ABSTRACT. Performance of policy implementation is an important source of information for citizens to evaluate the policy outcome and to hold government accountable. However, given increasing amounts of information disclosure and exchange by social networks, people’s evaluation and attitudes of public policies might be affected by a social influence rather than the performance information. In this study, we design a survey experiment (N =366) to investigate whether social influence effect will influence people’s attitude toward a certain policy, given the performance information available. Our findings support our hypotheses that social influence affect citizens’ policy performance perception, but it does not affect their policy support attitudes. Moreover, social influence among different social groups are not the same. These evidences suggest that citizens are not only using performance information to judge policy, and their performance perception process are much complicated than we previously assume.

ABSTRACT. From the literature of public administration, political science, and public policy, predominant evidence shows that local governments are constantly faced with goal conflicts between economic development and environmental protection. In the meantime, businesses and industries have become one of the most influential stakeholders in government’s policymaking process, because of their existing and potential contribution to the local economy. In many instances, governments adopt policies and practices that reduce firms’ regulatory compliance costs, while businesses lobby for more lenient regulatory enforcement. It thus is expected that businesses of more pollution-intensive industries that dominate the local economy have worse environmental policy performance.

However, rarely does extant research explore how the dynamics of local governments’ goals shape the policy performance of regulated organizations. On one hand, when local governments have a goal priority for economic growth, regulated entities are anticipated to have a lower level of environmental performance. On the other hand, an increased need or pressure for environmental protection for local governments should prompt businesses to deliver better environmental performance. Therefore, the dynamics of two different goals is likely to shape organizational performance interactively. Specifically, the negative effect of economic dominance of firms on organizational environmental performance is strengthened by local governments’ economic goal priority but attenuated by their environmental goal priority.

This study examines how businesses’ economic dominance and the goal dynamics within local governments affect organizations’ environmental performance in a results-based management system. Our empirical setting is China’s energy conservation policy, in which the central government pledged to reduce its national energy intensity by 20 percent by 2010. Subnational targets were mandated from 2006 to 2010 and disaggregated to local governments and large-sized enterprises. Specifically for non-governmental sectors, the central government initiated the Top-1,000 Enterprises Energy-Saving Program (2007-2010), targeting over 1,000 quasi-public and private firms that consumed most energy.

Our dependent variable, organizational environmental performance, is measured by regulated entities’ total saved energy (10,000 tons of standard coal equivalent, in natural logarithm). Business local dominance is measured by firms’ output value as the share of local gross industrial output value. We measure local governments’ goals on economic development and environmental protection with municipal GDP growth rate and targets of energy conservation, respectively. We also control for various firm- and city-level contextual variables. The results from a multilevel analysis support some of our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of our findings for the scholarship on public management and policy implementation.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the impact of contracting on probation outcomes. The increase of state and local expenditures on corrections has outpaced the growth rates of many other policy areas. For instance, spending on corrections has increased three times as fast as expenditures on K-12 education during the last three decades. Alternatives to incarceration, designed to prevent the most expensive type of corrections, have therefore become important preventive interventions. Public managers in corrections rely increasingly on contractors to provide probation services; indeed, the alternatives to incarceration industry has grown faster than other aspects of corrections. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the impact of privatization on alternatives to incarceration and its intention to reduce incarceration. This paper addresses that gap by exploring the impact of probation privatization on probation outcomes across 50 states in the U.S.

Probation is an important public service since it is the most common sanction imposed in the criminal justice system. Private probation companies have been playing an increasingly active and important role in adult misdemeanor probation and have received attention and criticism from the public. Offsetting the benefits of incarceration prevention, critics say, are factors such as private collection of hefty fees, lack of transparency, poor recordkeeping and internal management, goal displacement, violation of due process, and other problems. In the context of this debate, this study examines whether probation performance is affected by contracting, as measured by rates of successful completion.

To address this question, we adopt a state-based empirical strategy drawing from three data sources. First, we use the Annual Probation Survey on Adult Probationers data set (1994-2016), which includes probation outcomes, probation population characteristics such as race and gender, and other state level variables related to probation. Second, we collected data on whether a state contracts with private companies from a variety of sources including the Adult and Juvenile Probation and Parole National Firearm Survey, state legislation, and each state’s website. Third, we draw from publicly available state economic and political indicators, correction expenditure data, and ideological data. Our preliminary empirical findings suggest that probation contracting is associated with a decrease of probation completion rates in states who contract probation supervision. Our analysis contributes to the literature on governance, contracting, and performance by shedding light on the impact of contracting and the importance of contract management on probation outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Performance measurement and assessment is at the core of public management research and a key component of performance management practices. Performance is a multidimensional concept that includes output and outcomes measures (Walker, Boyne and Brewer 2010). The difference between policy outputs and outcomes and their relationship has been very well established in the program evaluation (Newcomer et al. 2015) and performance measurement literatures (Hatry 2006). Outputs are the items/services a program produces/delivers, while outcomes are how the world changes because of the outputs (Wilson 1989). Although the outputs-cause-outcomes logic has been theoretically established, empirical studies in public management employ either outputs or outcomes to evaluate government performance without paying too much attention on how outputs influence policy outcomes (Robichau and Lynn 2009). Thus, little knowledge exists on how different output indicators influence policy outcomes. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by empirically examining the relationship between a program’s outputs and outcomes. 

To study the outputs-outcomes relationship, the paper relies on a program aimed at reducing maternal deaths by promoting prenatal care utilization through home visits: The Doctor at Your Home Program. This program was adopted in 2014 by Mexico City’s Ministry of Health. Through the program, social workers visit households looking for pregnant women without prenatal care and refer them to a health center for prenatal care consults. 

Using municipal level data from births and deaths certificates over 1990-2017, this paper provides estimates on the effect of three different output indicators (quantity of output, quality of output and efficiency) on policy outcomes (maternal deaths). Quantity of output is measured as the number of households visited by healthcare provider; quality of output is operationalized as the number of healthcare providers per pregnant woman, and efficiency is the number of households visited per healthcare provider. The empirical approach uses variation in time since the program began in each Mexico City municipality to estimate a generalized differences-in-differences model (G-DiD). In addition, this research uses as control group those municipalities that integrate the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, which share demographic characteristics with Mexico City municipalities but were not treated because of a different state government.To test the effect of outputs on policy outcomes, I add an interaction term to the DiD specification for each of the three output indicators mentioned above. Preliminary results suggest that separately, the three outputs seem to attain policy goals; however, quality of output tends to have a higher reduction effect on maternal mortality. 

ABSTRACT. In recent decades, U.S. communities have grown more racially and ethnically diverse largely due to immigration influxes. As the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups, Asians and Hispanics will make up 24% and 14%, respectively, of the total U.S. population in 50 years (Pew Research Center 2015).

Nonprofits serving mostly racially and ethnically minority groups play an important role in minorities’ life (Wilson 2012; Brown 2014; Gooden, et al. 2018), however, only few studies focused on them (e.g., Hung 2007; Lee et al. 2017; Vu et al. 2017). Gleeson and Bloemraad (2012) found some evidence that the financial capacity of racial/ethnic serving nonprofits tend to vary across national origins. Financial health is crucial for the survival of any organization (Tuckman & Chang 1991; Hager 2001; Kim 2017), and yet, no study known to us has examined the variation in the financial health of racial/ethnic serving nonprofits, nor the factors that might explain it.

Based on resource dependency theory (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978), our study expects that the financial health of nonprofits serving mostly racial and ethnic minority groups, including immigrants, are more vulnerable as compared to the counterparts serving the general public due to limited sources of revenue they can rely on. As such, this study explores whether the financial health of nonprofits is related to the racial/ethnic composition of constituents and the racial/ethnic background of the executive directors.

The data for this study comes from a survey scheduled to be administered to a university-affiliated, opt-in online panel of nonprofit organizations in January, 2019. The panel currently covers over 2,500 nonprofit organizations across the country, and panel surveys are complete by participating nonprofits’ executive directors. This particular survey collects information about the racial/ethnic compositions of their constituents, the representation of minority ethnic groups in leadership positions, the perceived level of the organization’s financial health, and other relevant factors. In order to reduce common source bias, survey responses will be merged with 990 tax returns of corresponding organizations, available from the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Using the 990 data, the financial health of nonprofits will be also captured based on Tuckman and Chang’s (1991) approach.

Racial/ethnic serving nonprofits are often the last resort for the marginalized groups. As such, our discussion about their financial situations and the underlying factors will be particularly relevant for governments and foundations that need their nonprofit partners to help the integration and prosperity of minority groups.

ABSTRACT. The nonprofit sector performs a wide range of social, political, and economic functions, and it has become an indispensable actor in democratic governance. Over the past several decades, scholars have examined various aspects of nonprofit growth, such as the founding of nonprofits, the distribution of nonprofit activities across localities, the development of financial resources, and the improvement of organizational capacity and performance. Comparatively speaking, less scholarly attention has been devoted to studying organizational decline. From a life-cycle perspective, nonprofits may evolve from birth to growth to decline.

Studying nonprofits’ failure to function is important because failure can cause enormous negative social consequences for both failing organizations and their constituents at large. A robust knowledge base on this topic thus has significant implications for nonprofit leaders to develop sensitivity to the causes of failure and to identify strategies to prevent it. In the nonprofit literature, the number of studies on organizational failure and its underlying causes has been growing gradually in recent decades, greatly advancing our understanding of this topic. Despite that, the financial causes of nonprofit failure have not been well studied.

In this study, we examine how nonprofits’ overhead expenses and revenue mix affect their likelihood of failure. Using an event history analysis of a panel dataset of U.S. charitable nonprofits over the period of 2005-2015, we find that employee compensation and fundraising spending each have a curvilinear, U-shaped relationship with the risk of nonprofit failure. It appears that as a nonprofit’s overhead spending increases, its likelihood of failure initially decreases, but after a tipping point, further increases in the nonprofit’s overhead spending increase its risk of failure. We also find that commercial nonprofits have a lower chance of failure than their non-commercial counterparts. In addition, nonprofits with more diversified revenue portfolios experience lower risks of failure on average. Together, nonprofits that primarily rely on commercial income and diversify the remaining revenue sources enjoy much better survival prospects. In sum, our work adds new knowledge to the literature on nonprofit failure and provides managerial implications for nonprofits to sustain their operations and cultivate their impact.

ABSTRACT. A majority of hospitals nationwide are nonprofit hospitals with privileged tax status – they do not pay property taxes, and in some cases, sales taxes. This expensive tax expenditure is potentially justified by community health benefits offered by nonprofit hospitals, including charity care. Increasingly, federal and state governments are passing laws to increase hospitals’ provision of charity care, but the extent to which and the conditions under which these policies are effective is unknown. One such policy, passed in Illinois in 2012, set a minimum threshold of charity care that must be provided by nonprofit hospitals. In this paper, we answer to what extent is the minimum charity care provision (MCCP) law effective at increasing charity care. Two previous studies examine the effectiveness of the MCCP law per se; both assess the law in Texas and neither finds that minimum thresholds increase charity care spending (Kennedy et al., 2010; Sutton and Stensland, 2004). This work is limited because the authors only include nonprofit hospitals in the sample, perhaps due to data limitations. As a result, the samples only include hospitals treated by the MCCP law. The pre-post design might be biased by alternative contemporaneous changes in policy that affect charity care provision. While there are differences in level of charity care provided by ownership (i.e. nonprofit, for-profit, public as found in Schneider, 2007; Ferris and Graddy, 1999), these relationships may not vary over time unless the MCCP law works. We leverage that identifying assumption, using a difference-in-differences framework, to better test the effectiveness of MCCP laws. We estimate the impact of Illinois’ MCCP law on charity care provision in nonprofit hospitals, using a differences-in-differences framework. We use hospital-level panel data from Illinois’ Annual Hospital Questionnaire and county level data from the American Community Survey, including county and hospital characteristics and financial information on 158 general hospitals with audited financial statements. We focus on the impact for two key outcomes: (1) percentage of patients receiving charity care and (2) percentage of health services spent on charity care. We find no evidence that the MCCP law increases charity care provided by nonprofit hospitals. Instead, we find some suggestive evidence that the law decreases charity care provided by those nonprofit hospitals that offer high levels of charity care at baseline. These findings, taken together, show that Illinois’ MCCP law did not increase charity care, suggesting that setting low target benchmarks is ineffective.

ABSTRACT. The systems model theory suggests that nonprofit organizations play a critical role in allowing citizens’ feedback in the policy making process (Easton, 1965; Greenberg, Miller, Mohr, & Vladeck, 1977; Gunnell, 2013). In this respect, previous literature has argued that nonprofits’ political mobilization role encourages citizens to participate directly in the political process (LeRoux & Krawczyk, 2014; Piven & Cloward, 1979). However, what this research has not provided is an understanding of the way nonprofits’ financial situations potentially influence citizens’ level of political participation. Many nonprofits contend with more stringent budgetary constraints than do for-profit businesses or government agencies because they sustain themselves largely on grants, donations, and government funding. Therefore, fundraising affects these nonprofit activities as well as local citizens’ political mobilization—particularly when that funding may be limited because of nonprofits’ inherent nature and structure. Using county-level panel data merged from different sources, this study examined the way nonprofits’ fundraising influences a county’s level of political participation. Our goal was to determine the effect of county-level nonprofit fundraising on citizens’ level of political participation by aggregating data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) and the American National Election Studies (ANES) of 1998 through 2012. The preliminary findings confirmed largely that counties with greater fundraising tend to have a higher level of political participation than do those that are similar otherwise. However, this effect varied among nonprofits’ subsectors, which offers interesting implications. The findings revealed that practitioners should help nonprofits find ways to increase their revenues to empower citizens to engage in political participation actively.

References Easton, D. (1965). A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Greenberg, G. D., Miller, J. A., Mohr, L. B., & Vladeck, B. C. (1977). Developing Public Policy Theory: Perspectives from Empirical Research. American Political Science Review, 71(4), 1532-1543. Gunnell, J. G. (2013). The Reconstitution of Political Theory: David Easton, Behavioralism, and the Long Road to System. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 49(2), 190-210. LeRoux, K., & Krawczyk, K. (2014). Can Nonprofit Organizations Increase Voter Turnout? Findings from an Agency-Based Voter Mobilization Experiment. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(2), 272-292. Piven, F. F., & Cloward, R. A. (1979). Poor People's Movements: Why They succeed, How They Fail New York, NY: Vintage.

ABSTRACT. Total government spending accounts for 32% of the Gross Domestic Product in the United States (Office of Management and Budget, n.d.). How government spends its money and where it spends its money can be engineered to produce social, economic, and environmental externalities. Sustainable procurement is the process of strategically utilizing government funds to efficiently and effectively achieve policy outcomes while also promoting the wellbeing of the environment, economy, and society (Prier et al, 2016). Local government procurement systems operate in an environment where they are subject to institutional, political and societal pressures (Thai, 2001). Despite these pressures, local governments are expected to respond to problems impacting their community.

Although many local governments engage in sustainable procurement, what drives such engagement is largely unclear. There are reasons to believe that organizational capacity and political values may be predictors of sustainable procurement engagement at the local level (Alkadry et. al, 2018). This study explores these effects, but also the effect of social capital indicators at the local level. Social capital enhances local government’s ability to address policy problems through the potential for collaborative efforts and consensus by stakeholders external to the organization (Andrews & Brewer, 2014). Social capital is also positively related to achievement of performance goals (Andrews & Brewer, 2014).

