Designing Performance Review and Assessment Systems in Central Government Departments in Italy

This study tackles the issue of what accounts for differences in design features of Performance Review and Assessment (PRA) systems across branches of central government administration. By discussing the PRA systems recently adopted (2010–11) in twelve departments (Ministries) of the central government of Italy after the 2009 public management reform, this paper offers some insights into the factors that contribute to the greater or lesser extent to which PRA systems are accurate and complete.