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Downsizing the civil service in developing countries: golden handshakes or smiling farewells?
Author(s) -
Peters Lucien
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-162x(1998100)18:4<381::aid-pad34>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - public sector , panacea (medicine) , new public management , accrual , public administration , civil service , service (business) , public service , economics , civil society , tertiary sector of the economy , business , public relations , accounting , marketing , political science , law , economy , medicine , alternative medicine , earnings , pathology , politics
Some researchers have suggested innovative ways to successfully implement civil service reform in developing countries. Although most approaches to implementing public sector management reform are still very much process‐driven, and focus almost exclusively on civil service reform, long‐term success in making the public sector more efficient may be better assured if civil service reform is but one outcome of a broader public sector management reform agenda. Particularly, re‐focussing from traditional input‐driven reform thinking towards output‐oriented measures, such as the introduction of accrual budgeting in the public sector, may well result in greater popular acceptance and, thus, longer‐term success for sensitive reform programs. Although output‐driven accrual budgeting is by no means a panacea for all public sector illnesses, it can at least set the scene for profound and durable cultural change in the public sector. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.