New developments in institutional research on performance measurement and management in the public sector

Abstract

Purpose

This paper reviews and reflects on institutional research on performance measurement and management (PMM) in the public sector emerging over the past decade and discusses potential extensions of this body of research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes the form of a reflective review with an emphasis on how institutional theory has been used in PMM research in the public sector.

Findings

Although institutional research on PMM in the public sector has continued to grow over the past decade, much of this research still pays relatively one-sided attention to the influence of pre-existing institutions on PMM practices and has left the constitutive effects of such practices under-researched. In order to address this shortcoming and nurture research that pays more equal attention to the institutional effects on and of PMM practices, a research agenda based on dialogue with the sociology of valuation and valuation studies is outlined. Such research is arguably well-suited for examining emerging themes in the public sector accounting and management literatures centred on the publicness of public service provision and notions of organisational hybridity.

Research limitations/implications

The paper offers a starting point for research that can provide a more holistic and dynamic perspective on how PMM practices are implicated in the shaping of institutional fields over time.

Originality/value

The paper continues to advance an established research agenda in the public sector accounting and management literatures whilst suggesting ways of extending this research agenda.