This research applies social capital theory and examines how regional socio-economics, networks, norms, and political values impact local government engagement in sustainable procurement. Data from a national survey examines 400 local government procurement agencies to empirically analyze the effect of social capital and political values on sustainable procurement. The predictors are organized in four groupings: local government’s organizational capacity and organizational support for sustainable procurement (study’s survey), regional socio-economic conditions (U.S. Census data), regional political values (2016 U.S. election results), and social capital variables (aggregate measure for organizational counts, voter turnout, census response rate, and number of domestic non-profit organizations). The dependent variable is a composite measure of 15 different sustainable procurement activities that typically make up the sustainable procurement effort within a municipality. These 15 activities fit within three sustainability efforts: economic, social equity, and environmental. This research has implications for social capital theory and for local government sustainability efforts.

ABSTRACT. This paper argues that coproduction is a political act. From potholes to forest fires to terrorism, governments look to citizens to help monitor conditions and report threats, and so aid in the implementation of public policy. “Coproduction” captures a variety of service processes in which lay citizens are directly involved in the design, delivery, monitoring, and evaluating of services with professional administrators. Coproduction has received ample attention from scholars of public administration and public policy since its emergence as a concept. Scholarly research on coproduction has focused mainly on organizational antecedents of citizen engagement in policy implementation, with the expectation that coproduction improves outcomes.

We cast coproduction as a form of political behavior: citizen involvement in the implementation of public policy is a costly expression of support for the policy, and means of participating in the exercise of government power. As such, governance institutions and partisanship are expected to shape coproduction just as they do any other form of political participation in a democratic state. Of particular interest in the present study is the monitoring phase of policy implementation, where coproduction takes the form of participatory surveillance—that is, citizens monitoring their fellow citizens’ compliance with public policy. The political nature of coproduction is especially pronounced under participatory surveillance regimes, since citizens who coproduce through participatory surveillance take part directly in the exercise of the state’s coercive authority.

Our empirical subject is water conservation in California communities during a recent severe drought, when the state government ordered water utilities to conserve and established a “tattle-tale” hotline for citizens to report waste. Over the course of the drought, Californians reported more than 488,000 water waste complaints. Governance institutions strongly predicted the frequency of complaints: municipal water utilities received the most, with special districts receiving fewer and private water utilities receiving the fewest. Local political conflict also drove coproduction, with the highest levels of participatory surveillance in communities where partisanship is closely contested. Our findings carry important implications for participatory surveillance as a means of promoting environmental conservation, and for citizen coproduction generally.

ABSTRACT. Co-production is a process thought to simultaneously incorporate user preferences more effectively while helping allocate public resources more efficiently. The importance, methods, and benefits of co-production processes have been widely discussed. However, current literature lacks quantitative studies of the conditions for and outcomes of co-production activities with a field-representative sample. Using the field of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment as a case, this study investigates how health and social service providers co-produce with vulnerable users, and how those endeavors impact service offerings and service utilization among providers serving stigmatized client populations whose voices have traditionally been marginalized.

Bringing together multiple literature, I theorize that SUD clinics adopt two co-production mechanisms: (1) directly collaborating with patients in clinical decision-making (patient-centered care), and (2) hiring staff members with lived experience of addiction (peer co-production). To test my theory empirically, I use the National Drug Abuse Treatment System Survey—a nationally representative survey of approximately 700 alcohol and drug abuse treatment facilities in the United States.

The results show that more than a half of SUD treatment clinics across the U.S. implemented either patient-centered care or peer co-production mechanisms to incorporate patient’s perspectives into care processes. Residential units were more likely to implement patient centered care and peer co-production methods compared to outpatient units, possibly due to sufficient time for patient-clinician interactions and the tradition for leveraging peers in these settings. Clinics serving more patients with opioid use disorder tend to not practice patient-centered care, and clinics serving a greater proportion of prescription opioid use disorder were less likely to implement peer co-production method—signaling differentiated co-production efforts in the field. In terms of outcomes, implementing a patient-centered care mechanism was associated with the availability and utilization of ancillary services—such as housing assistance. The peer co-production mechanism was associated with the utilization of such services, but not their availability, possibly reflecting recovering staff’s limited influence over managerial decisions.

The prevalence of co-production efforts in a field serving one of the most stigmatized populations signals the potential of co-production across health and social service fields. These findings suggest that collaborative process can be an important way to address the opioid crisis, therefore, encouraging policy makers and government officials to emphasize and incentivize co-production efforts at SUD clinics. Additionally, this research encourages health and social service organizational managers to consider various ways to co-produce with service users, such as peer co-production.

ABSTRACT. Governments all over the globe increasingly rely on technology to provide services and perform functions that were traditionally provided by public employees. One benefit of automation is that, in some cases, it may be viewed as more legitimate because it removes human bias from service delivery. However, reactions to automation are quite mixed, with it sometimes generating public outcry and other times support. The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that preferences toward automation in public service delivery will reflect the extent to which people think that bureaucrats "look like them." In this paper, we test the hypothesis that individuals will prefer automation when the bureaucracy does not passively represent them but will prefer human implementation when it does.

For our case, we focus on a type of automation that could potentially remove bias − the use of red light cameras to help enforce traffic laws. Enforcement of traffic safety laws has often been controversial, with some concerns centering on potential biases in the decision-making of police officers and other concerns focused on the use of a camera, instead of a police officer, to catch violations. In our survey experiment, we present a mock local news story that explains that a city is considering two options to deal with an intersection where people keep running the red light and causing accidents: 1) stationing an officer there or 2) installing a red light camera. We then ask respondents to rate their preference for and the fairness of each option. The treatment groups see a picture embedded in the news story that shows "city" police officers; we vary the race of the officers. The control group receives the same news story with a picture of a nondescript car approaching a red light. We expect that when the race of the police officers differs from the race of the respondent, respondents will be more likely to prefer the red light camera and view it as more fair. We expect this result to be particularly pronounced for minority respondents, for whom race may be especially salient when interacting with police officers. The results of our experiment will provide insight into perceptions of fairness associated government decision-making in an era of automation. They will also be informative for policy-makers seeking to improve public perceptions of fairness in service delivery.

ABSTRACT. A bureaucracy representative of historically oppressed groups in society has been linked to better outcomes for those groups, especially in key policy areas such as education, child welfare, and law enforcement. Most of the empirical work in education has used the case of the United States, finding that representation leads to academic improvements for the represented group. Would the same effects be seen in national contexts beyond the Western World?

This paper examines how and when a female bureaucrat in the Indian education system leads to enhanced outcomes for female students, using data gathered by the Government of India on nearly 1.5 million schools, from 2014-15 to 2017-18.  We find a modest representative effect of female teachers on the academic achievement of female students which is enhanced with more class days, longer teacher hours, and a smaller student teacher ratio. Additionally, in situations where active representation would be extremely difficult due to a severe lack of resources and opportunities (schools located in rural areas and with poor infrastructure) we also see a positive effect of female teachers on female student academic achievement, which possibly indicates the presence of symbolic representation via the role-model effect, in these environmental conditions.   

Slides: Representative Bureaucracy in India: An empirical study of gender representation by K-12 teachers

ABSTRACT. This theoretical paper reviews the literature on representative bureaucracy and raises propositions on its application in Global South countries. The pioneer study on representative bureaucracy analyzes how the characteristics of British elite members prevailed in high ranks of the government offices in that country during the 1940s (Kingsley 1944). Despite its class-oriented assumptions, this seminal study influenced further research in the United States, both addressing to what extent some groups are underrepresented in American bureaucracy and also analyzing what kind of actions bureaucrats develop to promote interests of particular groups, which delineates the distinction between passive and active representation (Krislov 1974; Mosher 1982). Therefore, early on American scholars applied the concept of representative bureaucracy to their reality. More recently, this literature emphasizes analyzes focused on the effects of gender (Keiser et al. 2002; Meier & Nicholson-Crotty 2006) and race (Selden; Brudney, and Kellough 1998; Grisson & Nicholson-Crotty 2009) representation. Despite being a well-established theory, there are fewer studies on representative bureaucracy in emerging economies such as Brazil. Countries with low levels of professional bureaucracy and weak institutions are often subject of proposed government reforms that do not take into account their specificities (Fukuyama 2004). Are gender and race relevant categories to discuss representative bureaucracy in Brazil? Are there other categories to consider, such as social class or religion? Based on an in-depth and nuanced analysis of the Brazilian society and state bureaucracy, considering its patrimonialism, populism, and other pervasive characteristics, this paper elaborates proposition that intend to adjust the theory of representative bureaucracy to the characteristics of that context. Our first proposition is that, similar to the UK in the 1940s (Kingsley 1940), bureaucracy at higher levels in Brazil are less representative of the racial proportions of the population at large than at the lower levels. A second proposition is that black people in well-paid, higher levels of bureaucracy in Brazil come from high-income families, therefore preserving an economic segregation with races. Third, we propose that Brazilian bureaucracy is representative of the distribution of different religious preferences of the population at large. Finally, considering that the state in which a person is born in Brazil is a prevalent feature of its identity, we propose that regional origin is the most likely characteristic that may lead to active representation. Future studies can transform these propositions into hypotheses on empirical settings, potentially extending the theory on representative bureaucracy.

ABSTRACT. An expanding public-administration literature reveals bureaucratic discrimination of ethnic minorities and immigrants as welfare applicants and beneficiaries in the US and Europe. Additionally, sociological research has unraveled the multifaceted criteria and heuristics that citizens employ when assessing individuals’ deservingness for welfare support, including, inter alia, others’ perceived past or present social contributions. Among these, work history has been identified as a prominent heuristic for contribution.

The bureaucratic literature has given less attention to women’s relative prospects as welfare beneficiaries and applicants. Yet, if bureaucrats, like citizens, tacitly invoke multiple heuristics for deservingness, then women may suffer relative disadvantage when seeking state support because their social contributions are generally construed as lower compared to those of men. Still, female bureaucrats may be less inclined to disadvantage women applicants given their greater appreciation for women’s contributions and for the challenges that they face in coupling work and domestic responsibilities.

We test the empirical implications of these conjectures employing a comprehensive administrative dataset in which claimants for disability insurance are assigned to doctors based on the latter’s medical specialization and timetable availability. Disability insurance, in Israel, is granted based on the pairing of physical impairment and estimated loss of future capacity to work. Applicants’ working history is legally relevant only as an indicator for their aptitude to continue working despite their disability. The domain of disability insurance is not generally perceived as gendered. Thus, we expect female doctors to alleviate female applicants’ unequal treatment by male doctors, but not to advantage them compared to male applicants.

Limiting our analyses to comparable groups of applicants and processes, and accounting for the data’s hierarchic structure, we find that women, compared to men, are less likely to be granted disability benefits, and that female applicants’ ethnic identity (whether Jewish, Muslim, Christian or Druze), academic education and heuristics for social contribution (work history and motherhood) moderate their relative disadvantage. We also find that all applicants, and women most prominently, are more successful when assigned to female doctors. Finally, exploiting survey data of a random subset of the same applicants, regarding their experience of the decision-making process, we seek to unravel whether the apparent benevolence of female doctors is driven, in part, by these doctors’ facilitation of applicants’ capacity to communicate their claims.

ABSTRACT. Government does much of its business through contracts, making effective contracting key to achieving public purposes. Among other practices, contract design—the structural features or “rules” of contracts that set parameters like vendor compensation method, period of performance, and end of term options—can be critical to controlling costs and ensuring timely delivery of quality goods and services. Yet, while a large literature examines government’s make-or-buy decisions, relatively less attention has been paid to how government designs contracts for products it chooses to buy rather than make. Moreover, existing research is limited to applying and testing individual theories that emphasize either the nature of the product to be purchased or the environment in which the purchase takes place. Work drawing on the economics of transaction costs, for example, suggests governments buy complex products using more flexible contract designs that accommodate product uncertainty and asset specificity through cost-based rather than fixed price compensation. Similarly, work using resource dependence theory suggests governments use flexible contract designs to acquire needed products when faced with a limited supply of vendors that may only work with the government on flexible contract terms. While valuable in and of themselves, neither of these approaches accounts for the fact that governments buy simpler and more complex products in a wide array of contexts, suggesting that both product characteristics and environmental conditions shaping resource dependence may influence contract design.

Taking this reality as a point of departure, this paper develops an expanded theory of government’s contract design decisions that explicitly integrates transaction cost and resource dependence perspectives. The theory posits that both product complexity—defined in terms of asset specificity and uncertainty—and resource dependence—defined in terms of the number of alternative vendors supplying a given product, the importance of the product to government’s mission, and the amount of revenue the incumbent vendor derives from its business with the government—each have a main effect on the flexibility of contract designs (here defined as cost-based versus fixed price contract types). Importantly, the theory also posits that resource dependence moderates the effect of transaction costs on design flexibility. In this way, the theory accounts for the possibility that product complexity’s impact on contract design features is context-dependent. The paper specifies the theory in a set of hypotheses and a model for testing in future empirical research.

ABSTRACT. Incentives schemes based on rewards and sanctions have been largely used to transform induced efforts into enhanced performance in public and private organizations (Holmstrom, 1982; Sappington, 1991; Dixit, 2002; Heinrich & Marschke, 2010). Recent efforts in the public administration literature highlight the use of incentives to align expectations between government (buyer) and contractors (suppliers). These include the use of pecuniary rewards (Friedman & Kelman, 2007; Girth & Lopez, 2018) and the employment of sanctions in case of poor performance and contract deviation (Girth, 2014; Cabral, 2017). Contractual sanctions are important to assure suppliers’ commitment and avoid reduced efforts at the expense of reduced performance. Although contractual enforcement through sanctions is able to correct undesired behavior and avoid future malfeasance, contractors can also realize that sanctions are not credible (Marvel and Marvel, 2009), thus not exerting the necessary efforts to address expected performance standards. The literature on the determinants of contractual sanctions in public procurement is still in its infancy (Girth, 2014) and little is known on how enforced sanctions in the past will affect public managers’ decisions on contracting enforcement. In this paper, we analyze how milder sanctions applied to government suppliers affect the propensity of severer contractual sanctions in the future. To assess these relationships, we employ a unique dataset with 3,6 million procurement contracts signed between several contracting units of the Brazilian federal government and more 200,000 suppliers, and we perform logistic regression with several controls and robustness checks to assure the reliability of our findings. We find a negative association between past milder sanctions (written documentation and financial penalties) and future severer sanctions (contract termination and prohibition to take part in future auctions). We also find an interesting curvilinear effect (inverted U-shape) between the number of past milder sanctions and severer sanctions. These results suggest that suppliers adapt their conducts in response to punitive actions enforced by contracting entities. Our results demonstrate that firms with more contracts and with a higher proportion of contracts signed with a particular government entity present a lower likelihood to receive severer sanctions. However, the number of past milder sanctions applied to these firms above positively increase the odds of future severer sanctions, thus suggesting that former contractual sanctions attenuate the effect of relational governance in the public procurement realm.

ABSTRACT. Representative bureaucracy developed from the claim that the public would think more positively of government when government looked like them. This study aims to 1) examine public perceptions of government services delivered by racially diverse bureaucrats, 2) evaluate whether these perceptions are different when the service is delivered by government employees or government contractors and 3) assess if these perceptions are different between white and minority respondents. Recent studies under the umbrella of symbolic representation consider how people respond to government services when government looks like them (e.g. Theobald and Hader-Markel 2008), but this approach requires that the members of the public are directly interacting with the public official. This study moves beyond that requirement by instead taking a passive representation approach. Additionally, as outsourcing in government continues to increase, representative bureaucracy scholarship has failed to consider whether diversity of government contractors might influence perceptions of government programs.

