Contrasting New Public Management (NPM) Versus Post-NPM Through Financial Performance

Abstract

Financial reports under New Public Management (NPM) programs can provide an incomplete picture of government finances. Post-NPM reforms could help overcome this weakness through the use of aggregate financial measures. This article focuses on the effects of the agencification process analyzing the differences between individual and aggregate measures of government financial performance in the Spanish local government. In general, the results show there is greater compliance with post-NPM postulates, although this does not mean that NPM and post-NPM management models cannot coexist. The use of aggregate performance measures could help bring about this improvement in controlling public agencies and, therefore, make public sector entities more efficient.