The performance function in local government: Does location impact performance data use?

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• Author: William C. Rivenbark,Roberta Fasiello,Francesco Tassi
• Date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13651

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The performance function in local government: Does location

impact performance data use?

William C. Rivenbark

1

| Roberta Fasiello

2

| Francesco Tassi

1

1

School of Government, University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North

Carolina, USA

2

Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Economia,

University of Salento, Lecce, Italy

Correspondence

William C. Rivenbark, School of Government,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,

Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Email: rivenbark@unc.edu

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that certain drivers increase the probability of perfor-

mance data use in local government. One performance driver that has received

minimal attention is where the performance function is organizationally located,

even though prior research has shown that the organizational placement of the

performance function can potentially influence the design and use of performance

measurement systems. Our study explores how the organizational placement of

the performance function in local government influences key drivers of perfor-

mance data use. We find evidence that performance functions located outside the

budget office are more likely to promote the drivers of measurement system

maturity, other management processes, and devolved decision-making, which in

turn increases the probability that local officials engage in performance data use.

We also identify several research implications to advance the study and practice of

performance management in local government and conclude with research limita-

tions and suggestions for future research opportunities.

Evidence for practice

•Accountability continues to evolve from data availability—primarily through

annual budget documents—to managing-for-results.

•Measurement system maturity, which focuses on robust outcome measures, is

fundamental to performance data use in local government.

•Performance measurement systems should be connected to other management

systems, increasing the probability of performance data use in local

government.

•Devolved decision authority regarding the design and use of performance mea-

sures helps create an environment of performance management in local

government.

•Organizational placement of the performance function can potentially impact

the success of performance management in local government.

INTRODUCTION

Research on performance measurement in local govern-

ment during the 1980s an d 1990s focused prima rily on

adoption rates, where scholars like Poister and

Streib (1989,1994,1999) inventoried the management

toolintermsofthetypesofmeasuresbeingcollected

and reported. Research in the early 2000s; however,

shifted the attention of scholars from promoting the

adoption of performance measures to promoting the

benefits of using them for service improvement

(de Lancer Julnes & Holzer, 2001). This change, referred

to as moving from performance measurement to perfor-

mance management, focuses on using performance data

for making policy and management decisions

(Moynihan, 2008). At this point, studies began to identify

what drivers increase the probability that local officials

will use performance data for informing these types of

decisions (Ammo ns & Rivenbark, 2008;Ammons&

Roenigk, 2015; Dimitrijevska -Markoski & Fren ch, 2019;

Kroll, 2015; Moynihan et al., 2020; Moynihan &

Pandey, 2010; Rivenbark et al., 2019; Tantardini, 2019;

Tantardini & Kroll, 2015; Van Dooren & Van de

Walle, 2008).

Received: 24 February 2022 Revised: 3 April 2023 Accepted: 6 April 2023

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13651

Public Admin Rev. 2023;83:1123–1135. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puar © 2023 American Society for Public Administration. 1123