From Budget Revisions to Development Spending: A Methodological Review of Evidence Relevant to Kenya’s County Governments

Abstract This review examines how research on public budget revisions and development budget absorption generates evidence relevant to Kenya’s county governments. PRISMA 2020 reporting principles guided the reassessment of 300 established article records. Screening identified 138 reports for retrieval; 81 were unavailable in an eligible version. Of 57 reports examined, four were excluded, leaving 53 articles from 46 journals. The appraisal compared designs, sampling, measurement, analysis and the claims supported by each study. Administrative studies, surveys and qualitative case studies predominated. Recurring weaknesses included inconsistent budget denominators, shared financial components, self-reported absorption, selective samples and weak temporal identification. Review-specific judgements identified serious concerns in 21 reports and some concerns in 32. The findings favour explicit budget-version control, verified amendment histories and integration of financial records with institutional evidence. The selected starting collection, retrieval gaps and absence of independent appraisal limit the conclusions. JEL classification: H61; H72; B41