This article is adapted from Richard Boyle, “Performance Reporting: Insights from International Practice” (Washington, DC: IBM Center for The Business of Government, 2009).

Recent years have seen a growing emphasis on the reporting to politicians and citizens of the outputs and outcomes of government programs. Yet there is limited information on what outputs and outcomes are actually reported, in practice. The purpose of this article is to examine the reporting of outputs and outcomes in four countries. What types of indicators are actually being reported? Does the reality match the rhetoric?