Showing papers in "Administration & Society in 2018"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a definition of good auditing consisting of three principles: independence, professionalism, and recognizing the people as the principal, which has a positive effect on national levels of public sector corruption.
Abstract: Few cross-country studies examine the effects of auditing quality on public sector corruption. We present a definition of good auditing consisting of three principles: independence, professionalism, and recognizing the people as the principal. Using novel data from an original expert survey covering more than 100 countries, the concept is then operationalized and tested empirically. The results demonstrate that good auditing has a positive effect on national levels of public sector corruption. This lends reason to believe that auditing which is organized according to certain principles has potential to contribute to well-functioning public administrations with a low degree of corruption.
64 citations
TL;DR: This article provided an interpretative framework to guide and structure assessments of government transparency, identifying criteria clusters for political transparency, economic/efficiency, integrity, and resilience, which are relevant for a contextual assessment of transparency.
Abstract: How can we evaluate government transparency arrangements? While the complexity and contextuality of the values at stake defy straightforward measurement, this article provides an interpretative framework to guide and structure assessments of government transparency. In this framework, we discern criteria clusters for political transparency—democracy, the constitutional state, and social learning capacity—and for administrative transparency—economy/efficiency, integrity, and resilience. The framework provides a structured “helicopter view” of the dimensions that are relevant for a contextual assessment of transparency. An illustrative case discussion of the introduction of Freedom of Information (FOI) in the United Kingdom demonstrates its utility.
61 citations
TL;DR: The global financial crisis has had an impact on Local Government forcing it to be more transparent in management of public resources as discussed by the authors, examining theoretically and empirically the deterministic deterministic model.
Abstract: The global financial crisis has had an impact on Local Government forcing it to be more transparent in management of public resources. This article examines theoretically and empirically the determ...
59 citations
TL;DR: The remarkable feature of the nonprofit sector is its astonishing diversity as discussed by the authors, and this feature gets short shrift in the traditional market or governmental failure theories of the non-profit sector.
Abstract: The remarkable feature of the nonprofit sector is its astonishing diversity. This feature gets short shrift in the traditional market or governmental failure theories of the nonprofit sector. Drawi...
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the transparency and sustainability of governments and propose a framework to address these issues in a transparent and sustainable way. Nevertheless, previous research has not addressed these issues.
Abstract: Although the transparency and sustainability of governments are currently of great interest to researchers, few studies have specifically addressed these issues. Nevertheless, previous research has...
44 citations
TL;DR: This paper analyzed survey data of the auditees' tendency to make changes as a consequence of Supreme Audit Institutions' performance audits and found that civil servants who had experienced performance audits responded that ministries and agencies tend to make change, but instrumental, institutional, and political factors have an effect on the institution's propensity to change.
Abstract: Performance audit is widespread but contested. The “audit society” proposition holds that audits are rituals producing comfort, whereas the “mandatory audit” proposition in public policy presumes that audits have positive impacts. Common to both propositions is the lack of empirical evidence of audit impact. This article analyzes survey data of the auditees’ tendency to make changes as a consequence of Supreme Audit Institutions’ performance audits. Civil servants who had experienced performance audits responded that ministries and agencies tend to make changes, but instrumental, institutional, and political factors have an effect on the institution’s propensity to make changes.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate predictors of strategic-decision quality in public organizations using information processing theory and find that procedural justice, strategic planning, and performance management contribute to strategic decision quality while performance measurement does not.
Abstract: This study draws on information processing theory to investigate predictors of strategic-decision quality in public organizations. Information processing theory argues that (a) rational planning practices contribute to strategic-decision quality by injecting information into decision making and (b) decision makers contribute to strategic-decision quality by exchanging information during decision making. These assumptions are tested upon 55 Flemish pupil guidance centers. Rational planning practices are operationalized as strategic planning, performance measurement, and performance management. Information exchange by decision makers during decision making is operationalized as procedural justice of the decision-making process. Results suggest that procedural justice, strategic planning, and performance management contribute to strategic-decision quality while performance measurement does not.
