The public expenditure tracking survey (PETS) is a method used to study the
flow of public funds and other resources, including various levels of
government and administrative hierarchy. It is most relevant where public
accounting systems function poorly or provide unreliable information. This
method has been applied successfully in Uganda, Peru, Zambia and many
other countries to enhance our understanding of why public resources devoted
to education often produce unsatisfactory results. Education is in most
countries financed and provided publicly. Left to itself the market would
provide education in a too inequitable manner, leaving too many children
without. Yet without some ‘client power’, it is difficult to create incentives
that will make education systems function efficiently. Accountability must be
carefully cultivated as administrators and teachers are less likely to leak public
funds or be absent from the classroom if they are held accountable. Public
expenditure tracking surveys allow policy-makers to diagnose how incentives
and accountability systems are working in practice and how they can be
improved.