Abstract
Practitioners and researchers have been pursuing ways to improve the effectiveness of the evaluation practice of local governments in Japan, but such efforts remain unfulfilled. Comparative performance measurement, or benchmarking, which was developed in the United States, is regarded as a prospective method to provide local government evaluation with new possibilities. Over 160 municipalities participate in the ICMA's Comparative Performance Measurement Program, which is the most prominent benchmarking project in the United States. The participating municipalities benefit from the large membership, making it possible for them to compare their performance with that of the most relevant participating municipalities. Benchmarking, by enabling municipalities to introduce an additional object of comparison, makes current performance measurement practice more meaningful. This is especially true in Japan where there is less diversity among municipalities than in the United States. As a result, benchmarking among municipalities in Japan may be more suitable. Moreover, benchmarking is done with relatively small cost because municipalities that have already introduced performance measurement systems do not have to change or modify their systems when they start benchmarking. To make benchmarking efforts effective enough, however, participation of many municipalities, the intervention of an expert organization and a firm foundation of funds is necessary.
