CURRICULUM

Public Financial Management (PFM) can be viewed in terms of its fiscal architecture which is based on three platforms: transaction, policy/planning and legislative. Good public finance systems manage the three platforms (functions) well. The most basic task is to get the transaction platform functioning efficiently as this provides effective control as well as information for management, planning and oversight. Budgets should be driven by a policy framework and not by ad hoc incrementalism. Accountability and contestability of budgets is provided by legislative oversight. The Program is structured around this platform framework.

Framework of Public Financial Management

The Platforms of Public Financial Management

Transaction

Policy /Planning

Macro Economic & Fiscal Framework
Budget Policy and Strategy
Medium Term Frameworks
Inter-governmental transfer formulas
Performance/Program Budgeting
Performance Audit

Legislative

Policy
Appropriation
Expenditure Evaluation
Financial law/regulations

Public finance management is a large area for study, and a short course cannot cover all of it. This course focuses on the main public finance issues that participants will encounter, starting with a simplified study of the political economy and macroeconomic background to the budget in order to broaden understanding of the different approaches to the role of government, the fiscal deficit and associated issues.

A theme of the course is the tension between reform, which moves towards aggregate budgeting and longer term budget planning, and traditions of incremental budgeting which are hard to change. There many actors in a budgetary system – accountants, economists, sectoral managers, public sector workers, legislatures. Systems change requires understanding of all perspectives, and the course covers the basics of public sector accounting, the role of the legislature and, on a broader front, different approaches to the role of government.

Case studies are drawn from contemporary examples, many of them being work in progress, either in which the core resource persons are directly involved or peripherally. The studies are intended to give insights into practical questions facing governments as they try to improve their public finance management systems; and to provide a basis for participants to discuss and reflect on their own experiences. In addition, by studying the case materials in advance of the sessions participants will be able to raise issues that interest them in the context of the presentations.

The coverage of this program is extensive. There will be areas with which participants are not familiar, and which will not be fully dealt with in the sessions. It is hoped that enough stimulus is provided for participants to do their own research – in particular there is much material on the internet, including the OECD site which is perhaps the highest quality.

Pedagogy
This is a rigorous practical policy course which is taught by resource persons with extensive ‘hands on’ experience in financial management and its reform especially in developing countries. Stephen Peterson (the faculty chair) has over nineteen years of experience as a resident advisor managing PFM reforms. He currently directs a reform program in Ethiopia which is in its eleventh year and covers expenditure planning, budgeting, accounting and integrated financial information systems in a fiscally devolved system. Perran Penrose has over thirty years of experience advising governments and currently directs a policy reform program in the Ministry of Finance in Vietnam.  Jay Rosengard was a resident advisor in the Government of Indonesia and worked on revenue and microfinance reforms. Jeff Frankel has published extensively on international finance issues including exchange rate management by developing countries.

The methodology of the course is designed so that the diverse levels of knowledge of public finance that are likely to be found in a typical group of course participants are taken into account. Those with limited knowledge should be able to gain core skills, while those with more familiarity with the basic issues will encounter aspects of public finance with which they may be less familiar.

The course is divided into modules and each module is built on units.

Each module will include some or all of the following:

• Powerpoint slides, mainly for reference and structure.
  
• Course notes / papers for selective sessions that summarize key issues and raise talking points that participants can pursue in their own researches and in the sessions if they wish. The course notes are not academic pieces but summaries of thoughts that arise from the literature and from experience. The notes need to be read and discussed in the small groups prior to the next day’s session.
  
• Selected readings from the literature on the subject. Each Module has a set of readings, and although participants may not be able to get through all the readings during the course, they can refer to them later. Those readings that are required for the sessions will be indicated in advance. The main course reader is the Asian Development Bank’s public expenditure manual, which provides lucid and comprehensive accounts of most aspects of public expenditure (less on revenue).
  
• Studies of contemporary cases of the subject matter. There are different types of cases. Some will require participants to read a few pages of material, and reading should be done before the session. Participants will discuss cases in small groups and in the complete group. Other cases are presented with powerpoint. All the cases are intended to highlight specified technical issues raised in the course materials, and to bring out certain issues that are not contained in the presentations.
  
• Discussion: participants will already have experience in many of the areas covered by the course, and the approach will emphasise sharing of experiences between participants in discussions.

For more details on the curriculum, view last year's curriculum.