Performance Management in Transitional Administration: Introduction of Pay-for-Performance in the Estonian Civil Service

The article analyzes the problems of incorporating performance management techniques into a transitional administration. Critical factors for the success of pay-for-performance are identified, which form the basis for the Estonian case study. It has been demonstrated that although the common problems of pay-for-performance in Western countries are also present in the Estonian context, they are supplemented by specific issues related to transitional administrations of Central European Countries (CEE) such as poor policy analysis, deficient accountability and co-ordination mechanisms, insufficient management experience and underestimation of democratic values, which altogether make the development of ambitious performance management tools in CEE even more questionable than in the West.