Two members of our community – Anthony McCann and Qingqing Sun – were recently recognized for their outstanding contributions at the annual conference of the Association for Budgeting and Financial Management (ABFM). Each year, ABFM honors faculty, researchers, practitioners and students who have made significant advancements in the field.
Lecturer Anthony McCann was honored with the Jesse Burkhead Award for best article in the journal Public Budgeting & Finance. McCann’s article, “What Drives Program Terminations for the Federal Government?” was featured in volume 42. McCann explains, “In looking at the reasons given for program terminations from various Congressional staff and other governmental actors, we found differences between appropriations committees staff (ineffectiveness mattered) and other actors (it did not). Data analysis also showed that inclusion of terminations in the president’s budget mattered, but inclusion in special programs, such as the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) did not.”
PhD Student Qingqing Sun received the Michael Curro Student Paper Award, reserved for graduate students who have authored outstanding papers. Sun’s paper titled “Are Nonprofits Creditworthy? Financial Determinants of Nonprofit Tax-Exempt Bond Ratings” focuses on the intersection of public finance and nonprofit management. Sun shares, “The study investigates the impact of nonprofit financial conditions on bond credit ratings. The findings suggest that while financial leanness, achieved by minimizing profits and cash flows, is a standard finance practice for nonprofits to gain funders’ trustworthiness, it restricts nonprofits’ access to low-interest capital by negatively affecting their bond credit ratings. This subsequently impedes nonprofits' capacity to expand programs efficiently to meet the growing needs of beneficiaries.”