Performance budgeting: Descriptive, allegorical, mythical, and idealistic

Abstract

The descriptions of performance budgeting, based on theory and practice, allow for the application of Dante’s allegory in The Divine Comedy. This allegory places performance budgeting into the spiritual domains of heaven, hell, and purgatory. These domains are used to frame the theoretical foundations of performance budgeting and to discuss a match with operational reality. Performance budgeting practices often fall between heaven, the optimal use of public revenues, and hell, the worst use of public revenues. It can be argued that most performance budgeting efforts tend to congregate in purgatory. Realizing purgatory allows for the recognition of principles that form the basis for performance budgeting to be classified as institutional myth. As institutional myth, the practice of performance budgeting is blocked from theoretical idealism.

Citation

Herzog, R.J. (2006), "Performance budgeting: Descriptive, allegorical, mythical, and idealistic", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 72-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-09-01-2006-B003