A second generation of performance measurement
activity emerged with post-World War 2
experiments, led by the US central government’s
interest in performance (in budgeting),
measurement (more generally) and productivity.
This resulted in the development of tools
and techniques like PPBS, MBO, or ZBB, all
including performance information. The first
Hoover Commission (1949) recommended
performance-based budgets and the second
Hoover Commission (1955) on budgets, costs,
and management reports. Economy and efficiency
remained crucial, but a crucial driver
for the innovations was not the search for a
‘better government’ but an explicit desire to
reduce expenses. For that reason productivity