Supporting effective public sector reform is a major challenge that the World Bank and other agencies and stakeholders have been grappling with. It is increasingly recognized that political economy factors play a crucial role. However, beyond this broad proposition, specific questions arise:...

This paper explores two relationships, first between country characteristics and the quality of public financial management (' drivers'), and second between the quality of public financial management systems and expected outcomes (' effects'). On the influence of country characteristics, the...