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Making Government Accountable: Lessons from a Federal Job Training Program

  1. Pascal Courty1,*,
  2. Gerald Marschke2,*

Article first published online: 19 SEP 2007

DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00777.x

Issue

Public Administration Review

Public Administration Review

Volume 67, Issue 5, pages 904–916, September|October 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Courty, P. and Marschke, G. (2007), Making Government Accountable: Lessons from a Federal Job Training Program. Public Administration Review, 67: 904–916. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00777.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    European University Institute

  2. 2

    University at Albany, State University of New York

*Pascal Courty is a professor of economics at the European University Institute. He is on leave from the London Business School. His research focuses on contract theory, with applications to the design of incentives in organizations. E-mail: pascal.courty@eui.eu
Gerald Marschke is an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration and Policy and in the Department of Economics at the University at Albany, State University of New York. His research interests include organizational incentives and performance, research and development policy, and the economics of innovation and technology. E-mail: marschke@albany.edu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 19 SEP 2007
  2. Article first published online: 19 SEP 2007

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This article describes the evolution of a performance measurement system in a government job training program. In this program, a federal agency establishes performance measures and standards for substate agencies. The performance measurement system’s evolution is at least partly explained as a process of trial and error characterized by a feedback loop: The federal agency establishes performance measures, the local managers learn how to game them, the federal agency learns about gaming and reformulates the performance measures, possibly leading to new gaming, and so on. The dynamics suggest that implementing a performance measurement system in government is not a one-time challenge but benefits from careful monitoring and perhaps frequent revision.

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