Future directions for research in public expenditure management

As the public sector has expanded over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and public budgets have become increasingly complex, the need for theories and approaches to manage public expenditures and allocate public funds efficiently has become urgent. Over time, the field of public financial management has made considerable progress in addressing these challenges. In particular, the field has developed conceptual frameworks – both descriptive and prescriptive – for understanding the allocation of public funds and produced a great deal of empirical work documenting the challenges governments have faced in managing their expenditures and the successes and failures that have resulted. This chapter builds on the preceding chapters on the theory and practice of public expenditure management to explore future directions for research. The chapter also highlights recent key findings as well as emerging topics of interest, including policy areas that are expected to be a significant source of future spending pressures.