This study will evaluate these puzzles using an online survey experiment, which focuses on the allocation of workers compensation awards to white and minority workers. The survey was administered in February 2018 using Amazon MTurk. We employed a 2x2 experimental design, where the treatment included 1) either government employees or government contractors implementing the workers compensation program, and 2) either information about the diversity of the employees making award decisions or no diversity information. All respondents were provided the same information about the allocation of workers compensation awards to white and minority applicants. Based on the information provided, respondents were asked to evaluate the distributive justice of the workers compensation program, using validated items from the psychology literature.

The research presented here differs from recent research in a number of important ways. First, this study evaluates responses to racial representation in government agencies, whereas recent experimental studies on representative bureaucracy have focused on gender (Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li 2016; Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Lavena, 2014). Second, the study does not ask individuals whether they would be willing to take a particular action based on their interactions with specific bureaucrats, as recent studies have asked (Riccucci, Van Ryzin, and Li 2016). Finally, we believe this is the first study to consider government contractors in representative bureaucracy research.

ABSTRACT. Contracting out has been considered one of the main performance management strategies to reduce costs and bring more expertise to government agencies. However, there is a lack of research analyzing the influence of contracting out on complex services for non-traditional performance outcomes that are difficult to measure. This study particularly examines whether contracting achieves better performance in complex services for democratic-constitutional, procedural (DCP) tasks compared to in-house delivery. Using agency level panel data on discrimination complaint processing from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the findings show a mixed relationship between contracting out and performance in DCP tasks measured with two proxy metrics—timeliness and costs. An increase in the use of contractors is associated with a decrease in the average cost and a decrease in timeliness.

ABSTRACT. The diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the U.S. government has increased demands on public managers to be connected. ICTs such as the Internet, email, cell phones, and instant messaging have provided public managers immediate connection to daily responsibilities such as, replying to online public requests, engaging with colleagues, and interacting with citizens. Yet ICTs are highly pervasive in both personal and professional lives. The increased use of technology for work purpose threatens the traditional separation between work and private life. Tension between work and private life can increase burnout of employees, lead to longer working hours, and increase work and private life stressors (Eurofound, 2018; Kim & Wright, 2007; Perring, 2015). While current research has primarily focused on how the adoption and use of ICT in government can improve the relationship between government and citizens (Bertot & Jaeger, 2008; Eyob, 2004), little empirical work has looked at how ICT impacts the personal and professional lives of public managers. Work-life conflict develops from incompatible role demands such as allocation of time between professional and personal demands (Greehause & Beutell, 1985). ICTs might have negative effects on work-life balance, increasing demands to be responsive outside working hours. Or, ICTs might help public managers to be more flexible, encourage remote working, and allows managers to respond to family demand while at work. We examine factors that explain how ICTs impact local public managers’ work-life balance. Our theoretical framework integrates individual, organizational, and environmental factors such as work experience, technology use, organizational policies, monitoring practices, average commuting time, and presence of public transportation. We test our hypotheses using 2014 national survey data collected among 2,500 local government managers in 500 U.S. cities. Department heads from five departments have been invited to participate – Mayor’s Office, Community Development, Finance, Police and Parks and Recreation. By focusing on department heads we are able to capture information from individuals who are expected to communicate with multiple stakeholders and meet various organizational demands. Our findings will inform our understanding of how constant connection to work through ICT influences public managers’ work and private life, will help public organizations develop recommendations on ICT use, and will provide inputs for HR management practices.

ABSTRACT. The contemporary human capital perspective captures the idea that people are an organization’s most valuable asset and that effective management of the workforce positively impacts performance (Guest, 2002). It is expected that governments embrace “high road” employment practices that reflect this idea, but gold-standard provisions are (see Baker, 2016), in an era of austerity, not a guarantee. Further, with fewer employees to do the work of the public sector and reduced support for government services (Maciag, 2017), organizations may pursue low road strategies for the sake of efficiency and survival (Osterman, 2018). The question of how to navigate between “high” and “low” road strategies is an important and timely one for public management research.

Pursuing the “high road” is aligned with existing commitments to high-performance work organizations. When organizations embrace “high road” employment practices, they provide a quality job, a fair wage, expansive benefits and cultivate a culture of continuous improvement. These practices are expected to, either directly or indirectly, result in increased worker engagement and productivity, lower turnover, increased job satisfaction, and provide an edge in recruiting top talent (ASBC, 2017). While this idea has most readily been applied to the private sector, Ballard and Warner (2000) note that government also makes high or low road employment decisions.

Further, organizational leaders may say that people are an asset to be valued rather than just a cost to control, but workforce trends suggest otherwise (Kochan, 2012). While progressive human capital innovations have been introduced and celebrated, workers’ real wages declined, job insecurity increased, and economic inequality grew (Milkman, 1998). A combination of conflicting high road expectations and low road realities presents a troubling paradox. The question is: how are governments delivering on high road expectations?

To explore this question, this research project will analyze data from a sample of municipal governments to determine in what ways, and to what extent, employment practices align with “high” or “low” strategies (see Christman et al, 2013). The goals of this research include: 1) provide conceptual and operational clarity, 2) identify the tools and technologies currently used to meet stated, or intended, strategic goals, and 3) analyze input from public service professionals on opportunities and constraints. Lastly, and by design, this project seeks to be a first step in a broader research agenda exploring the development and deployment of high road and low road strategies, interventions, and outcomes in public human resource management.

ABSTRACT. Purpose There is general agreement across sectors and between scholars regarding the significance of employee alignment with the larger aims of their organizations—with a central aim being to maximize human capital to ultimately achieve strategic success. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived managerial coaching behavior, strategic line of sight (the ability of the employee to effectively internalize and relay unit/organization mission/strategy and tactics), and employee work-related outcomes (e.g. turnover intention, satisfaction, performance).

Design/Methodology/Approach Data were collected from 432 employees (and their 387 managers) randomly selected from a US professional association comprised of Federal Employees (permission to disclose association name not yet authorized). The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling with a two-step approach and combined with qualitative interview data from 40 randomly selected study participants.

Findings The conceptual model was sufficiently supported by the data provided by both employees and their managers. Further investigation suggested managerial coaching impacted on employee ‘line of sight’, role clarity, turnover intention, satisfaction with work directly, and organization commitment, career commitment, and job performance indirectly.

Implications Study findings provide specific empirical support for the hypothesized conceptual model of managerial coaching and ‘line of sight’. These study findings supply evidence regarding largely unexplored, benefits for managerial coaching and line of sight. This knowledge can be used by public management practitioners and scholars regarding key issues

Originality/Value This study provides support for the impact of coaching behavior line of sight, work attitudes, performance, and work cognition. As a commonly acknowledged conceptual model or theory associated with managerial coaching behavior and related outcomes has yet to established, findings associate with the model reported and verified herein provide new perspectives—particularly as it relates to public management and government employees.

Implications for Public Management Few would oppose efforts to align employees with larger governmental goals. In fact, public managers desiring to maximize human capital and ultimately strategic success, must carefully examine and recalibrate the best means to do so. This research suggests managerial coaching contributes to government employee understanding and related behaviors that can be used to leverage ‘line of sight’ along with strategically aligned attitudes and job performance. Manager training and professional development, along with 360-degree feedback, and executive coaching for managers may be effective in extending managerial coaching behavior—which, in turn, leads to important strategic and human capital outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Succession Planning can be defined as a systematic effort by organization to ensure leadership or key professionals’ continuity in critical positions, to maintain, to develop skills, and knowledge for the organizational future (Rothwell, 2010). Formalized succession planning leads to better decisions, and on average, better outcomes (Kahneman, 2011; Schepker, Ulrich & Wright, 2018), However, the structuring of the succession’s process and the complexity of the problems that each organization will face in relation to it depends on the evolutionary stage in which each organization is (Hall, 1986,1995). Based on theoretical references and empirical research (Grusky, 1963; Hall, 1986, 1995; Ohtsuki, 2013; Ferreira, 2015) organizations may be at three different stages: the first stage has no structured planning and occurs only for vacancy replacement; the second is already planned in a regular annual period, and the third is an ongoing planning considering strategic needs and integration with people’s management practices (Dutra, 2010; Rothwell, 2010; J.S. Dutra & Dutra, 2016). To investigate deeper into this theme, the Brazilian public administration context was chosen for possessing some particularities. One of them is in the selection of managerial positions is decided by the public manager’s discretion dismissing the need for formal selective processes. However, this has been changing due to some regulatory initiatives in the country. The Central Bank Resolution 4538 of 2016 establishes that financial institutions must implement and maintain succession policy for higher management positions. Although its application is still in the beginning. Furthermore, the literature on succession planning in Brazil is shortened and concentrates on family’s businesses (Ferreira, 2015; Dutra & Dutra, 2016). According to some studies conducted in Brazil (OECD, 2010; TCU, 2016) the theme is fundamental for the progress of people’s management in Brazilian public administration. The purpose of this article is to analyse the stage of succession planning evolution in Brazilian public financial institutions. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and to connect the stage of succession planning development within human resources management in Brazilian Public Financial Institutions. It considers the assumption that the more strategic the HR Department is, the more advanced is succession planning. It was decided to study the organizations of the Brazilian Development Association (ABDE) that gather the Development Finance Institutions in all country, and many ABDE organizations are institutions authorized by the Central Bank and follow as its guideline Resolution 4538.

Slides: Succession Planning in the Brazilian Public Financial Institutions: An analysis between the stages of succession planning and the development of the Human Resource Department

ABSTRACT. Chief Innovation Officers (CINOs) are increasingly becoming prominent across federal, state, and local governments. There are over 20 CINOs at the state level and nearly 50 at the local government levels (city and county). The CINOs’ main job is to undertake innovative and entrepreneurial activities. They could initiate process innovation for more efficient operations, or introduce new public services. In this paper, I examine the entrepreneurship of the CINOs within state and local governments. Entrepreneurship necessarily involves risk taking that CINOs must be poised to take. At the same time, governments are expected to be service oriented and follow standard operating procedures. CINOs are thus expected to balance between being open and risk taking and following government procedures. Although scholarly literature on the role of the CINOs in public sector is yet to emerge, there is much skepticism about the role of the CINOs (Ravindranath, 2017; Stinson, 2015).

Using a combination of surveys and interviews of the CINOs, I outline the entrepreneurial roles that the CINOs play. There are four interesting preliminary findings. First, much of the CINOs entrepreneurial role is with respect to re-positioning the public organization in the digital environment. They prod agencies to adopt technologies for more efficiency, better services, or cutting red tape. These CINOs are often situated in Information Technology department, alongside the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Second, if not located in the IT department, CINOs are placed in cross-cutting agencies, typically under the political leadership (governor, city/ county manager or mayor). They get direct power from the top to undertake entrepreneurial changes. Such a placement has both advantages and disadvantages. The CINOs have direct authority to carry out innovative activities; however, if the leadership changes, their role may also be altered. Third, the CINOs typically take a bottom up approach to facilitate departments that are willing to change. That is, the CINOs are instrumental in setting up an innovation culture, but they cannot enforce it. They can incentivize departments to adopt innovations, but cannot require such adoption. Fourth, they undertake a range of activities to foster innovation (e.g. innovation labs, hackathons, etc.). These activities to foster innovation differ across city and state governments.

References:

Ravindranath, M. (2017). The Case Against Federal Chief Innovation Officers. Retrieved from: https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2017/01/case-against-federal-chief-innovation-officers/134335/

Stinson, J. (2015). Chief Innovation Officers: Do They Deliver? https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2015/2/06/chief-innovation-officers-do-they-deliver

ABSTRACT. Previous research shows wide variation in how (and how well) United States federal government agencies manage Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. This raises a question: why are some agencies more successful than others in processing FOIA requests efficiently and effectively? In this paper, we conduct meso-level analyses, hypothesizing that organizational and process characteristics shape the performance of federal agencies in handling and processing FOIA requests. Specifically, we assert that four organizational characteristics (field/nature of work, expenditures, capacity, and structure) and three process characteristics (who submits the request, nature of the request, and method of submission) shape the ability of an agency to respond to FOIA requests.

To test our hypotheses, we code all federal agencies according to the three organizational characteristics and use data from foia.gov to capture the process characteristics, as well as information about agency-level caseloads, backlog, expedited requests, processing time, staff, and costs. We then statistically examine the interplay of the organizational and process characteristics on the administration of FOIA requests.

While our analyses are still ongoing, the results will contribute to our theoretical and empirical knowledge about FOIA in the United States. For example, the results will shed light on issues around how organizational and process characteristics impact agency performance, as well as on how process design impacts responsiveness. Similarly, the results will inform recommendations for improving the handling of FOIA requests. Such results are particularly important given that the expected outcomes of FOIA – increased transparency, responsiveness, accountability, and trust – are largely contingent on the efficient and effective processing of requests.

ABSTRACT. The organisational structure of central government agencies is a crucial tool to govern, political executives may deliberately change those structures in order to signal priorities, advocate policy changes, accommodate clientelistic demands, or respond to functional needs or organisational fashions. This paper aims to study the relevance of political executives in making those structural choices.

Empirically, we employ a competing risk analysis, applied on a novel dataset covering all ministers and all structural changes within the federal governmental organisation of Germany between 1980 and 2015. The German federal bureaucracy is widely regarded as the Weberian ideal-type and thus rather stable and an ideal case to test assumptions on the influence of political executives on central agencies.

The empirical results show that ministers’ office experience as well as their linkages to certain policy networks (through previous positions) shape the risk for units within their departments to face more radical structural changes and to experience simultaneous changes at highest but also lower levels.

ABSTRACT. Sustainable, Resilient: City policy responses to climate change

Local governments have assumed a prominent role in establishing initiatives to address climate change, particularly in the United States in response to a dearth of federal leadership. The proliferation of local-level climate action plans (CAPs) is perhaps the most obvious reflection of this trend. Extant literature indicates there is great diversity in what constitutes a CAP (Bassett and Shandas, 2010). Some plans are motivational documents, while others are extremely detailed with clear objectives. Missing from the literature is how these plans vary in the prioritization of resilience (i.e. risk mitigation) and sustainability (i.e. resource conservation), and potential interrelationships between these priorities and scientific assessments of climate change hazards such as those identified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Drawing upon the Integrated City Sustainability Database (Feiock et al, 2014), CAPs of all 665 U.S. cities with a population greater than 50,000 are investigated to fill this gap in the literature. We hypothesize that CAP priorities vary in relation to city budget, administrative form, and constituent expectations. Applying text analytics and cluster analysis, we generate scores to measure comparative levels of effort related to sustainability and resilience foci for each city. We also use a document feature matrix (dfm) to identify similarity across CAPs. Preliminary findings suggest cities with mayors produce CAPs that favor highly visible or immediate results, rather than plans that address underlying vulnerabilities associated with climate change. Other preliminary findings suggest participation in climate action networks significantly influence CAP priorities. Control variables include both city level characteristics and state-level policy and political variables. This analysis builds upon the local climate action management and policy literature by providing important insights about the substantive variation in local-level climate initiatives and the potential impact of that variation in terms of future climate hazards.

ABSTRACT. The absence of federal strategies in the United States for climate change adaptation leaves state and city governments with broad discretion to undertake such measures. Yet, cities may be unable to adapt to climate change without external assistance, particularly in states where the state leadership has not recognized the need to provide political and financial support to local governments. Collaboration allows cities to pool resources and work across boundaries to ameliorate substantial problems such as climate change.

Drawing on Agranoff’s (2008) work on public networks, we develop a typology of collaborative activities of public organizations in connection to the severity of a public problem. We test the applicability of our typology in the context of municipal government preparedness to sea level rise in the U.S. Specifically, we focus on collaboration of municipal governments with other cities, nonprofits, and businesses to address the threat associated with sea level rise. We hypothesize that the type of collaborative activity that cities undertake will correspond to the severity of threat they face. The study uses survey data collected in 2016 to measure the collaborative activities of municipalities. To assess the threat level, we rely on data from Climate Central.

