Evaluation of Donor Support to Public Financial Management (PFM) Reform in Developing Countries Analytical study of quantitative cross-country evidence
- Paolo de Renzio, Matt Andrews, Zac Mills
- Nov 2010
- Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)
- International
This study was prepared as part of a broader evaluation of donor support to public financial management (PFM) reforms. It analyses quantitative evidence on the quality of PFM systems, and assesses factors that may have determined cross-country differences and variations in the quality of PFM systems over time. The cross country econometric analysis conducted as part of the study points to a number of findings. Countries with higher levels of per capita income, larger populations, and better economic growth are characterised by better quality PFM systems. In contrast, countries in conflict or post-conflict situations tend to have poorer quality of PFM systems. These economic and institutional factors explain most of the cross-country variation in PFM performance. The study also finds that, on average, countries that received more PFM-related technical assistance tend to have better PFM systems, but here the direction of causation could not be determined. The study needs to be complemented with qualitative research at country level, which will be undertaken through a number of country case studies.
