On Change: Or, There is No Magic Size for An Increment

TLDR

The article focuses on structural changes in budget processes, noting that the term “incremental” has multiple meanings relevant to different budgeting objectives. The study aims to distinguish incremental from non‑incremental budgetary changes by regularity of annual appropriations and to clarify the term’s meaning while addressing prior criticisms. The authors isolate these changes by combining statistical analyses with conventional techniques.

Abstract

In this article we identify incrementalism in budgetary processes with regularity in the annual change in the appropriation, and non-incrementalism with irregularity in the annual appropriation change. This definition focusses interest on structural changes in the underlying budget processes. These changes may be isolated using a combination of statistical and more conventional techniques. Other meanings of incremental, we argue, are appropriate to different objectives in studying budgeting. We attempt to clarify the confusion surrounding the meaning of incremental and to answer some of the critics of our previous work.