36 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify, conceptualize, and examine these logics through the lens of institutional theory, which implies a distinction between normative and instrumental modalities of nonprofit managerialism.
Abstract: Nonprofit managers are influenced by managerial logics that guide their everyday understandings, decisions, and behaviors. This article identifies, conceptualizes, and examines these logics through the lens of institutional theory, which implies a distinction between normative and instrumental modalities of nonprofit managerialism. These modalities are contrasted across seven domains of nonprofit management—portfolio management, organizational growth and capacity-building, fundraising, collaboration and competition, effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability—generating insights for managers, scholars, and society at large. Specifically, the framework identifies contradictory managerial imperatives that can create a “double bind” for practitioners, provides a mechanism for organizing and positioning nonprofit management scholarship, and raises fundamental questions about the attainability of nonprofit missions and the function of the nonprofit sector in society.
30 citations
TL;DR: In the past decade, European countries have contracted out public employment service functions to “activate” working-age benefit clients as discussed by the authors, and there has been limited discussion of how contracting out shapes the accountability of employment services or is shaped by alternative democratic, administrative or network forms of accountability.
Abstract: In the past decade, European countries have contracted out public employment service functions to “activate” working-age benefit clients. There has been limited discussion of how contracting out shapes the accountability of employment services or is shaped by alternative democratic, administrative, or network forms of accountability. This article examines employment service accountability in Germany, Denmark, and Great Britain. We find that market accountability instruments are additional instruments, not replacements. The findings highlight the importance of administrative and political instruments in legitimizing marketized service provision and shed light on the processes that lead to the development of a hybrid accountability model.
28 citations
TL;DR: For instance, this article pointed out that explanations of politicization tend to focus on historical trends, administrative traditions, and government preferences, and absent from this literature are the actions of bureaucrats themselves.
Abstract: Explanations of politicization tend to focus on historical trends, administrative traditions, and government preferences. Absent from this literature are the actions of bureaucrats themselves. Draw...
28 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that similar signals may indeed be interpreted differently for different social groups, and stereotyping in the public encounter could be much subtler and more pervasive than is hitherto studied.
Abstract: Drawing on status characteristics and double standards theory, this study explores how social categories may affect the standards tax officials use in evaluating citizen-clients’ trustworthiness, leading to differential evaluation. Whereas the street-level bureaucracy literature mainly focuses on the direct effect of social categories on officials’ judgments, this study shows how stereotyping in the public encounter could be much subtler and more pervasive than is hitherto studied. Based on semi-structured interviews containing forty stories of tax officials who inspect entrepreneurs’ tax returns, this study suggests that similar signals may indeed be interpreted differently for different social groups. This study suggests that indirect mechanisms of stereotyping may be of additional explanatory value in research on stereotyping by frontline officials.
TL;DR: The authors explored the gap between the literature and empirical reality by means of an information-gathering matrix, a framework for conceptualizing the motivations, uses, and impacts associated with FOI.
Abstract: Scholarship on transparency and freedom of information (FOI) conveys an overwhelmingly “political” narrative. Most uses of FOI, however, are private and nonpolitical in nature. This article explores the gap between the literature and empirical reality by means of an “Information-Gathering Matrix,” a framework for conceptualizing the motivations, uses, and impacts associated with FOI. Following a broad literature review, case studies illustrate that while FOI uses may be multifarious and prima facie nonpolitical, at least three of the matrix’s four quadrants—from the public to the private and the political to the nonpolitical—frequently tend toward politicization.
TL;DR: The authors found that embedded and integrated earned revenue are linked to better program outcomes while external earned revenue is related to poorer program outcomes, and they used Cultural Data Project data from 2,000 arts and culture nonprofits from 2004-2012.
