Statutory Bodies and Performance Reporting: Hong Kong and Singapore Experience

Performance reporting involving performance indicators has been adopted by statutory bodies in Hong Kong and Singapore as a means of improving their accountability. This development has considerable promise, but how has it affected the autonomy of statutory bodies and has it benefited other stakeholders? On the bases of a questionnaire survey and a content analysis of relevant websites, this article finds that any increased operational autonomy enjoyed by statutory bodies as a result of performance reporting arrangements has had only a negligible impact on the participation of citizens in the affairs of those bodies and on their accountability to citizens.