This paper analyzes how evaluations affect people and organizations based on the theory of evaluation influence. Qualitative data were collected by interviews with librarians in seven public libraries which conduct performance measurement.

  The analytical framework of evaluation influence illustrates four types of influences; cognitive and affective outcomes, motivational outcomes, behavioral outcomes, and general influences. Various influences in all types were observed in the interviews both at individual and organizational levels. Also, three types of influence pathways were observed; the improvement route, the goal attainment route, and the explanation route.

  Internationally, Japan’s evaluation system is considered well-established. Research on evaluation use and influence, however, has not yet been fully developed in Japan. To fill this gap, this article reviews related studies, focusing on independent variables (causes of changes) and dependent variables (changes: use or influence). The concept of evaluation influence is able to not only expand a range of dependent variables, such as social betterment, as opposed to the use itself, as the ultimate goal of evaluation, but also focus on gaining a comprehensive understanding of relations between each independent and dependent variables using program theory. It seems difficult for social betterment to be operationalized clearly in empirical studies, but various contexts underlying evaluations in a variety of countries can be accepted. Future Japanese research will contribute to build a comprehensive theory of evaluation influence.

  A new Independent Administrative Agency (IAA) system appeared as a result of the reform to the Act on General Rules for IAAs. To ‘maximize policy implementation’ in the IAA system, unified government guidelines for evaluating the work performed and the goals set were presented. However, in reality, it is difficult to properly evaluate for the content of the goal description is unclear and abstract. Moreover, Evaluators in charge of the evaluation are performed within a limited time frame and a limited number of persons. As a result, evaluators feel overburdened and experience “evaluation fatigue.” However, in order to guarantee the quality of evaluation results, it is indispensable to properly incorporate the elements necessary for evaluation without overs or shorts. Based on the philosophy and reality of such an IAA evaluation, in this paper, I propose the Performance-Evaluation Model aiming to enhance Performance-Evaluation in the IAA system. By utilizing this model, evaluators will be able to detect elements that are missing in the evaluation and contribute to appropriate evaluation implementation.