Abstract: Nonprofits rely on earned revenue to remain sustainable. Prior studies have generally aggregated all earned revenue and evaluated its influence on financial sustainability. Our study takes a different approach, assessing the effects of three different types of earned revenue on an immediate program outcome. We use Cultural Data Project data from 2,000 arts and culture nonprofits from 2004-2012. We find that embedded and integrated earned revenue are linked to better program outcomes while external earned revenue is related to poorer program outcomes. Results depend on type (performing vs. visual arts) and funding structure (donative vs. commercial).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore two network-based mechanisms: (a) s... s... and (b) s..., which may play a role in shaping work-related attitudes.
Abstract: Research on organizational commitment has generally ignored the role that social networks may play in shaping work-related attitudes. In this article, we explore two network-based mechanisms: (a) s...
TL;DR: The history of the American credit card, its standardization, and interactional realization with the latest developments in payment systems are intertwined, and a different understanding of the Internet of Things is argued for.
Abstract: The article intertwines the history of the American credit card, its standardization, and interactional realization with the latest developments in payment systems. Understanding both credit cards and systems like Apple Pay or blockchain-based applications as part of an administrative longue duree, it argues for a different understanding of the Internet of Things. It should be understood both as a technical-informational and as an accounting infrastructure, with tensions arising between both segments.
TL;DR: In this paper, the applicability of responsive regulation within an inter-agency framework in the financial sector is examined, and the authors pay attention to jurisdictional boundaries to ensure that inter-government relationships have some legitimacy in market regulation.
Abstract: This article examines the applicability of responsive regulation within an inter-agency framework in the financial sector. To do so, the article uses the self-regulatory organization that is responsible for governing Canada’s investment dealers and brokerage firms—the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)—as a prototype example to illustrate how responsive regulation may be encouraged within an inter-agency framework.
While the theory aspires to general applicability, particular consideration is given to its ability to govern multiple agencies. In particular, the article pays attention to jurisdictional boundaries to ensure that inter-agency relationships have some legitimacy in market regulation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test the hypothesis that differences in fundamental job characteristics (service vs. regulation) affect discretionary street-level decision-making and show that the hypothesis is false.
Abstract: This article sets out to test the hypothesis that differences in fundamental job characteristics (service vs. regulation) affect discretionary street-level decision-making. The hypothesis was teste...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the factors contributing to gender-based pay disparity in the federal government and analyzed the data from a Merit Principles Survey and from central personnel files.
Abstract: In this study, I investigate the factors contributing to gender-based pay disparity in the federal government. The data from a Merit Principles Survey and from central personnel files are analyzed ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the variables impacting on whistle-blowing intentions in the public services of two developing countries, South Africa and Mauritius, and found that the variables had a significant impact on the likelihood of expiratory reporting.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the variables impacting on whistle-blowing intentions in the public services of two developing countries, South Africa and Mauritius. In particular, this st...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether increased participation offers a way of addressing wicked policy problems and utilize a natural policy experiment in the form of a 2010 reform of Swedish welfare policy.
Abstract: In this article, we investigate whether increased participation offers a way of addressing wicked policy problems. We utilize a natural policy experiment in the form of a 2010 reform of Swedish wil ...
TL;DR: This article examined the importance of hard values relative to other values reflecting alternative identities and found that the agencies prefer to rely on "soft" values such as integrity, respect, openness, and customer orientation to express their identities.
Abstract: Following New Public Management and Reinventing Government reforms, public sector organizations are expected to pursue values such as efficiency, performance, and accountability, reflecting a “hard” identity as managed organizations. By examining the contents of 394 core values retrieved from U.S. federal agencies, this study examines the importance of “hard” values relative to other values reflecting alternative identities. It finds that the agencies prefer to rely on “soft” values such as integrity, respect, openness, and customer orientation to express their identities. The article discusses the implications of these findings for our understanding of organizational actorhood in a public sector context.
TL;DR: In the special issue "The Technology of Information, Communication, and Administration: An Entwined History" dedicated to the acce... as discussed by the authors summarizes the findings of the contributions collected in the contribution collected in this special issue.
