Blame avoidance strategies in governmental performance measurement

Abstract

Performance measurement and blame avoidance are significant forces that shape the development of the public sector. Unfortunately, extant literature has not paid much attention to blame avoidance in performance measurement. Thus, this article aims to show how blame avoidance strategies can be embedded in performance measurement. This case study's results provide theoretical ideas and empirical examples that demonstrate how a particular performance measure––central government productivity––enabled blame avoidance. These results will help practitioners and academics view blame avoidance aspects in performance measurement.