ABSTRACT
One of GPRA’s major purposes was to improve federal managers’ ability to manage their programs and activities by providing them with information about results. Has this actually occurred?
Case studies document numerous specific instances in which federal agencies have developed measures of intermediate or final outcomes and used those measures to make decisions. In addition, periodic Government Accountability Office (GAO) surveys have asked federal managers whether they have and use various types of performance indicators. ese surveys help identify whether the case studies show typical results that occur widely across the federal government, or isolated exceptions. Survey data suggest that GPRA has indeed improved the availability and use of performance information within federal agencies. Several studies also show that the quality of agencies’ GPRA initiatives is correlated with variables that measure perceived performance or the availability and use of performance information. us, the available evidence suggests that GPRA has indeed improved the availability and use of the kinds of performance information contemplated by GPRA.
