The APO Center of Excellence on Public Sector Productivity
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Last 15-17 September 2021, the COE-PSP Knowledge Center ran a webinar on Innovative Thinking for Enhancing Public Sector Productivity, featuring innovation champions, Adrian Ramirez, Leanne Lozanes, Anita S. Gubalane, and Paul Vincent Avecilla.
To know more about the webinar, click here.
Below is a summary and analysis of the responses gathered from the post-webinar survey, highlighting the discussion on the participant’s demographic profile and results of the assessment.
“The productivity figures presented in Public Service Output, Inputs and Productivity: Education (ONS 2009) are best estimates using the most recently available data. Estimates of productivity change need to be interpreted alongside other indicators of inputs, outputs and outcomes. It is unlikely that a single measure of productivity change will ever capture all the costs and benefits of education. The aim of triangulation is to help users understand the productivity estimates by providing additional contextual information, giving a wider picture that has not been shown in the compilation of the education productivity estimates themselves. The Atkinson Review: Final Report – Measurement of Government Output and Productivity for the National Accounts (Atkinson 2005) suggests information on quality of teaching and class size would be useful for helping this process of triangulation, although data may not be suitable for direct inclusion in the National Accounts measure. This evidence is not necessarily expected to corroborate estimates of productivity change, as sources vary in their scale and scope and therefore rarely cover exactly the same thing. For each evidential measure, an indication is given of:
In the remainder of this article:
section 2 presents a table summarising the triangulation evidence section 3 looks at the quantification of factors affecting children and young people’s outcomes section 4 discusses the scope of wider outcomes for children and young people section 5 presents evidence on the quality of education section 6 highlights evidence on children and young people’s physical, mental and sexual health section 7 looks at evidence on children and young people’s safety section 8 looks at evidence on economic outcomes for children and young people section 9 gives referencesâ€
The productivity figures presented in Public Service Output, Inputs and Productivity: Education (ONS 2009) are best estimates using the most recently available data. This supporting article presents further detail on the components of output:
The Service Delivery Indicators program is an application of the principles of the 2004 World Development Report Making Services Work for Poor People. The Service Delivery Indicators project is a new Africa-wide initiative that tracks service delivery in education and health across countries and over time. The project collects nationally representative data that focus mainly on performance and quality of service delivery in primary schools and at frontline health facilities. This partnership between the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the African Economic Research Consortium brings together development economists and sector specialists. The objective is to reposition the dialogue on human development in Africa within the context of effectiveness of public spending and accountability for service delivery. Why such an agenda? Accountability for public resources: developing country governments allocate roughly a third of budgets to education and health. Demands for accountability for the efficient use of public resources—from citizens and tax payers in developed or developing countries alike—are gaining in prominence, in part, because of the global economic situation. Accountability depends upon measurement: without consistent and accurate information on the quality of services, it is difficult for citizens or politicians to assess how service providers are performing, to work towards corrective action, and ultimately bring about improvements. There is little robust and representative evidence of what teachers and health workers do during a typical work-day, their levels of ability, knowledge and skills, how teachers perform their teaching activities and how well health workers diagnose and treat their patients.
The primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.
Country profiles present the latest key development data drawn from the World Development Indicators (WDI) database, the World Bank’s primary database for cross-country comparable development data.
Actionable governance indicators focus on specific aspects of governance, and are designed to provide guidance on the design of reforms and the monitoring of impacts.
The Arab World Education Performance Indicators compiles data on education outcomes in 22 Arab States member countries in an aggregated and standardized manner. It allows users to compare the performance of each country along the following 6 important dimensions of education performance: access, equity, quality, efficiency, relevance, and Knowledge Economy readiness.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published periodic assessments of the productivity performance of key public services. This article presents estimates for all public services collectively for the first time since the 2003 ONS article Understanding Government Output and Productivity (Pritchard, 2003).