The study has important implications for policy and practice, as it sheds light on whether collaborative activity of public actors in response to natural disasters unfolds in a predictable manner and how it changes depending on the severity of the public problem at hand.

ABSTRACT. Cross-sector collaboration and public-private partnerships for delivering community-based public services became one of the new and pervasive collaborative governance tools (Salamon, 2002). This phenomenon creates change in the roles and operational patterns of the government and its cross-sector collaborators (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992; Kettl, 2002). The roles of citizen and diverse community actors gradually transformed from passive receivers to active coproducers in the dynamic collaboration processes for the public good and for innovating public services in civil society (Parks et al., 1981; Ostrom, 1996; Bovaird, 2007; Alford, 2014; Nabatchi et al., 2017).

Community collaborative networks and partnerships are highly embedded in local community environmental and policy issue contexts. When diverse community actors are empowered to be more actively involved in dynamic collaborative processes, how do community networks emerge and evolve in local communities? Insufficient studies have been conducted to fully unveil the origins and dynamics because prior research primarily examined limited types of policy issues. There is a necessity to give more attention to collaborative networks in local community levels and contexts if we are looking for solutions and innovations to strengthen local communities. Furthermore, research has seldom discussed both positive and negative outcomes (such as network fragmentation and negative social capital) of network evolution in rural communities.

This paper explores how community partnerships and networks emerge and evolve within collaborative governance processes and public service delivery in coastal communities. We focus on this specifically from the early developing stages of an aquaculture program. Our study contributes to understanding the nature, roles, and network trajectories of community collaborative networks that are attempting to balance sustainable economic development, environmental protection, and social capital in rural Florida coastal counties. Our research participants observed that these conditions had persisted over a span of at least five years. What we discovered was a surprisingly fluid and often fragmented set of network structures and interactions.

We began our study with key informant interviews and extensive field observation for an ego-network centered in a community college vocational program for oyster farming. It became apparent that the relevant activities of important actors in this network extended into a much broader set of community and aquaculture stakeholder networks. From interviews, field observation, and archival data (2012-2018), this paper elaborates how coherent and conflicted network trajectories co-evolved in five different stages for aquaculture industry development from an innovative aquaculture oyster certificate program in rural coastal communities.

ABSTRACT. Cross-sector and intergovernmental Collaboration has been regarded as a key mechanism for solving wicked or complex problems (Agranoff & McGuire, 2004; Bryson, Crosby & Stone, 2006). A research program about collaboration has flourished in the last two decades and been applied to public education, disaster response, social and human services, and natural resource management. As one of the biggest collective action problem facing human society, climate change is regarded a wicked and complex problem that requires different levels of government and multiple sectors to work together to solve the problem (Cole, 2015; Ostrom, 2010 & 2012). However, little attention has been paid to the role of local governments’ collaboration - with both nonprofits and other government agencies – in cities’ plan to adapt to climate change. Using large-N survey-based data collected from U.S. municipal parks and recreation departments, which manage the majority of urban green spaces (N=1498; n=413), this paper aims at filling in the gap of the literature by investigating the link between cities’ plan to adapt to climate change and their collaboration with other governmental and nongovernmental actors.

Data for this paper come from an online national survey of all municipal parks and recreation departments in U.S. cities that have a population of 25,000 or more, matched with the U.S. Census and National Center for Charitable Statistics. The dependent variable comes from three questions in the survey which ask park managers about whether they are engaged in short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term planning to adapt to climate change. Two questions about the the level of completion with local governments’ collaboration with nonprofits and other government agencies measure the two key independent variable. A logistic regression is used to examine the relationship between different types of climate change adaptation planning and collaboration.

This paper contributes to existing literature in several ways. First, this paper responds to the call scholars advocate for a research agenda that integrates civic participation and the nonprofit sector in urban sustainability research (Portney, 2005; Portney & Cuttler, 2010). Second, by focusing on municipal parks departments’ strategies to plan to adapt to climate change, this study complements existing studies that have a focus on local governments’ efforts in climate change mitigation (Feiock et al., 2013; Krasue, 2011). It also builds a research foundation for combining climate change adaptation and mitigation research.

ABSTRACT. Individuals experiencing homelessness bear greater risk than other populations for many preventable diseases, and the service demands can be costly to the community if left unaddressed. Since this vulnerable population is less likely to access public health care systems for preventable diseases, service expense incurred is often covered by local medical service providers. These local actors realize the high cost of no action or maintaining status quo in medical care of population experiencing homelessness and develop networks in the search of a collaborative service arrangement in the context of dispersed resources and expertise. This research examines Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless networks and explores factors affecting effective cross sector collaboration to address the medical service needs of homelessness. Since federal resources have been largely concentrated on housing related services, medical service provision is often left to the responsibility of local entities such as local governments, public and private hospitals and shelters. This study reviews literature to propose multi-dimensional measures of effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders and investigates key factors affecting effective collaboration for medical services for the individuals and families experiencing homelessness. We seek to answer the following research questions related to the implementation and impact of cross-sector collaboration: How well is the CoC approach to community collaboration addressing the broad health needs and well-being of the homeless in communities across the U.S.? What are the factors driving successful interorganizational collaborations? Drawing primarily on theories of resource dependency and community networks, hypotheses are developed based on theories of institutional collective action, resource dependence and collaborative governance. Our study employs a mixed-methods approach to learn why some communities have been able to develop and implement CoCs that are effective while others are not. The data for this study integrates multiple sources including: 1) a case study of two CoCs operating in two different metropolitan regions of the U.S., 2) structured, national survey of 383 CoCs, and 3) archival data analysis of 383 CoCs. The key dependent variable measured through the survey is the health care service collaboration and overall health care services available for homeless population. The preliminary results inform service networks that have more members and members from health care industry, and maintains better data and information exchange system achieve effective collaborations.

ABSTRACT. The study of cross-sector collaboration continues to be an important area of study in public management and policy implementation fields. Cross-sector collaboration has become a dominant form of governance in order to solve complicated social problems that cannot be solved by single organizational efforts (Agranoff & McGuire, 2003; Ansell & Gash, 2007; Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2006). Despite advances in the conceptual development, much remains to be empirically explored in cross-sector collaboration. One unexplored area is the question of who leads and does it matter for success in collaborative outcomes? This is an important question for theory and practice when collaborative efforts are hoped to result in positive outcomes for stakeholders involved.

The literature on the cross-sector collaboration suggests that facilitative leadership is an important element (Ansell & Gash, 2007; McGuire & Silvia, 2009). The process of multiple actors working together requires that someone manage network affairs such as identifying resources, recruiting potential partners, and building trust (Agranoff & McGuire, 2001). Based on the literature on collaboration in public management, governments drive cross-sector collaborations. With the use of public dollars, it is said that government is ultimately responsible for the success or failure of such initiatives and as such, it is assumed that government steers the collaboration process (McGuire, 2002). However, recent research has found that nonprofits are with more frequency participating and leading collaboration in local homelessness programs (Valero & Jang, 2016). Thus, this study seeks to fill this gap in the literature and answer the following questions: are nonprofit-led networks more effective than government-led networks in securing financial resources? And, if so, what are the successful factors for success in securing financial resources?

In this study, we use a quantitative dataset including administrative and survey datasets. First, we used the survey of leading agencies in local homelessness networks identified through HUD. 237 respondents completed surveys (62% response rate). We collected type of leading agency, the size of participating organizations, the frequency of regular meetings, and the rate of meeting participation. Second, we gathered secondary data from HUD and Census. From HUD, we collected key information of local CoC networks, the jurisdiction or geography served by the network, the agency responsible for leading the network, and data reported by each network on the homeless population served. From Census, we collected key demographic and community characteristics from the American Community Survey (ACS).

ABSTRACT. Policy implementation is increasingly understood not as a hierarchical and linear process, but as a set of dynamic and repeated social interactions between actors and across strategic action fields, resulting in changes to the behavior of a given target population (Sandfort & Moulton 2015; 2017). This conception of policy implementation embraces complexity and recognizes implementation as a polycentric process, with multiple, overlapping strategic action fields at multiple governance levels. In the current era of the “new governance” (Osborne 2006), the implementation process is often the result of iterative negotiation and coordination between actors that span organizations, sectoral boundaries, and governance levels. To date there has been little empirical work examining how diverse actors at multiple governance levels negotiate the implementation process in practice and over time.

Environmental management on the U.S.’s southern border provides an ideal context to study policy implementation as a complex process shaped by formal laws, organizational structures, and negotiated norms among multiple federal agencies. The border provides an example of a dual policy implementation challenge: in the same geographic area, different federal agencies are responsible for different public service interventions, one focused on national security and the other on mixed-use land management activities, with potential for one agencies’ implementation activities to interfere with other agencies’ in the same geographic area. This paper asks two questions: what aspects of either agencies’ implementation activities interfere with or enhance with other agencies’ implementation activities? And second, what mechanisms have actors developed at multiple governance levels to address these areas of conflict and convergence?

Our research is qualitative and focuses on multiple federal agencies’ implementation activities over a period of ten years, from 2010 to 2017 – a period when Border Patrol’s duty to implement national security policy posed new challenges to federal land managers, prompting public managers to develop new strategies for cross-agency communication and coordination. Using Sandfort & Moulton’s Strategic Action Framework, we draw on a series of interviews with federal land managers and Border Patrol agents conducted in 2010, 2013, and 2017, as well as statutes, regulations, federal planning and compliance documents, and cross-agency Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to analyze the formal laws, rules, and organizations that structure agencies’ implementation activities; the aspects of implementation where overlap, interference, and convergence have occurred; and the way that actors at the front line, organizational, and policy field levels interact and negotiate across agency boundaries.

ABSTRACT. Collaborative governance (CG) networks are intended to bring “multiple stakeholders together in common forums with public agencies to engage in consensus-oriented decision making” (Ansell & Gash, 2008:543), which suggests that the degree to which stakeholders find decision-making processes legitimate is essential to their functioning. But how should we assess whether decision-making is “legitimate”?

To address this, we suggest that the concept of legitimacy within the CG literature needs further theorizing. Oftentimes, “legitimacy” is used reflexively in the DiMaggio & Powell (1983) sense while “legitimate decision-making” is portrayed as an attribute a network has or has not. We therefore import the concepts of input, throughput, and output legitimacy to add nuance to current theorizations of legitimacy (Scharpf 1970, Schmidt 2012). Input legitimacy captures opportunities to offer voice and the degree to which multiple voices are exercised and heard. Throughput legitimacy captures the quality of deliberation, representation of voices, and transparency in decision-making processes. Output legitimacy is the degree to which decision(s) are seen as fair and responsive. With this lens, we see that perceptions of legitimate decision-making can vary at different parts of the decision-making process and even within a single participant.

We assess this theory using data from a comparative case study of 18 Continuums of Care (CoCs). CoCs are CG bodies that plan, oversee, and implement homeless services in every region across the United States. They typically include representatives from governments, nonprofits, and faith communities. For each network we carried out qualitative interviews with network participants until saturation (N=145)

We use thematic analysis of qualitative interviews and Qualitative Comparative Analysis to examine: • To what degree do participants experience input legitimacy and throughput legitimacy as distinct aspects of collaborative decision-making? • What aspects of network design and leadership are associated with participants having a stronger sense of input and/or throughput legitimacy? • How are perceptions of input and throughput legitimacy related to one another, and to output legitimacy?

We find that there are multiple types of and pathways to legitimate decision-making. Notably, we find that decision-making might have throughput legitimacy—the process is perceived as transparent, adequately representative, and deliberative—without having input legitimacy—participants might not feel included or able to give voice. An implication is that designers of CG networks should attend to maximizing both input and throughput legitimacy in network design. Alternatively, large networks might take comfort in knowing that throughput legitimacy can be achieved without input legitimacy.

ABSTRACT. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses an intergovernmental and inter-sectoral system to manage immigration detention facilities. Immigrant detention facilities are operated either: directly by ICE; through agreements with states or local governments; or through ICE contracts with private entities. As the population of detained immigrants continues to increase and deportations remain stagnant, ICE struggles to house detainees. Federal facility overcrowding and consequent confinement quality issues have prompted ICE to collaborate with local governments as one method for expanding detention capacity.  

Government contracts have collaborative elements, and collaboration theory suggests entities contract and/or partner with others to: mitigate resource constraints, expand organizational capacity, and reduce transaction costs. Local governments vary widely on detention contract and collaboration decisions, ranging from embracing – indeed, seeking - formal detention relationships with ICE, to declaring formal or informal “sanctuary city” status. We use collaboration theory, supplemented by literatures on intergovernmental relations and government contracting, to explore local government decisions to detain immigrants, focusing on incentives like economic benefits and ideological positions on ICE policy. Our objective is to identify factors that act as catalysts and inhibitors to localities’ decisions.  

We rely on data from the Department of Justice, and from Freedom of Information Act responses by ICE, to create a nationally representative dataset of 1,464 cities and counties that housed undocumented immigrant for one or more years between 2010 and 2016. We draw also from publicly available city and county economic indicators, organizational capacity measures, and local demographic and ideological data. We compare cities and counties that contract with ICE in a given year to a nationally representative random sample of cities and counties that did not contract with ICE. To gain further perspectives on these decisions, we supplement the analysis with a qualitative inquiry through in-depth interviews with relevant actors from governments that both do and do not contract with ICE, from contracting organizations, and from advocacy and other nonprofit organizations.  

We hope to contribute through this research in two ways. First, we will assess whether and how established collaboration theories can help explain why localities contract and collaborate with ICE to detain undocumented immigrants, focusing on economic, organizational, and community-based factors. Second, we expand the scope of research on federalism and intergovernmental relations and management by examining the roles and impacts of direct federal-local contracts in a policy arena that is traditionally federal and politically charged.

ABSTRACT. Since O’Toole’s (1997) call to “treat network seriously,” a significant body of literature has emerged over the past decade or so that utilizes social network concepts and theories to understand what network structures local governments and other actors form to plan and implement local policies and how those networks influence outcomes. This body of literature is gaining a stature of scholarly subfield in itself. We call this emerging scholarly subfield local governance networks and define them as self-organizing coordination mechanisms through web of relationships involving interdependent actors, as opposed to hierarchy or market, to address barriers to wellbeing of people and places. This literature spans across many local policy areas including local service delivery, local economic development, emergency management, energy sustainability, and water governance, for example. Despite this encouraging development, there is a lack of coherent knowledge about what has been learned so far and where this scholarship is headed. This is especially the case when works in this field differ in research questions asked, substantive focus and contexts studied, theoretical frameworks used, and methods utilized to test the propositions.

We focus on determining patterns across studies on key aspects of this scholarship including the theoretical framework used, the underlying problems and motivations of agents addressed, the network theories used, the network structures hypothesized, and the network structures found to matter. Next, we identify gaps in the current literature and propose a local governance network framework based on the patterns we find across studies. Finally, we chart a research agenda for the future along with guiding propositions. This work contributes to a dialogue among scholars interested in local governance and networks with a shared quest of understanding the antecedents and consequences of local governance networks.

The selected published articles on local governance and networks covering a broad set of local policy areas will serve the basis for our review. To select the articles, we follow two steps. First, we employ a set of keywords to search articles in the relevant journals listed in the Journal Citation Report (JCR) and ABI/INFORM Global databases. Second, after completing the initial article search, we select articles using local governance networks as cases of interest. Finally, we categorize the final set of articles into key themes, noted above, develop a coding scheme, and code them accordingly prior to performing our review.

ABSTRACT. Regional councils of governments are often described as collaborative planning bodies. They provide institutional environments in which elected officials from individual jurisdictions cannot pursue their own local interests over others. Some even claim that voting power in regional policy boards does not affect resource allocation as the organizations are run by strong norm, trust, professionalism, and collective process. Others maintain that cities’ voting power reflects their underlying power and thus it influences the resource outcomes.