Abstract: This article summarizes the findings of the contributions collected in the special issue “The Technology of Information, Communication, and Administration—An Entwined History” dedicated to the acce...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the relevance of political ideology for bureaucratic contraction, while others highlight the role of ideology in the role played by political ideology in organizational reorganization in modern democracies.
Abstract: Administrative reorganization has become widespread practice in modern democracies. Various case studies highlight the relevance of political ideology for bureaucratic contraction, others the role ...
TL;DR: In social welfare programs, street-level bureaucrats often interact with program participants in coproductive environments where program objectives cannot be achieved without participant behavior ch... as discussed by the authors, where participants behave in a cooperative manner.
Abstract: Street-level bureaucrats in social welfare programs often interact with program participants in coproductive environments where program objectives cannot be achieved without participant behavior ch...
TL;DR: In this article, a case in which information and communication technologies (ICT)related failure claimed by the media influenced the parliamentary agenda, and intra-governmental relations is dealt with, where the authors argue that the way the issue was initially framed by media and then adopted, unproblematized, by Parliament steered the direction of action toward specific administrative solutions, thus shaping the landscape of possible organizational alliances.
Abstract: Government information system failures are filling not only newspapers but also parliamentary and administrative reports. This article deals with a case in which information and communication technologies (ICT)–related failure claimed by the media influenced the parliamentary agenda, and intra-governmental relations. Drawing on a narrative analysis of a Dutch parliamentary commission’s hearings, it argues that the way the issue was initially framed by the media and then adopted, un-problematized, by Parliament steered the direction of action toward specific administrative solutions, thus shaping the landscape of possible organizational alliances. The article recommends a proactive role of parliaments in framing ICT projects.
TL;DR: In this paper, a continuation of previous work that emphasizes an alignment between the internal management (strategy formulation) of public organizations and their environment (strategic stance) is presented.
Abstract: This study is a continuation of previous work that emphasizes an alignment between the internal management (strategy formulation) of public organizations and their environment (strategic stance). A...
TL;DR: Using cross-country data from the Citizenship database of the 2004 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and relying on multilevel mixed-effects modeling, the authors investigated the link between gov...
Abstract: Using cross-country data from the Citizenship database of the 2004 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) and relying on multilevel mixed-effects modeling, we investigate the link between gov...
TL;DR: In contrast to the widely voiced notion about a current neoliberal hegemony, the authors argues that the distinctly liberal form of governmental rationality and practice is neither neoliberal, at least not in the conventional sense of the word, nor hegemonic.
Abstract: In contrast to the widely voiced notion about a current neoliberal hegemony, the article seeks to demonstrate that the distinctly liberal form of governmental rationality and practice is neither neoliberal, at least not in the conventional sense of the word, nor hegemonic. Rather than a minimal government pursuing laissez-faire politics, liberal government is an ‘omnipresent’ form of government aiming to widen and deepen a particular regulatory game of freedom and security. Important as this form of omnipresent government may currently be, however, it is also limited by the persistence and pervasiveness of the key historical alternatives to liberal government: domination, democracy, and discipline.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that in many situations a full explanation of the sources of accountability requires the application of concepts from sociology and management science, in addition to those from the market-based approaches inspired by economics.
Abstract: Accountability is a pivotal concern of applied social science. This article asserts that in many situations a full explanation of the sources of accountability requires the application of concepts from sociology and management science, in addition to those from the market-based approaches inspired by economics. The article describes the market-based approach to accountability exemplified by agency theory, applies it to school reform and derives several predictions about the likely success of market-based approaches to school reform, and documents the lack of evidence supporting the contention that programs for school choice will markedly improve teacher work effort and performance (as measured by student test scores). The social actor approach, rooted in sociological and management theories, is introduced and used to describe the pressures and norms operating in the public schools that foster accountability even in the absence of competition between schools for students. The article concludes with some im...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined international development assistance and found that experts possess predictive knowledge and project belief in such knowledge into organizational form, using the Logical Framing of knowledge.
Abstract: The article examines international development assistance—aid. Donors assert that experts possess predictive knowledge and project belief in such knowledge into organizational form—the Logical Fram...