Comparability of the Indicators in Comparative Performance Measurement

Abstract

Local government benchmarking, or performance-comparison projects in local government will play an important role in the local government management of Japan. Since local government benchmarking and social indicators that compare regions have many methodological points in common, they are called comparative performance measurement (CPM) in combination. In CPM efforts, comparability of the indicators used for comparison is a matter of crucial importance. This article classifies the method of comparison in CPM and discusses the problems and applicability of various methods of standardization and adjustment from the viewpoint of comparability in comparing organizational performance. Special attention is paid to the scale types of measures. This article also reports findings from a study on the indicators generated by various CPM projects.