In this paper, we first advance theories of power in regional organizations. We argue that the extent to which power is institutionalized within the formal structure influence the collective decision-making process regardless of board members’ intention to exercise their voting power. By extending Clarence Stone’s systematic power concept to institutionalized settings, we develop this theory for any public organizations that are made up with various stakeholders. We then show that institutionalized voting power in regional councils determines their resource allocation outcomes, even when the actors do not perceive so.

Second, we question how local governments in regional councils negotiate their voting rules and how they achieve equitable development through resource allocation. To test this, we examine all transportation projects that have been built and funded by 25 regional councils in Texas from 2000 to 2017. Since regional councils revise their voting rules at the decennial census years, this timeframe enables us to investigate 1) how local jurisdictions change the voting rules and (2) under what conditions the change in cities’ voting power lead to more equitable resource allocation.

To better understand the dynamics leading to changes in voting rules, we also surveyed 60 key policymakers working in these councils. Our preliminary analysis shows that some regional councils have developed voting rules that involve more inclusive representation, but the paths leading to such development are often different, with some involving long-standing conflicts and others proceeding rather smoothly. These variations can help explain subsequent patterns of funding allocations and whether more or less equity can be achieved.

This research provides both theoretical and policy implications. On theoretical contribution, we extend Stone’s invisible power to formal power within the constraints of institutional rules. On policy implication, we argue that regional councils need inclusive power sharing representation for equitable development. Our study also implies that the process through which such inclusive power sharing is achieved affects the extent to which more equitable funding outcomes can be achieved.

ABSTRACT. Policy innovation and diffusion has been an extensively studied topic in public administration and policy (Berry and Berry 1990, 2017; Shipan and Volden 2012). Most students of public administration and policy are familiar with the commonly agreed upon mechanisms in policy diffusion through competition, leaning and coercion (Shipan and Volden 2006; Berry and Berry 2017). For public administration scholars, an interesting yet understudied question remains relevant when studying the diffusion of policy innovations across local governments: what are the roles for local managers in policy innovation and diffusion? In the extant literature on policy diffusion, very few studies have emphasized the role of local managers in policy innovation and diffusion. Teodoro (2009) examined difference between managers who were promoted from within the organization and those who were hired from outside. Yi, Berry and Chen (2018) proposed an Agent Network Diffusion (AND) model to test how leadership transfer networks facilitate the diffusion of energy performance across jurisdictions with spatial regressions. However, additional theoretical and empirical work are needed to elaborate the impact of local managers’ career trajectories on policy diffusion among U.S. local governments. To fill this lacuna, we develop and test hypotheses based on the AND model by examining how the leadership transfer networks, i.e. the career trajectories of local public managers, channel the diffusion of local policy innovations in the area of climate policy. We test the portable innovation hypothesis under AND, and propose a new hypothesis to further elaborate the pathways for policy diffusion through the career trajectories of local managers. To test these hypotheses, we design a novel coding strategy that allows us to embed the leadership transfer network into a panel data structure, on which we employ directed dyadic Event History Analysis (EHA). This study contributes to the literature on policy diffusion by advancing and testing the AND in the context of US local policy innovation with a set of novel testable hypotheses, operationalization strategies and empirical methods. Preliminary results confirmed our hypotheses that the career trajectories of city managers channel diffusion of policy innovations. This study advances a network explanation of the policy diffusion process, by bringing the role of change agents back to the center of policy and organizational innovation.

ABSTRACT. Brazilian fiscal federalism has sought to optimize efficiency in the allocation of public sector resources through the strengthening of local government. However, the Brazilian federalist system has been complex in terms of the accommodation of revenues and expenses among the federated entities. The process of political and fiscal decentralization, intensified in the country after the 1988 constitution, brought greater autonomy to the municipalities and, on the other hand, greater responsibilities and expenses. In order to deal with this paradox (I do not know if the word paradox is good), new institutional arrangements, combining independence with integration, have been fostered by the role of municipalities in order to foster social development and improve management indicators Supervisor. In this framework, municipal public consortia became instruments for the generation of gains in scale, cost reduction and efficiency. In Brazil, this collaborative instrument was driven by Federal Law 11,107 of 2005, called Consortia Law. In spite of the fact that there are studies that correlate the increase in the human development of the municipalities to the participation in municipal public consortia, there is still a gap in the validation of the same correlation in relation to municipal fiscal management indicators. In this sense, this study seeks to assess whether participation in inter-municipal public consortia improves the fiscal management indicators of municipalities. In Brazil, the Federation of Industries of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan) has been releasing the Firjan Fiscal Management Index (IFGF) since 2007, which takes into account five dimensions: own revenues, personnel expenses, investments, liquidity, and debt costs. Firjan ranks municipalities in four levels of management: difficult, critical, good and excellent. Thus, considering the profile of the mayor, vertical and horizontal coordination of management, generation of employment and income, population and population density, a logit panel ordered for the period 2006 to 2016 was estimated, with a total of 57,371 observations. The results showed that municipal fiscal management is positively influenced by participation in municipal public consortia. Municipalities increase the likelihood of advancing to higher levels of fiscal management by participating in this institutional arrangement. The results were also positive in the decomposition by dimensions, with the exception of the cost of debt.

ABSTRACT. Institutions matter when considering government performance. In the local government context, communities in the U.S. have sought new organizational structures to enhance the probability of enhanced government effectiveness. An extensive body of research exists that explores the structure of municipal government from the perspective of accurately categorizing form and speculating that the two primary forms, council-manager and mayor-council, have become less distinct (Frederickson, Johnson, and Wood 2004; Carr and Karruppusamy 2008; DeSantis and Renner 2002; Nelson and Svara 2010). The council-manager form, considered a reform-type government structure, was developed during the Progressive Era, appearing first in Staunton, Virginia in 1908. Spreading rapidly around the country, the council-manager form is now the most popular form of government in U.S. municipalities with a population of at least 2,500 (ICMA). A still unanswered question is why some municipalities adopt the council-manager form while others abandon it. Each year, there are efforts in some U.S. municipalities to modify their form of government from council-manager to mayor-council or the reverse. Studies of these adoption/abandonment efforts have only focused on the largest municipalities. Knoke (1982) examined changes in the 267 largest cities between 1900-1942. Similarly, Choi, Feiock, and Bae (2014) used data for the 191 largest U.S. cities in 1930 and traced adoption and abandonments of form up through 2005. Protasel (1988) was the first to suggest a new institutionalist perspective on form of government choice. He used ICMA Form of Government survey data from 1981 and 1986. This research seeks to expand on this research and test the conclusions from previous research by tracing efforts to change government form between 1980 and 2018 for all municipalities with populations of 30,000 or above as of the 2000 Census. In addition to taking a more comprehensive look at cities that experienced change efforts, this study examines both the timing and outcome of referenda that proposed a change in form to determine whether patterns exist that can predict success or failure.

ABSTRACT. Previous literature had already studied what are the determinants that influence, positively and negatively, the individual propensity towards blowing the whistle; nevertheless, one of the main weaknesses of whistleblowing policies is that they are not effective enough in inducing the witnesses to report wrongdoing. In addition to that, there are still no studies in the public sector that exploit an experimental design to take into account the role of individual awareness about the consequences in concrete terms –both at an institutional and individual level– on the personal attitude about this phenomenon.

We exploited a survey experiment –taking as reference the public sector employees of the city of Milan– to deliver a questionnaire asking about whistleblowing propensities as well as the most relevant influencing factors when it comes to report an illicit behavior. We previously randomized the distribution of some additional information about the economic costs for the state due to non-reported behaviors, as well as the framing related to potential gain/losses for the individual. The “institutional message” tests whether an increased awareness of the phenomenon stimulates whistleblowing propensity, while the “subjective” ones (positive and negative framing about the individual consequences of reporting) test the relevance of the Prospect Theory in this context; in addition to that, we also tested whether the relationship between information and propensity is mediated by individual’s risk attitude.

Finally, we identified the persistence of the treatments over time through two channels: a follow-up survey, delivered after one month, and the monitoring of the online traffic of the municipality reporting platform. In terms of policy implications, this contribution stresses how information disclosure and its framing can be an innovative policy, effective as a well-developed legislative apparatus but at significantly lower economic and political costs.

ABSTRACT. Worldwide, public sector spending accounts for 17.1 percent of global GDP and has a carbon footprint nine times that of buildings and vehicle fleets combined. Many governments have responded by endorsing sustainable public purchasing (SPP). However, despite the widespread promotion of SPP, we have limited understanding of the conceptual factors related to SPP adoption.

The gap in our understanding of SPP adoption spans two related fields. The first relates to sustainable purchasing in the private sector, where scholars have examined how ethical or social factors are related to private sector purchasing and discussed the merits and limitations of SPP, in addition to the facilitators and barriers of SPP implementation. The second research field relates to public purchasing more broadly, where scholars have focused on issues related to contract management, collaborative contracting, purchasing groups and the tendering process. Other public purchasing studies have examined how public sector purchasing can co-produce societal benefits such as innovations in public service provision or economic development.

What is missing across both literatures is an understanding of the theoretical factors motivating public sector organizations to redirect their purchasing priorities towards the purchase of more sustainable products. Developing such a framework is important because, compared to the private sector, the public sector has been slow to adopt sustainable purchasing. This may be due to a lack of flexibility and profit motivation which changes the nature of sustainable purchasing in the public sector. The public sector also has more competing priorities for how it uses purchasing because, in addition to pursuing fiscal responsibility, the public sector uses purchasing as a mechanism to promote social equity and economic development. Understanding the theoretical aspects of SPP adoption may, therefore, help identify critical factors that facilitate or impede the public sectors’ SPP adoption. Additionally, developing a conceptual framework of SPP creates a much needed foundation for future empirical examination of SPP adoption, the implementation process, and environmental outcomes.

This paper responds to these concerns by developing a conceptual framework of SPP adoption. It undertakes a thematic analysis of more than 150 prior studies across business and public management to identify three general constructs related to public sector decisions to adopt SPP: capacity, disposition, and stakeholders. Each of these constructs is constrained or facilitated by the economic setting. They are the basis for research propositions that inform a broader research agenda for understanding the important issue of public sector sustainable purchasing.

ABSTRACT. Nonprofit organizations perform a variety of societal roles, including civic and political engagement, service delivery, social innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as serving as a platform for expressing values of individual citizens (Frumkin, 2002). The ability of organizations to perform their various roles depends upon organizational and leadership capacity (Light, 2004), resources that organizations possess (Moulton & Eckerd, 2012), and the effectiveness of the organizations themselves (Liket & Maas, 2015). Effective performance of roles also depends on the quality of stakeholder relationships (Bryson, 2004; Kim, 2016). In local communities, nonprofit organizations are increasingly seen as vehicles of sustainable development, which includes their contributions to environmental sustainability (Portney & Cuttler, 2010) and their impact on local economic and social systems (Wright, 2010; Moldavanova, 2016; Salamon, 2012). Some nonprofit, such as environmental, community development, and social service organizations are seen as organic actors in local sustainability discourses (Portney & Cuttler, 2010; Wright, 2010), while contributions of others, such as arts and culture nonprofits, may not be as apparent (Markusen, 2014). Arts and culture nonprofits, however, perform a variety of roles that foster sustainable communities. This article argues that cultural organizations are crucial elements of sustainable communities. Among the positive effects of cultural organizations in local communities are their contributions to economic development (DiMaggio & Mukhtar, 2004; Tubadji, Osoba, & Nijkamp, 2015; Rushton & Landesman, 2013), innovation (Florida, 2002), enriched social climates (Hager & Winkler, 2012; LeRoux & Bernadska, 2014), and the cultivation of values associated with sustainability (Moldavanova, 2013, 2014; Throsby, 1995; Tubadji et al., 2015). Despite the recognition of the positive impact of arts and culture nonprofits on local communities, much less is known about the environmental and organizational drivers of such contributions. This article addresses the described gap in the literature by investigating the wide range of roles associated with arts and culture nonprofits’ engagement in community sustainability, as well as the relationship that exists between several elements of organizational strategy and sustainability-related roles. In particular, we ask the following research question: What are the organizational drivers of arts and culture nonprofits’ engagement in community sustainability? Drawing upon data collected from a survey of 175 nonprofits in the state of Michigan, we test hypotheses about the relationship that exists between elements of organizational strategy and arts and culture nonprofits’ commitment to community sustainability.

ABSTRACT. Research Question

Do the contingency factors proposed by Provan and Kenis (2008) to explain the effectiveness of network governance structures also explain their adoption by networks of humanitarian international non-governmental organizations (INGOs)?

Provan and Kenis’ (2008) theory on the effectiveness of network governance structures proposes that certain network governance arrangements (i.e. shared, lead, and network administrative organization (NAO)) are likely to be more effective than others under certain conditions. However, there have been few tests of this theory. Perhaps partially due to the challenges in operationalizing network effectiveness. In this paper, I take an ecological approach by asking the question of whether certain network governance structures are likely to exist under the conditions where they are proposed to be the most effective. And if so, which factors are most useful for explaining the adoption of one governance structure over another?

Research Methods, Data and Findings

To answer these questions, I use Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to analyze the combinations of contingency factors that explain the existence of each of the three network governance structures. The data for this study was collected from the constitutions, by-laws, financial statements and annual reports of 41 humanitarian INGO networks headquartered across 11 countries. The networks were identified through a systematic review of 24 national registries and 5 international registries of humanitarian INGOs using a methodology similar to that used in the development of the State of the Humanitarian System study commissioned by ALNAP. The analysis suggests that size, resource dependence and to a lesser extent need for network level competencies are most useful for explaining the existence of network governance structures.

Implications

These findings have implications for both theory and practice. First, it appears that the network governance structures discussed by Provan and colleagues are most responsive to pragmatic factors regarding decision-making and accountability over social factors such as trust, goal consensus and identity. Second, accepting that these structures are less a tool with which to balance organizational tensions and more of a context in which organizational tensions are managed, more work needs to be done to understand how particular tensions are managed within each of these contexts.

ABSTRACT. This paper seeks to assess what transparency looks like in the grantmaking decisions of foundations and how transparency relates to administrative capacity. Actions taken to increase transparency has been a practiced defense by foundations against criticism for being opaque and unaccountable (Frumkin, 2006). While not a cure-all, transparency is viewed by practitioners and scholars as a tool for greater accountability by encouraging foundations to be honest, accessible and timely about how they do their work and the outcomes they produce (GrantCraft, 2014). However, while transparency is believed to increase public trust in foundations (Fleishman, 2009) and enhance relationships with grantees (Bolduc, Buchanan, & Buteau, 2007), it can also inhibit practices that are more achievable under opaque conditions (Desai, 2012). Benefits such as efficiency and control are created by closing the door to unsolicited proposals (Cohen, 2014). Despite growing interest in transparency among academics and practitioners, to date, researchers have focused on public charities, not foundations. In a notable exception, Reid (2018) found that foundations are transparent with their strategic partners and opaque with others to limit external control that reduces efficiency and innovation for foundations, thus suggesting that transparency has complex effects on foundations. However, Reid’s study uses a small sample and the results are less generalizable, particularly regarding large foundations. This paper uses data collected from IRS Form 990 PF and the IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) Private Foundations Harmonized Microdata Files for the years 2000-2014. Regression analysis with year and foundation Fixed Effects is applied. The sample of private foundations is selected using stratified random sampling by foundation size with complete coverage of the largest foundations. The dependent variables of openness in grantmaking is measured using proxy variables including diversity of grantees and persistence in foundations granting the same organizations. Independent variables of administrative capacity include administrative expenses, organizational age, staff and board size, and online presence. A positive relationship is hypothesized between openness and capacity. Interviews will be conducted to assess my theoretical approach. The theoretical contribution of this study is that it provides new indicators of transparency via openness with available information. My findings offer empirical insights for policymakers and the public to consider when assessing the reasonableness of requiring openness in grantmaking. These insights provide sources of information for foundations seeking to increase legitimacy and more information for grant seekers about grant application strategies by examining organizational attributes related to transparency.

