Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B001

Berner, Maureen

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B002

Cluster analysis on detailed federal outlay data from fiscal year (FY) 1962 to FY 1995 shows instead of being incremental or not, the budget is both. Spending is initially volatile but becomes incremental over time and with political entrenchment. The theory of incrementalism needs to be updated to reflect this complexity. Also, patterns show that most spending falls into three main groups, which do not correspond to traditional budgetary classifications, and none of the patterns show any major shifts in response to process upheaval. This suggests (1) rethinking how to analyze budget data, and (2) while processes and decision-makers have changed, the decisions have not.

Jordan, Meagan M.; Hackbart, Merl

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B003

There has been a great deal of research regarding the success and impact of state performance-based budgeting with findings ranging from hopeful to critical. Previous findings have also indicated that the success and impact of implementation have varied across the states. The practitioners' varied views of successful performance implementation are likely linked to their varied views of the purpose of performance implementation. We survey state executive budget officers regarding performance-based budget goals, implementation successes, and obstacles. Our findings suggest that program accountability as a goal, rather than budget allocation, makes a stronger foundation for determining performance-based budget success.

Fischer, Mary; Montondon, Lucille

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B004

Internal audit is getting recognition thanks to media coverage of alleged fraudulent activities and new regulations that require the evaluation of internal controls. Given this attention, Harrington (2004) identified what organizations should look for when hiring a director of internal audit. This paper reports an investigation of college and university internal audit departments that determines if the directors hold the suggested qualifications and if the qualifications differ based on gender. Differences among the directors of internal auditor include demographic information such as salary, experience and number of staff members as well as who hires the director, and whether the institution has a governing board audit committee. Even with the differences, college and university internal audit directors are very much alike.

Reddick, Christopher G.

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B005

Sun, Jinping

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B006

Over a decade ago, Bretschneider and Gorr proposed two directions for future research in government forecasting: one was to extend the research on developing and evaluating alternative forecasting methods and the other, to look at forecasting as a human activity and examine how organizational factors affect forecasting. What has happened since then? To see partially what has been done and what remains to be done, this paper provides a review of the literature on government revenue forecasting with a primary focus on the state level and identifies areas for future research in government revenue forecasting.

Frank, Howard A.; Gianakis, Gerasimos A.; McCue, Clifford P.

2005 Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management

doi: 10.1108/JPBAFM-17-04-2005-B007

Certain of GASB Statement 34’s requirements might on their face induce an upgrading of local sector forecasting capacity as well as a reduction of tolerated forecast error. Results from our national survey of local and county finance officers suggest that respondents with graduate degrees who work in offices with forecasting software may respond to GASB 34 implementation in a manner consistent with this expectation. Others are unlikely to view the standard as a cue to enhance their forecast capacity at this early stage of rollout. Our results also suggest that the norm of revenue underforecasting is deep-seated and that survey results understate its magnitude. These results are a baseline; further experience with the GASB 34 may alter practitioner perception of need and lead to deployment of more advanced forecasting methodology and heightened expectations of forecast accuracy.