The International Handbook of Public Financial Management is a virtual encyclopedia of public financial management, written by topmost experts, many with a background in the IMF and World Bank. It provides the first comprehensive guide to the subject that has been published in more than ten...

List of figures -- List of tables -- List of boxes -- Acknowledgements -- Notes on contributors -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- The institutional and legal framework -- Introduction -- The macroeconomic framework for managing public finances / Richard Hemming -- Public financial management...

The paper notes that the development of sound budgetary institutions in countries such as France, the U.K. and the U.S. has taken a very long time?200 years or more?and is still evolving. It discusses Douglass North''s prediction?which is supported by available data?that institutional reform is...

There is relatively little literature that analyses the role, functions, and organization of finance ministries. The purpose of this working paper is to review international experiences in this area, in an effort to formulate guiding principles of organizational design and the allocation of...