ABSTRACT. Policy innovation and diffusion theory has been extensively researched since its creation; however, there is limited research that investigates the benefits public managers receive for being early adopters as opposed to late adopters of policies designed to expand coverage of services. With public managers tasked with advising legislatures on what policies to enact, and determining how to implement policies legislatures pass, this research provides needed evidence to inform managers of the benefits and consequences associated with adopting new policies at early or later dates. In other words, are there first mover advantages to being innovative? While one paper can never be generalized to all policy, we explore the early mover impacts of states that expanded coverage under the ACA to see if the impacts on health care coverage and cost savings are realized years later by being an early adopter of Medicaid expansion.

This paper uses data from every Medicaid expansion state in a regression analysis to identify statistically significant relationships between states and Roger’s Theory of Diffusion to categorize the states from early adopters (2010) to laggards (most current year). This includes a comparison between states that are categorized as Early Adopters of Medicaid expansion and their respective emergency room costs in contrast to states that waited to adopt Medicaid expansion. Current research focuses on what makes a state an “early adopter” and the state’s characteristics; however, outcomes are not compared for Roger’s categories of policy adopters. There is a lacuna of information on the consequences of policy adoption based on time.

Our hypothesis is that Early Adopter states will see a cost-savings as people move out of high cost care into lower cost routine care. The innovator and early adopter states experience these savings sooner than the states that chose to wait to expand. We hypothesize that expansion states will also experience higher savings because individuals will have earlier access to preventative care and the proven savings accompanied with this.

There are several implications of this paper. First, this paper advances both theories by addressing the gap in research that measures the results of early policy adoption in contrast to later policy adoption. This paper will stimulate other studies in to determine if the assumptions about Early Adopters of Medicaid expansion are applicable to other Early Adopters. Furthermore, this paper provides evidence rooted in theory and empirical research that will inform and motivate policymakers to pass innovative legislation.

ABSTRACT. A central question in bureaucratic politics and public administration is the extent to which public agencies are responsive and accountable. Although responsiveness and accountability are complex concepts, in general we expect agencies to respond to problems identified by clients, the media, and elected officials. However, whether and to what extent bureaucracies can respond to problems should be affected by capacity in government.

We are interested in the capacity of both executive agencies and legislative institutions. In order to be responsive to problems, government needs legislative institutions that have the capacity to monitor public agencies. We argue that legislatures that are more professionalized with greater staff, longer sessions, and well-compensated elected officials will have greater capacity, to monitor public agencies and create pressure to respond. Similarly, public agencies need high capacity to adapt to meet implementation challenges. We focus on how human resources within public agencies affect their ability to change behavior. We focus on staff pay, unionization, professional organization membership, and number of staff. Interestingly, theory in this area provides contrary expectations for whether resources such as unionization and professionalization will make public agencies more or less responsive.

Using the case of Social Security Disability, we examine the moderating influence of legislative and agency capacity to responsiveness to poor performance. Backlogs in the Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs is a major implementation issue that has been continuously identified by the media and Congress in the past couple of decades. Our approach has the benefit of investigating bureaucracies all performing the same task with the same incentives but in states with different levels of legislative capacity and with different levels of agency capacity. We test how legislative and agency capacity influence responsiveness to disability backlogs using data on the number of determinations in state Disability Determination Services offices between 1990 and 2015. Contrasting prior studies on the detrimental effects of unions on bureaucratic responsiveness (e.g, Chen and Johnson 2015, Moe 2009), our findings suggest that unionization enhances responsiveness to disability claim backlogs. However, we fail to find evidence that legislative capacity has such a relationship. These findings highlight the importance of human resources in public agencies over capacity for external influence from legislatures in addressing implementation problems.

ABSTRACT. Emerging public administration scholarship has revealed the negative impact of administrative burden, or onerous experiences of government, on access to public programs (Heinrich, 2016; Heinrich & Brill, 2015; Herd, DeLeire, Harvey, & Moynihan, 2013; Moynihan & Herd, 2010; Moynihan, Herd, & Harvey, 2015). However, scholars have yet to thoroughly explore the mechanisms by which administrative burden is translated to restricted program take-up at the local level. In this article, we utilize a mutually supportive mixed-methods case study design to explore the role of unequal conditions at the street-level in facilitating, or impeding, clients’ ability to overcome administrative burden and gain access to the Oklahoma’s Promise program—a means-tested college scholarship program. Drawing on literature on administrative burden and street-level bureaucracy, we develop a series of hypotheses predicting the set of potential mechanisms by which uneven street-level conditions translate to restricted program access at the local level. We combine data from four main sources: first, we leverage a statewide survey of SLBs in charge of implementing the Oklahoma Promise program; second, we supplement the quantitative evidence with in-depth follow-up interviews of the survey respondents; third, we leverage data available through the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core Dataset (CCD) on high school characteristics to account for the variation across high schools shaping the task environments and resources available to SLBs; and fourth, we gather data from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education on the number of students in each high school enrolling in the promise program. Based on our regression and grounded theory analysis, we find two major mechanisms at play influencing the level of program access at the local level. First, we find that street-level bureaucrats play an important role in facilitating client resilience to administrative burden. Specifically, we find the self-identified role, party identification, perceived support from administration, task environment, and beliefs about responsibility are significant predictors. Second, we find that the structural inequalities in the capacity of local agencies serves as a mechanism by which administrative burden exacerbates existing inequalities and may undermine the equalizing force of public programs. These findings have both theoretical and normative implications, suggesting that in systems affected by administrative burden, in which the administration of burdens is delegated to structural unequal local agencies, bureaucracy may in fact perpetuate existing cleavages instead of serving as an equalizing force for clients seeking access to programs.

ABSTRACT. Research Question In this study, we use the Strategic Action Field Framework (SAF) (Moulton and Sandfort, 2015) to explore policy implementation and coordination at the bounds of the framework’s tools for stability and change. We situate our question at the intersection of public management and policy process. Specifically, we explore the politics of the implementation process to understand the strategic action fields that organizations use to implement policy when political authority and economic authority is weak.

Summary of Theory The SAF theorizes the actions of political actors involved in the process of policy implementation. The framework is useful for centering organizations in the policy-making process. This research uses an empirical lens to examine three of the framework’s main drivers of stability and change: Political Authority (i.e. political or legislative power); Exogenous shocks (i.e. changes in the environmental or funding); Social skills (i.e. brokering and bridging tools).

Methodology We examine organizational actors in Community Child Protection Teams (CCPTs) in North Carolina. CCPTs are county level interagency collaborative structures mandated by state statute. To understand the variance in CCPT implementation across counties, we used data collected in a longitudinal survey instrument to construct an exogenous measure of county wealth to stratify the counties in North Carolina by resource level. The results from the survey were then used to construct a quantitative measure of CCPT activity level for each county. We then calculated the overall frequency of participation to produce a 3-year moving average and divided it into quartiles (inactive-highly active). This allowed us to stratify CCPTs by both activity and resource level. Next, we interviewed county level CCPT chairs and members (N=20). The interviews took an interpretative phenomenological approach and were semi-structured in design.

Findings Findings indicated that members focused on local value creation, maximizing the benefits to local child-welfare policy and aligning coordination and policy activity with external agency processes to maximize the benefits of a mandated implementation tool for the individual agencies involved. CCPTs were effectively implemented when agency-specific benefits were prioritized.

Implications Our study extends the SAF Framework with an empirical examination of the relative bounds of the drivers of organizational coordination and policy implementation. When there is weak political impetus and little exogenous funding or interest, we find that policy actors can use social skills to maximize agency level benefits, minimize agency level transaction costs, and create policy at the local level in ways that benefit member agencies.

ABSTRACT. A 2015 survey conducted by the Association of American Universities(AAU) reports that nearly 23% of college students report receiving some form of unwanted sexual contact. Despite the sweeping instances of assault and federal investigations that have followed, few studies have attempted to understand the likelihood of inappropriate handling of sexual assault cases from an organizational level. The current study examines sexual assault through a lens of representative bureaucracy using data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and official documents of investigations by the Department of Education for violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. We estimate the likelihood of investigation using a fixed effects event history analysis. We find that higher proportions of women in senior administrative posts increase the likelihood of external investigations. These findings suggest that bureaucratic representation influences the policies, programs and procedures that disproportionately affect a subgroup of clients or citizens of these organizations. Ultimately this demonstrates that representative organizations are more responsive to the clients whom they serve by relying on externally imposed sanctions to effect systematic change.

ABSTRACT. The literature on representative bureaucracy contains numerous studies showing a correlation between bureaucrat-client racial congruence and improved outcomes for the latter (see Kennedy 2014). Very little research, however, has examined the actual decision process that leads to active representation. Instead, most studies simply assume that any observed correlation arises because bureaucrats are more sympathetic to clients of the same race due to shared experience, values, or culture, which leads them to act in a way that benefits the latter (Mosher 1982; Nicholson-Crotty et al. 2016).

We investigate this foundational assumption of representative bureaucracy in order to better understand the causal mechanism underlying representation behavior. For theoretical guidance we look to work in social psychology on the reasons why people sometimes forgo their narrow self-interest in order to benefit others. That work finds that sympathy is an important predictor of the willingness to cooperate with strangers and that perceived interdependence increases sympathy and, therefore, to cooperate (Irwin et al. 2008). If the assumptions underlying representative bureaucracy are accurate, then we should be able to observe the impact of racial congruence on actions that benefit the other through both its influence on the relationship between interdependence and sympathy and between interdependence and cooperation.

We will test expectations related to this general proposition in two experiments conducted in a panel of 300 public employees including 150 police officers. This Qualtrics panel is 50% African American (for both police and other employees) in order to give sufficient power across different categories of race match. The experiments are adaptations of validated studies in social psychology. The first manipulates interdependence through a vignette and then examines whether the impact of shared fortune on sympathy expressed for a hypothetical partner is moderated by racial congruence between the subject and that partner. The second forces interdependence via a prisoner’s dilemma game and manipulates race congruence between the subject and the other person playing the game. We are interested in the degree to which the relationship between racial congruence and cooperative behavior is mediated by the level of sympathy for the other player expressed by subjects in different race match categories. We believe the results will help to illuminate the causal mechanisms that underlie representation behavior by public employees and may help explain the inconsistent impact of representation in law enforcement agencies.

ABSTRACT. The literature on representative bureaucracy provides compelling evidence that passive representation, the presence of certain demographic groups in an agency’s workforce, can translate into active representation, decision-making that reflects the interests of those same groups of constituents. Yet most studies of representative bureaucracy have focused on decision-making that affects constituents, clients, or program beneficiaries outside an organization, or what we term “external active representation.” Much less is known about the extent of any connection between passive representation and active representation of demographic groups within an organization, including employee engagement and satisfaction. Further, the representative bureaucracy literature has most often examined organizations operating at the local level, where active representation can be observed through direct discretionary actions taken by street-level bureaucrats, while less is known about active and passive representation at the federal level, where the impact of active representation may be less direct. This study contributes to both of these important, yet understudied questions, through an examination of the relationships among passive representation, employee engagement and satisfaction, and federal agencies’ commitment to equity principles in their strategic plans. Using original data collected for 24 large federal agencies, combined with employee responses for those agencies on the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 2014 to 2017, we examine three questions: (1) whether passive representation, as measured by the demographic characteristics of these agencies’ workforces, is associated with employee views of their agency’s support of equity; (2) the extent to which passive representation and employee views are linked to a form of active representation, the articulation of an organizational commitment to equity in agency strategic plans; and (3) whether equity commitments in strategic plans, in turn, are linked to employee engagement and satisfaction in these same agencies. In doing so, we make two key contributions to the literature on representative bureaucracy. First, we contribute empirically to the study of representative bureaucracy at the federal level, helping to develop knowledge in this understudied area. Second, we provide evidence of the potential connection between passive and active representation of demographic groups within government entities, or what we term “internal active representation,” by offering two novel ways of measuring active representation internally.

ABSTRACT. Representative bureaucracy theory generally falls within three categories: passive, active, and symbolic. Passive representation, sometimes referred to as descriptive representation (Kennedy, 2014), refers to relative proportionality of demographic groups between an organization and constituents (Kenneth John Meier, 1975; Riccucci & Van Ryzin, 2017). Active representation, however, refers to actual changes in policies and decision making as a result of representativeness (Meier & Nicholson-Crotty, 2006; Riccucci & Van Ryzin, 2017). It predicts that the identification bureaucrats have with those of similar demographic characteristics will lead to favorable outcomes for that group.

Organizations have adopted conflict management systems and dispute resolution to facilitate organizational justice, which correlates with employee citizenship behaviors including reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, team performance, and morale. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires that federal agencies provide voluntary dispute resolution to address workplace discrimination complaints. Every federal agency adopted mediation in response to EEOC regulations and the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (Bingham and Wise, 1996).

However, no research to date has addressed representative bureaucracy in the context of an organization’s use of mediation or dispute resolution for employment conflict. Specifically, what difference does it make to a complainant when the mediator in their case matches them as to gender or race? Representative bureaucracy theory suggests that more balanced levels of demographic representation will increase perceptions of organizational justice.

This paper explores the effect demographic representation of mediators has on employee complainants’ perceptions of organizational justice in the U.S. Postal Service REDRESS Program, which provides voluntary mediation for claims of workplace discrimination. Researchers analyzed complainants’ mediation exit surveys for perceptions of organizational justice when a mediator’s race or gender matched the nature of the complaint or purview as race discrimination, sex discrimination, or sexual harassment. Multivariate regression analyses supported representative bureaucracy theory as to complainants who filed sexual harassment claims; they reported higher perceptions of organizational justice with female mediators. Findings were not statistically significant for female mediators in sexual discrimination claims. However, in race discrimination claims handled by African-American mediators, complainants reported significantly lower perceptions of organizational justice. Increasing demographic parity between the bureaucracy and public it serves promotes social equity, but it is not sufficient for perceptions of equity. The paper presentation discusses these findings, their implications for public and nonprofit management practices, and avenues for future research in relation to the role of mediators in dispute resolution.

ABSTRACT. Post-bureaucratic organization forms such as teamwork have been introduced in the public sector due to changing demands in society, requiring public organizations to be flexible, innovative, and responsive. These decentralized and deregulated organization forms may lose what was the original purpose of bureaucracies: reducing uncertainty for employees (Gajduschek, 2003). Uncertainty can be defined as a problem of incomplete, unclear or conflicting information about goals, roles, and tasks.

In the absence of rules uncertainty reduction is to be realized through social interactions among team members and their supervisors. In this study, we therefore look at the effect of leadership and interaction of employees with their peers on employees’ uncertainty experiences.

By researching these managerial rather than structural antecedents of uncertainty, this article expands on the current literature in which uncertainty reduction is generally achieved through high levels of formalization in the organization (cf. Raaphorst 2018). This has implications for practice as well, since it would allow organizations to maintain their decentralized and deregulated organization form whilst at the same time managing uncertainty for employees.

The theoretical expectations include the hypothesis that transformational leadership is aimed at elevating and aligning individual interests with organizational goals and therefore reduces goal uncertainty. On the other hand, the process of team information elaboration, which can be defined as ‘the exchange, discussion, and integration of task-relevant information and perspectives’ (Van Dick et al 2008: 1466), is expected to reduce task uncertainty.

