balance of Powers in the Context of Direct Democracy. Public Administration 88 (1): 120–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2009.01786.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sager, Fritz, Adrian Ritz, and Kristina Bussmann. 2010. Utilization-Focused Performance Reporting. Public Money & Management 30 (1): 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540960903492398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schauer, Reinbert. 2016. Rechnungswesen in öffentlichen Verwaltungen. Von der Kameralistik zur Doppik - Einführung und Standortbestimmung, 3rd ed. Linz: Linde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Kuno. 2000. Performance Measurement Challenges in Switzerland: Lessons from Implementation. International Public Management Review 1 (1): 84–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Kuno. 2002. Government Budgeting and Accounting Reform in Switzerland. In Models of Public Budgeting and Accounting Reform, OECD Journal on Budgeting, 2, Supplement 1: 243–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Kuno. 2003. ‘… and Politics?’ Public Management Review 5 (4): 533–550. https://doi.org/10.1080/1471903032000178572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Kuno, and Isabella Proeller. 2010. Outcome-Oriented Public Management. A Responsibility-Based Approach to the New Public Management. Charlotte, NC: IAP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schedler, Kuno, and Lukas Summermatter. 2009. Der Integrierte Aufgaben- und Finanzplan als Instrument der mittelfristigen Steuerung in der Schweiz. Der moderne Staat 1 (2): 391–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schick, Allen. 2013. The Metamorphoses of Performance Budgeting. OECD Journal on Budgeting 10 (2): 1–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seiwald, Johann, et al. 2013. Neue Wege des Haushaltsmanagements. Berlin: Ed. Sigma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seiwald, Johann, and Monika Geppl. 2012. Wirkungsorientierte Steuerung: Chancen und Spannungsfelder. Österreichisches Haushaltswesen 53 (1–3): 38–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steger, Gerhard. 2010. Austria’s Budget Reform: How to Create Consensus for a Decisive Change of Fiscal Rules. OECD Journal on Budgeting 7 (1): 7–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steger, Gerhard. 2016. Austrian Budget Reform—Experiences Beyond Traditional Budgeting. Charts retrieved from https://www.vkontrole.lt/bp/failai/files/03_Gerhard%20Steger.pdf.

  • Sterck, Miekatrien, and Bram Scheers. 2006. Trends in Performance Budgeting in Seven OECD Countries. Public Performance & Management Review 30 (1): 47–72. https://doi.org/10.2753/pmr1530-9576300103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summermatter, Lukas, and Labinot Demaj. 2012. Die Nutzung integrierter Aufgaben-und Finanzpläne (IAFP). Verwaltung und Management 18 (4): 171–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Helden, Jan, and Christoph Reichard. 2018. Cash or Accruals for Budgeting? Why Some Governments in Europe Changed Their Budgeting Mode and Others Not. OECD-Journal on Budgeting 15 (1): 89–113. https://doi.org/10.1787/budget-18-5j8l804pq0g8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, Kristin, Helge C. Brixner, Dennis Hilgers, and Jan Quast. 2017. Das parlamentarische Berichtswesen im doppischen Produkthaushalt. Verwaltung und Management 23 (3): 145–153.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public and Nonprofit Management, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

    Christoph Reichard

  2. Faculty of Business and Law, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany

    Nicole Küchler-Stahn

Authors
  1. Christoph Reichard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicole Küchler-Stahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christoph Reichard .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Administration and Institute of Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Michiel S. de Vries

  2. Department of Public Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Juraj Nemec

  3. Department of Public Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    David Špaček

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Reichard, C., Küchler-Stahn, N. (2019). Performance Budgeting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In: de Vries, M.S., Nemec, J., Špaček, D. (eds) Performance-Based Budgeting in the Public Sector. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02077-4_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation