Budget Allocation in a Uk University: Contrasting Periods of Resource Availability With Resource Scarcity*

This paper seeks to identify variables which explain variations in budget allocations in a UK university using a pooled database relating to two periods: one of resource availability, the other of resource scarcity. the results over both periods indicate, consistent with previous research, that a combination of workload and power proxies explains a very high proportion of budget allocations. However, analysis of the two periods revealed that: (i) incremental budgeting, which was observed to be in operation during the period of resource availability, was not supplanted by comprehensive budgeting during the period of resource scarcity, (ii) the impact of power proxies on budget allocation did not materially change in response to changes in levels of resource availability, and (iii) compared with internally based power, externally based power (as proxied) had neither a greater impact on resource allocation during the period of resource scarcity nor a lower impact during the period of resource availability as hypothesized.