Empirically, this study uses data from a large-scale survey among public welfare professionals in the Netherlands. This survey has over 1100 respondents from 214 teams in the previous year and is currently being repeated in the same teams. We aim to study the within-person differences between two years. This longitudinal approach enables us to draw conclusions on actual uncertainty reduction.

References: Gajduschek, G. (2003). Bureaucracy: Is it efficient? Is it not? Is that the question? Uncertainty reduction: An ignored element of bureaucratic rationality. Administration & Society, 34(6), 700-723. Raaphorst, N. (2018). How to prove, how to interpret and what to do? Uncertainty experiences of street-level tax officials. Public Management Review, 20(4), 485-502. Van Dick, R., Van Knippenberg, D., Hägele, S., Guillaume, Y. R., & Brodbeck, F. C. (2008). Group diversity and group identification: The moderating role of diversity beliefs. Human Relations, 61(10), 1463-1492.

ABSTRACT. The call for creating a more entrepreneurial and innovative public workforce guided by transformational leaders has become a constant refrain in popular outlets and academic scholarship. It has even been institutionalized into public organizations through policies like the U.S. OPM’s Executive Core Qualifications. Yet, the values of institutional stability, efficiency, equity, as well as formalization, and red tape often raise questions about the suitability of innovation, risk-taking, and other actions that challenge current processes in traditionally bureaucratic public institutions and highly political settings. Bozeman and Kingsley (1998) maintain that a manager’s perception of risk culture impacts subsequent risk-taking behaviors and employee actions. Nicolson-Crotty, Nicolson-Crotty, and Fernandez (2017) examine the interplay of culture, performance, and risk taking within the public sector. This research takes a similar approach in unpacking factors associated with the intersection between organizational setting and individual innovative behaviors.

Do public sector context, values, and pressures create perceived or real barriers to individuals engaging in transformative leadership behavior? This research examines the frequency with which public and nonpublic practitioners engage in actions to build cultures of innovation and psychological empowerment for employees, exploring what factors predict engagement in such actions. This research examines sector as one distinction, but also explores a number of other intersectional dimensions including personal demographics, institutional and industry type variables, and personal motivation and satisfaction.

The population for this study was drawn from a proprietary database from a global organization that provides 360-degree online assessments for leaders. Focal leaders and their invited observers (e.g., direct reports, coworkers, and managers) assess how frequently they have engaged in various leadership behaviors. Respondents represent varied institutional levels, consistent with O’Neal and Nalbandian (2018) and Getha-Taylor et al.’s (2011) recognition of the need to understand and promote leadership throughout public organizations. Scores are drawn from multiple observers as to the frequency at which an individual engages in entrepreneurial actions, organizational culture development, and individual development behaviors. This dataset provides a large sample composed of interested participants who are assessed on the natural behaviors they engage in. The sample was collected between 2013 and 2017. The sample includes 10,820 individuals employed in local, state, or federal government and held a managerial position (with 66,816 linked observers). The sample of private sector respondents for the same time period includes over a million responses allowing for selection of matched sample based on demographic indicators.

ABSTRACT. Public sector innovation is a booming topic. In the past decade alone, scholars published over 100 articles on the topic (De Vries et al. 2016, 2018). In addition, every self-respecting government is producing innovation frameworks, visions, and plans: politicians and public managers alike want to be seen to be ‘innovative’ (‘t Hart 2014; Osborne and Brown 2011; Van der Wal 2017). In many articles and reports, innovative public organizations are portrayed as the opposite of traditional bureaucracies. Where such bureaucracies constrain reform potential, display inertia and rigidity, and provide incentives for maintaining the status quo, innovative public organizations are presented as a panacea for the perceived inability of public agencies and leaders to address 21st century, wicked policy challenges.

Our paper compares how support of both the immediate supervisor and senior management and a supportive organizational environment affect the implementation of innovation, and how these effects interact. The following research question guides our paper: How do senior executive support, immediate supervisor support, and agency culture affect realized innovation in public agencies?

We employ the most recent dataset from the Australian Public Service Commission (the 2017 APSC) with over 80,000 respondents to measure innovation implemented in the direct working environment of employees. For years, Australia’s government has been among the most highly ranked globally in terms of innovation and government effectiveness, and the country was an early adaptor of new public management, implementing private sector practices and ideas from the 1980s onwards (Bankins et al. 2016; Demircioglu & Audretsch, 2017; Marsh and Edwards 2009; OECD 2016; Pollitt and Bouckaert 2017; Worldbank 2018). Thus, the Australian public sector provides a suitable environment for studying the effects of leadership and culture on public sector innovation.

Results show that although senior executive support, immediate supervisor support, and agency culture are positively associated with realized public sector innovation, the effects of agency culture are more important than others. This study also compares results based on major factors—size of organizations, work location, job level, work experience, education, and gender—for the implementation of innovation. These findings further demonstrate the robustness of the findings that regardless of the organizational and individual variables that immediate supervisor, senior executive, and organizational culture that support innovation are positively associated with the implementation of innovation. Our findings corroborate de Vries et al. (2018) and Demircioglu and Audretsch (2018)’s suggestion that multilevel effects should be used more often to analyze innovation.

ABSTRACT. Public service organizations can encounter crisis situations that can harm their reputation substantially, which in turn can have a long-lasting impact on stakeholder supporting intentions. Therefore, to understand how public organizations can recover from such crisis situations, it is important to know how various stakeholders react to crisis and to follow-up information from and about these organizations (Grimmelikhuijsen et al. 2018). Therefore, we focus on public mission valence of organizations (Wright and Pandey 2011), and we hypothesize and test how it moderates stakeholder reactions to crisis information and to follow-up information to recover from this crisis. With a socio-cognitive theoretical perspective on reputation building (Rindova et al. 2006), we derive sets of contrasting hypotheses that focus on either an unrepairable trust breach or on a process of stakeholder forgivingness following a crisis. A core element of our theoretically-derived predictions incorporate the moderating role of mission valence in these processes. We conducted two online experiments (n1 = 304, n2 = 582), each with a within-and-between-subjects design, in which respondents in two groups were confronted with a series of messages about the focal organization. In one group, respondents received first the crisis information (i.e. a strong negative signal), and subsequently a random set of positive signals (i.e. a series of six positive signals about the organization). In the second group, respondents received first the positive signals, and finished with the negative crisis signal. We measured supporting intentions after each signal. Such design enabled us to conduct a slope-shift analysis (Homburg et al. 2006), and we can verify how the reputation building slope of six positive signals is different when it was preceded by a crisis. More importantly, we can test how perceived mission valence, as it is perceived by stakeholders, influences this reputation (re-)building slope. Both experiments reveal consistent results, namely, that a double moderation effect exists on stakeholder supportive intentions from the combination of high mission valence and positive signals, indicating a forgivingness process among stakeholders that feel stronger involved with the organization. In contrast, the combination of high mission valence and the negative crisis signal indicates a proportionally stronger trust breach on supporting intention. We frame these results in the socio-cognitive literature on reputation building and in the emerging field of bureaucratic reputation theory in the public administration literature.

ABSTRACT. An institutional crisis occurs when a policy sector or public organization is confronted with a sharp decline in legitimacy (Boin & ’t Hart, 2000), indicating that the viability of the policy sector or organization is at stake; its future can no longer be guaranteed (Ansell et al., 2016). Specifically, institutional crisis indicate a mismatch between the organization and its environment. Yet, while several institutional crises have been identified over the years, little attention has been paid to the specific causes that create institutional crises.

This article seeks to fill this gap by exploring the underlying dynamics that led to an institutional crisis in the context of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. The case is analyzed over a 24 year period (1995 – 2018) using a state of the art research method, i.e. topic modeling an unsupervised machine learning technique. This technique reveals which topics are being addressed over the years in the media in relation to the DTCA. In addition, a sentiment analysis identifies in which period in time the DTCA had received negative media attention. By combining the sentiment analysis and the topic modelling, the prevalent and dominant topics will be distinguished that are being discussed in the process towards institutional crisis. In the second phase, the data is studied more in-depth to understand what mismatches occurred. The preliminary results show that, contrary to the assumptions in research to date, institutional crises may also arise because of a mismatch between political ambitions, organizational capacity and operational activities. Secondly, the culture of an organization or government may act as a catalyst. 

The contribution of this study is twofold. First, we answer recent calls to empirically study the dynamics of institutional crises in more detail (Nohrstedt, Bynander, Parker, & Hart, 2018; Schmidt et al., 2018). Second, the article puts forward a tentative conceptual model aimed at identifying an institutional crisis as it develops based on the case study findings. This model may serve as a steppingstone for future research, and may assist managers in their efforts to address institutional crises as they develop.

ABSTRACT. In the United States and other democratic countries, government bureaucracies have been increasingly politicized with politicians appealing to electoral or ideological preferences (Pfiffner 1987; Beyers and Kerremans 2004). How would politicization of government bureaucracies influence the important roles they play in a democracy, in areas like fulfillment of goals, delivery of service, or maintain positive public images and citizen satisfaction? Carpenter (2010) defines agency reputation as “a set of beliefs about an organization’s capacities, intentions, history, and mission that is embedded in a network of multiple audiences. In their important PAR article, Carpenter and Krause (2012) argues that reputation is very important to understand the role of public administration in a democracy and identifies four dimensions of bureaucratic reputation: performative, moral, procedural and technical. Using survey experiments, Teodoro and An (2018) test a model of brand equity and find that agencies’ brand or reputation positively affect support for federal management, but the results are conditioned by partisanship. However, we have little knowledge when it comes to how agency reputation would fluctuate in a broader political context with trends of politicization. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model of how politicization would affect agency reputation from both a citizen-based perspective and agency-based perspective. We test the model using a machine learning approach and data collected from Twitter. To be specific, we collected all tweets posted by 15 federal agencies’ official account from 2008 to 2017 and all public tweets that mentioned these agencies from May 2016 to March 2017. We use a machine learning approach to analyze four dimensions of agency reputation (Anastasopoulos and Whitford, forthcoming) using these tweets collected. Partisanship information of individual users who tweeted at these federal agencies are collected and matched before and after the 2016 election. Two synthetic control models are employed to test the changes of agency reputation from both a citizen-based perspective and agency-based perspective.

ABSTRACT. Following the Columbine school shooting in 1991, placing safety officers in schools became a common policy practice intended to prevent violence and increase school safety. As School Resource Officers (SROs) navigate between local law enforcement and public schools, SROs often experience role ambiguity in their assignments. In the 2016 School Survey on Crime and Safety fielded by the NCES, 28% of respondents reported that their school did not “have any formalized policies or written documents that outlined the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of sworn law enforcement officers at school.” Therefore, once placed at a school, SROs take on roles ranging from traffic control to discipline and mentorship. This research seeks to understand how the multiple roles of SROs influence their effectiveness in terms of school safety.

Research on street-level bureaucrats and public managers has established that a lack of role clarity and an increase in role expectations leads to poor policy implementation (Langbein, 2000; Rizzo, House & Lirtzman, 1970) and greater turnover (Hassan, 2013, Rizzo et al., 1970). There is little research that empirically links role ambiguity or conflict to organizational performance. However, research on goal ambiguity does suggest a negative relationship exists between ambiguous organizational priorities and managerial effectiveness (Chun & Rainey, 2005). Our expectation is that as the number and type of roles increase for SROs, student safety will decline.

To explore the relationship between the roles of SROs and their effectiveness we utilize data from the 2015-2016 NCES School Survey on Crime and Safety, which nationally surveyed school administrators and security staff. We use regression analysis to explore how the number of roles and the mismatch in role type (i.e. discipline vs. mentorship/training vs. patrol) influence outcomes. The outcomes we observe include the schools’ arrest rates, hate crimes, frequency of sexual harassment, and frequency of bullying. All analyses will be at the school level; however, we include measures of state- and district-level policy environments and community characteristics that relate to bureaucratic role types and safety outcomes across schools.

This research contributes to scholarship on bureaucratic role ambiguity, organizational performance, and street-level bureaucracy. In addition, as students face a range of safety concerns at school, we hope to provide policy implications on the importance of appropriately defining and limiting the roles of SROs for school safety.

ABSTRACT. Research in public management as well as policy implementation has paid very little attention to management effects on street-level bureaucratic (SLB) behaviors. Public management research (e.g. by Meier & O’Toole and Boyne and their collaborators) shows that management matters substantially for performance, while few studies have focused on management effects on SLB behaviors. Implementation research has extensively studied the important role of SLBs, while few studies have examined how these are affected by management mostly suggesting weak impacts (May & Winter 2009). Our paper seeks to address this paradox and lacuna in research by showing that (a) leader communication on reforms strongly affects SLBs’ implementation actions and (b) that these impacts are conditioned by leaders’ professional competence and (c) mediated by SLBs’ self-efficacy.

We apply parts of Change Management Theory (Lewin 1947, Kotter 1996; Fernandez & Rainey 2016, Kuipers et al. 2014). We expect stronger leader reform communication of visions, plans for implementation and reassurance of individual employees to foster greater implementation of a policy reform in SLB behaviors.

However, these impacts may depend on professionalism in leadership. According to Andersen & Jacobsen (2016), leaders’ use of communication frames and cues that align policies with professional norms moves SLBs’ policy positions in favor of the policy. Similarly, we expect SLBs’ perception of their leaders’ professional competence to affect their implementation behaviors. This expectation is supported by Festinger’s (1962) Dissonance Theory, which claims that communication messages affect receivers according to their perception of the source’s credibility. Accordingly, we expect the effect of leaders’ communication on SLB behaviors to be conditioned by SLBs’ perceptions of their leaders as pro¬fessionally competent.

Finally, with inspiration from Bandura (1977) we expect that the effects of leader com¬munication on SLBs’ behaviors are mediated by SLBs’ self-efficacy. This is because leader communication may have a persuasive role that increases SLBs’ self-efficacy, which again will lead to more behavioral change (Winter, Skov & Mikkelsen 2018).

These expectations are tested on the implementation of a major public school reform in Denmark using panel surveys (2014-2017) of principals, teachers and students in 140-190 schools and archival data. We apply fixed effect analyses to allow for more causal interpret¬ations of our findings. In preliminary analyses, all our expectations are confirmed. Because the reform was strongly contested and difficult to implement, our estimates of the effect of leader communication are likely conservative, and our findings appear to be generalizable to other settings.

ABSTRACT. Innovative policy initiatives of governments in developing countries have often been frustrated, if not defeated, in the last mile of their delivery. It is puzzling that these last mile policy failures continue despite presence of many favorable macro- as well as micro-conditions in developing countries in recent decades. These favorable conditions, for example, include: increased policy attention from the central or state level governments, increased availability of financial and other resources, availability of new technological solutions, increased market and technology penetration, and overall economic development. This last-mile policy puzzle could be witnessed across a broad range of sectors and spheres of social and economic lives.

Meaningful access to electricity—characterized by adequate, reliable, and quality electricity services—is seen as a critical prerequisite for satisfaction of basic livelihoods needs and sustainable development. In India, despite scores of policy initiatives of the central and state governments, the crisis of electricity access continues to plague almost entire country, barring a few metros. Thus, the above-mentioned last-mile policy puzzle is present in one of its most perplexing form in the Indian electricity sector. One of the often-cited main culprits in this regard are the front-line employees of publicly-owned electricity distribution utilities. After the failure to privatize the distribution sector, most of the country is served by these crisis-ridden public utilities.

