Routledge Government Budgeting and Expenditure Management: Principles and International Practice

The government budget should be the financial mirror of society's choices. Yet most people view budgeting as the epitome of eye-glazing subjects, rarely explained in a way that is understandable to the non-specialist and too often presented without adequate consideration of a country’s governance and institutional capacity. Government Budgeting and Expenditure Management fills a gap in the literature to redress these failings and does so in comparative international perspective. This book provides a comprehensive but pithy and easy-to-understand treatment of public financial management, taking into account a variety of special issues including budgeting in post-conflict situations, at subnational government levels, for military/security expenditures, and in countries with large extractive revenues. Distilling the lessons of budgeting reform in countries at different levels of income and administrative capacity, each chapter gradually progresses from the basic principles to the more technical aspects and then on to implementation issues, using concrete examples and illustrations from around the globe. Government Budgeting and Expenditure Management is ideally suited as the primary text for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in government budgeting or public financial management, or as a supplementary text for courses in public finance, public economics, economic development, public administration or comparative politics. With its attention to practical implementation aspects, the book will also be of direct interest to practitioners, policy-makers, and government employee training organizations. Review "This major, new book – by an economist who has worked on these issues, for many years in many countries and international organizations... ought to be useful to anyone involved in the use of public resources. It should also be a useful reference for classes in universities that deal with government budgeting and the use of public resources. The book covers most areas of public budgeting... in a style that is simple, appealing, informative and useful. One of the attractive aspects of this book is the elegance of its writing and the accessible way in which the issues are covered." – Vito Tanzi, Former Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF "I have worked on economic development in low and middle-income countries for the past 28 years, and found this book highly relevant, spot on in its analysis of many challenges in public financial management, and useful for understanding how to think through making budget management reforms credible and robust in different country contexts." – Mark Sundberg, Senior Vice-President and Chief Economist of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, USA "Finally, as government budgeting is the most technical and least glamorous subfield in the discipline of public administration, Schiavo-Campo has succeeded in making the book not only informative but also interesting to read because of his use of many relevant examples and practices around the world to illustrate his arguments...Scholars teaching government budgeting to university students should take a leaf from the book by making their lectures or seminars more interesting by citing relevant anecdotes, examples and case studies from various countries." – Jon S. T. Quah, Anti-Corruption Consultant, Singapore "This book shows Salvatore Schiavo-Campo's unrivaled mastery of all facets of government budgeting and expenditure management. Grounded on decades of field experience in developed and developing countries, Schiavo-Campo rejects lockstep addiction to popular reforms while patiently explaining how governments can better manage budget policies and public expenditures. Written with wit and wisdom, this book offers fresh insights to skilled practitioners as well as students exploring the complex world of public expenditure management." – Allen Schick, University of Maryland, USA "This was a first-class examinat