Gender-responsive budgeting in Austria: The narrow line between implementation and confirmation

The paper studies the adoption of Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB), drawing on Rogers’ model for the diffusion of innovations, for two major elements of the Austrian approach to GRB—regulatory gender impact assessments and gender aspects in audits—through document analyses. The study analyses the significant impact of the implementation context (such as the constitutional anchoring, the preparation plan, capacity building and methodological guidelines) on the results of the implementation. The research demonstrates that ‘implementation’ and the ultimate ‘confirmation’ of GRB vary across governmental sectors and successful meaningful application require complementary implementation activities.