Strategic Scorecard for Governments

Abstract

This study draws on socio-economic accounting research and the concept of Balanced Scorecards to develop a scorecard that evaluates a government's performance. Citizens' well-being is used as a government's primary outcome suggested by utilitarianism and economics of happiness theories. Based on the development literature, human development (income, health, and education) is used as an intermediate outcome of government. Economic factors, governmental factors, national resources, and national system are used as the performance drivers. The governmental scorecard's validity is evaluated using both international and U.S. regional data. Citizens' well-being in both settings is driven only by income, not by health and education. However, health and education, along with economic factors, governmental factors, national resources, and national systems, contribute to income. Gender is also studied to determine: 1) if there are gender difference in well-being; 2) whether gender has a moderating role in the relationship between well-being and personal, social, and economic characteristics of individual; 3) whether the gender effect changes over time. The results show that gender has a different effect on the relationship between well-being and individual characteristics (i.e., race, degree obtained, working status, frequency of attending religious service, and income).