Tóm tắt
The objective of this research was to determine the extent to which
municipal budget variances are systematically biased, the direction of
any biases, and the relationship between the biases and various
political, economic, demographic and organisational factors. We compared
budgeted and actual revenues and expenditures for 125 of the largest US
cities and developed regression models to explain the magnitude of
differences. Our results indicate that budget variances are decidedly
conservative and are most significantly influenced by the extent of
political competition and the percentage of funding from
inter‐governmental grants. Inasmuch as unreliable budget estimates can
thwart the political process, our findings suggest that there may be a
need for both citizens and legislative bodies to review more thoroughly
the budgets presented to them by city officials.
