Institutional fragmentation in United States protected area agencies and its impact on budget processes

Liza Khmara and Michael Touchton

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 2024, vol. 36, issue 4, 490-513

Abstract: Purpose - Protected areas, lands and seas set aside for nature conservation, are the main tool for governments to conserve biodiversity. The complexity of government processes, however, can lead to fragmentation in protected area systems. Institutional fragmentation can preclude central coordination and undermine funding and performance. Here, we examine the impact of institutional fragmentation on budgets for protected area agencies in the United States, an important actor in the global conservation movement. Design/methodology/approach - This article uses visual text and network analysis with agency budget documents to examine linkages between agencies. These findings are triangulated with semi-structured interviews analyzed with axial coding to develop a framework for the budget process and its outcomes in US protected area agencies. Findings - The visual text analysis demonstrates varying levels of coordination between agencies. The conceptual framework shows that five factors - mismatches within agencies, the influence of the Presidential administration, the power of Congress as the appropriator of funds, external forces that influence Congress, and a lack of accountability in allocations – lead to institutional fragmentation and “disparate nature enclaves”. Research limitations/implications - Interview findings are derived from a non-representative population, and thus should not be generalized for all agencies or budget systems. Practical implications - Understanding the factors influencing agency budget proposals will inform policy to make budgeting more effective for U.S. and other national protected area systems. Originality/value - Few studies have conducted qualitative analyses of federal agencies and their budgets, particularly for federal protected areas.

Keywords: Public budgeting; Institutional fragmentation; Protected areas; Biodiversity conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jpbafm:jpbafm-08-2023-0147

DOI: 10.1108/JPBAFM-08-2023-0147

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management is currently edited by Dr Giuseppe Grossi

More articles in Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().