This paper addresses the last-mile policy puzzle in the Indian electricity sector through an interpretive-qualitative study with the following focused research question: How do front-line employees of public utility view their role in continuation of the crisis of reliability and quality of electricity services? The paper will draw data from a comprehensive empirical research involving detailed case-studies of five front-line offices of the public electricity distribution utility spread across the Indian state of Maharashtra. Case-studies will primarily rely on multiple, in-depth interviews of front-line staff and non-participant observation of their daily work. Thematic analysis of qualitative data will be conducted using appropriate software. The study will rely on a conceptual framework drawn from the relevant literature built on the Micheal Lipsky's Street-level Bureaucracy theory.

The findings are expected to contribute to efforts for improving meaningful access to a large number of poor, electricity consumers in India. The paper will also present theoretical reflections based on the analysis of the data collected, which will enhance theoretical understanding of the last-mile functioning of public bureaucracies in India and in developing countries in general.

ABSTRACT. This study conducts a quasi-experimental analysis of the effects of accountability pressure on empowerment. Employee empowerment has received growing scholarly attention in the field of public administration, with a body of work showing the positive role it plays in increasing performance. For instance, employee empowerment has a positive impact on promoting innovative behavior in public sector (Fernandez & Moldogaziev, 2012), on reducing turnover (Kim & Fernandez, 2017), on satisfaction (Fernandez & Moldogaziev, 2015), and is associated with higher commitment (Jong & Ford, 2016). In educational research, correspondingly, teacher empowerment has been identified as increasing teachers’ work quality and satisfaction, commitment (Grissom, Nicholson-Crotty, & Harrington, 2014), and improving student academic performance (Marks & Louis, 1997). We know little, however, on how external accountability pressures and shocks have causally affected public employees’ sense of empowerment.

As a first step for understanding the link between accountability pressure and empowerment, we review the concept in both public administration (bureaucrat empowerment) and education (teacher empowerment). Empowerment is defined as a process whereby employees develop the competence to take charge of their own growth and resolve their own problems (Short, 1994). Teacher empowerment can be understood as a process that teachers participate in by taking ownership of and action towards their own growth and problem-solving capabilities (Hammond, 2018). Based on literature review, we established a five-dimensional construct of teacher empowerment: (a) involvement in decision-making; (b) engagement in professional growth; (c) supportive culture; (d) work autonomy; and (e) performance information use. We add the performance information use to the empowerment scale because of the importance of performance measures for providing a potentially beneficial feedback loop to teachers.

We construct a panel dataset using School Report Cards and the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, which covers the entire universe of North Carolina schools from 2010 to 2018. This provides a unique opportunity for scholars to understand how managerial reforms shape the public workforce, since it is the first state in the U.S. to survey a full population of teachers on working conditions. Using psychometrically-reliable measures, the study applies a regression discontinuity design using publicly-available school performance scores to assess the impacts of schools “just failing,” as compared to schools “just passing,” high-stakes accountability goals on five dimensions of teacher empowerment. This research contributes to theoretical discussions by determining the role of external accountability systems in influencing public sector worker empowerment.

ABSTRACT. Researchers of public and nonprofit management are often constrained by the limited number of cases that they can use for analyses. For example, studies on collaborative networks have evolved from describing network structure to investigating causal relationships among multiple network parameters. Yet the use of case study methods with a limited number of cases has become a constraint. We need new methodological approaches to advance the field. Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), a new analytical tool that combines Boolean algebra and set theory, offers a promising approach for social inquires limited by a small to medium number of cases. The purpose of this proposed paper is to understand the current status of QCA application in public and nonprofit studies. The use of QCA in the field of public and nonprofit management has just been burgeoning. The paper starts with a survey of 58 published articles using QCA, identified from 20 leading public and nonprofit journals over the past three decades (1987-2017). The data help us map the evolving and increasing QCA application. Despite the fact that QCA was developed decades ago, it was not until 2005 when researchers in the field began to use it. Although the application of QCA has been increasing rapidly over the recent five years (see the figure below), it has not received sufficient attention in our field. Journals published QCA papers include Journal of European Public Policy (10), Public Administration (7), Policy and Society (5), Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (4), Policy Sciences (4), and Social Policy & Administration (4). The topics of these QCA research primarily focus on network, collaboration, and policy implementation. More European authors than the US researchers employed QCA. We developed a codebook to identify the pattern of QCA application in our field, which helps to scan the varying calibrations of QCA applications. We also compare the use of QCA in PA and nonprofit with other disciplines. These findings provide us with the state of the art of QCA application in the field. In the concluding section, we discuss some limits of QCA and provide suggestions for future application in the field.

ABSTRACT. An increasing number of randomized controlled field trials within the social sciences has improved the policy evidence available to governments. However, very little research has systematically compared the implementation of such evidence-based policies across different institutional settings—despite decades of research demonstrating the obstacles to the implementation of government policies (Pressman and Wildavsky 1973; Winter 2006). This study compares the outcomes of two implementations of the same evidence-based parent-targeted reading program, which has previously demonstrated substantial effects on students’ reading skills (Andersen and Nielsen 2016). The first implementation study was conducted in the same local government that ran the initial trial. This local government had extensive experience in implementing the policy as well as leadership buy-in that supported the organizational capacity—that is, managerial resources to ensure the implementation. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we show that this implementation of the policy produced outcomes that were similar to the effect sizes of the original trial. Using data from a smart phone app that was part of the reading intervention, we further show a relatively large take-up by the targeted parents, which suggests a high implementation fidelity. The second implementation study was run by the national government in Denmark among a representative sample of Danish public schools (N schools =1,141; N students =6,693) and had no local implementation support. Using a randomized controlled trial to estimate the effect of this study, we found no effects on student outcomes. Data from the smart phone app show that much fewer parents took up the treatment compared to the first implementation study. The two implementation studies provide evidence on the importance of the institutional context that influence the capacity for effective implementation. Moreover, these findings support the conclusion that the implementation efforts that were part of the original interventions should be treated as part of the treatment in order to harvest the effects when scaling up the policy nationwide.

Andersen, Simon Calmar og Helena Skyt Nielsen. 2016. “Reading intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children’s skills”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, vol 113, nr. 43, s. 12111-12113. DOI: doi:10.1073/pnas.1607946113

Pressman, Jeffrey L. and Aaron B. Wildavsky. 1973. Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington Are Dashed in Oakland, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Winter, Søren. 2006. “Implementation” in B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre (eds.) Handbook of Public Policy, London: Sage.

ABSTRACT. Experimental methods are gaining prominence in public administration as a valid approach to causal identification. Among various experimental designs, the pretest-posttest design has been introduced to the field as the classical format of experiment, which reduces error in the estimation of changes from baseline heterogeneity by collecting responses before and after an intervention. While its strength on internal validity is well-known, only a few experimental studies in public administration have adopted it, largely due to the lack of pretest data or time and resource constraints of conducting both pretests and posttests. Furthermore, the design can be subject to a threat to internal validity, called “response shift bias”. This bias occurs when respondents change their understanding of the concept being measured between the pretest and posttest due to the intervention (e.g., leadership training). As a response to these problems with the traditional pretest-posttest design, this paper introduces the retrospective pretest design as an alternative experimental approach to measuring changes in public administration research. In this design, both pretest and posttest data are collected at the same time: respondents are asked to recall their pre-intervention status at the posttest time. This design can be used to measure the effects of unpredictable policy or administrative changes in the absence of pretest data. It has also been shown to reduce response shift bias and provide more accurate estimates of effects in some areas of program evaluation including professional training and educational programs, while the design is subject to other threats to internal validity such as recall bias and implicit theories of change. Despite these advantages, the retrospective pretest design remains unexplored and thus underutilized in public administration. This paper reviews the extant studies of psychology and evaluation using the design, discusses the merits and limits, and proposes methods to strengthen its use in public administration research. The paper argues that, if careful consideration is taken of its potential biases in self-appraisal and recall, retrospective pretest designs would be plausible or even preferred designs for measuring changes in many actual situations of public administration.

ABSTRACT. Hendren, Luo, and Pandey (2018) found that mixed methods studies across prominent public administration and policy journals overwhelmingly favor quantitative methods, with qualitative strands receiving less emphasis and reported with lower quality. A key argument for mixed methods use is the value added of employing qualitative approaches as an equal partner to quantitative methods (Creswell & Plano Clark 2017; Greene, Caracelli, & Graham 1989; Johnson & Onwuegbuzie 2004; Pluye & Hong 2014). Quantitative dominance threatens to undermine this opportunity, creating tension between a core rationale for mixed methods and the reality of published studies. Relegating qualitative studies to secondary status ignores many benefits for mixed methods research. Qualitative strands help develop valid measures, explore context and seek potentially contradictory perspectives in more nuanced ways than quantitative approaches (Creswell et al. 2006; Hesse-Biber 2010; Mason 2006; Creswell, Shope, Plano Clark, & Green 2006).

Through an in-depth study of qualitative-dominant and equal status mixed methods articles, we explore the benefits of qualitative approaches for mixed methods, answering the overarching research question, how can a qualitative way of thinking advance mixed methods research in public management and administration? We first conduct a systematic article search to identify nearly 400 mixed methods studies published in 30 SSCI-listed public administration journals. We screen for qualitative-dominant and equal status studies and carry out a systematic content analysis. Our analytic approach uses both inductive and deductive coding schemes to identify key themes, exemplary uses of qualitative approaches in mixed methods, and lessons for public management and administration scholarship. Our paper raises awareness of how the promise of qualitative research can be realized in mixed methods studies in public management and administration. Following arguments in favor of strengths qualitative methods (Hendren, Luo, and Pandey 2018; Creswell et al. 2006), the paper turns the traditional approach in mixed methods on its head by exploring how quantitative strands can serve as an adjunct to qualitative approaches in public administration research. Our findings and recommendations show the value of qualitative way of thinking and answer the call to incorporate qualitative methods in public administration research in a more thoughtful and imaginative manner (Battaglio and Hall 2018).

ABSTRACT. Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) have attracted inordinate attention as a novel strategy for financing and providing preventative services to our most vulnerable populations. Many SIBs or Pay for Success (PFS) initiatives in the U.S. are in early “feasibility” stages of development, and Congress recently passed legislation that expands federal funding to support PFS feasibility projects. We undertake a systematic, qualitative analysis of the Preschool PFS feasibility pilot grant applications and studies initiated by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) in 2016 to encourage state and local entities to explore the viability of PFS for implementing high-quality preschool programs. The purpose of the feasibility pilot grants awarded to eight entities was to encourage exploration by state and local entities as to whether PFS is a viable and potentially effective strategy for implementing high-quality preschool programs. Our objectives are to examine the extent to which the feasibility study pilot features are aligned with “ideal” SIB/PFS components; to understand why grant applicants saw PFS as a promising strategy for achieving their short- and long-term preschool program goals; and to uncover challenges encountered, lessons learned, and the perceived viability and sustainability of fully executed PFS preschool programs in the U.S.

ABSTRACT. Since 2010, the UK central government has promoted outcomes-based commissioning (OBC) on the promise that it can deliver a range of benefits including improved cost effectiveness, innovation, accountability, systems-level planning, and responsiveness, with risk transferred to the private sector. As the practice achieves increasing international significance and adoption as a means of achieving public service reform, the shift to outcomes has inspired a range of legislative, governance, and financing mechanisms. In its pursuit of outcomes, the UK central government has pioneered the ‘Outcomes Fund’ – a process for developing, approving, and resourcing local projects, almost exclusively social impact bonds (SIBs). While SIBs have been the subject of a very polarized debate over the years, little attention has been paid to the larger machinations of UK central government which have enabled most of these projects to emerge in England. We contend that not only have these funds been integral in solidifying the UK’s pre-eminence in the SIB market globally in terms of number of projects, but that central government has generally taken one of two approaches to ‘making’ SIBs in the UK. First, the top-down method of specifying outcomes and payments centrally, and inviting competitive bids from project partners directly (i.e. the Department for Work and Pensions Innovation and Youth Engagement Funds; the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Fair Chance Fund). Second, the middle-up method of providing oversight to a locally lead process, and approving locally defined outcomes (i.e. Cabinet Office Social Outcomes Fund; Department for Digital Culture Media and Sport Life Chances Fund). We suggest that these two approaches have discreet logics with unique pros and cons relating to the kinds of projects they beget in terms of development cost and complexity, intervention selection, actor motivations, project duration, and – perhaps most importantly – project selection. We provide a description of the various decision-making processes within outcomes fund and, for the first time, an illustration of the ‘SIB graveyard’: those projects which never were.

ABSTRACT. Economists examining Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) have suggested a contract theory approach as a foundation for their analysis, relying on a presumed unalignment of interests between government and external service providers. Fundamentally this principal-agent approach relies upon program quality responding positively to pecuniary incentives. We suggest that evaluating SIBs as a publicly-funded social service delivery model requires a more sophisticated understanding of what motivates the actions and behavior of non-government stakeholders. This paper presents data on organizational participation in SIBs and suggests that the high prevalence of non-profit stakeholders may undermine the effectiveness of the SIB model to outperform conventional service procurement. If non-profit actors are more likely to intrinsically value outcomes and share a collective identity and commitment to an organizational mission based on some altruistic social purpose, SIBs may not improve service quality, and may undermine or crowd out intrinsic motivation. We put forward a framework where the effectiveness of the SIB model will hinge on the relative strength of three factors: (1) the degree to which SIBs help the individual service organization secure resources to do work they intrinsically value; (2) the extent that SIBs generate new resources for services targeted at needy populations overall; and (3) the extent that non-profit workers interpret the motivations of outcome funders and investors as paternalistic and dismissive of their work ethic or altruistic identities. If NPO organizations and workers see SIBs as a good-faith, cooperative measure to support more effective service delivery and better outcomes for more clients, and generate incremental productive resources for their organization, SIBs will likely not crowd out quality-enhancing effort by service workers and may even increase it. Alternatively, if SIBs are seen as a paternalistic model that undermines the integrity of non-profit workers and organizations, and reduces available resources through payouts to private for-profit investors and higher administration and transaction costs, quality enhancing effort will likely decline. In the latter case, SIBs then face an even greater challenge from an efficiency perspective, with the model having to rely fully on the newly solicited effort of financiers to offset this loss and other incremental costs of the SIB model. We conclude with the policy implications and examples of SIBs that have been structured to address these concerns.

ABSTRACT. Social impact bonds, also known as pay-for-success programs have attracted attention in the United States. State and local governments, strapped for cash, have welcomed the financing of social experiments brought by social impact bonds. Other supporters of social impact bonds have pointed to potential benefits from engaging in collaborative partnerships for solving chronic social problems. There has also been bi-partisan congressional support for federal financing of social impact bonds in the form of the Social Impact Partnerships to Pay for Results Act of 2017 which proposed to set aside another $300 million dollars to “…encourage and support partnerships between the public and private sectors to improve our Nation's social programs.” There is, however, also skepticism in some circles about the potential of social impact as solutions to social problems. For example, Pauley and Swanson (2013) point out that social impact bonds have many features present in standard financing arrangement, and that the main value-added from using the social impact bond approach may depend on the extent to which the investors are able to play a positive role in influencing outcomes. Pandey, Cordes, Pandey, and Winfrey (2018) have noted that the added complexity of social impact bond arrangements present a number of contractual hazards. These hazards can be mitigated, but only at added transactions costs.

Our paper will take up these concerns in the context of the social impact bonds that have been implemented in the United States. Our analysis will focus on the mix of investors participating in the various social impact bonds and the incentives facing these investors. We also analyze the structure of the various social impact contracts, with special emphasis both on the extent to which such arrangements represent novel ways of delivering social services, and on the features of such contracts intended to safeguard against contractual hazards. Lastly, we present estimates of the transactions cost associated with implementing social impact bonds.

ABSTRACT. We argue that the outcomes-based management schemes in SIBs simplify social impact and ignore the complex ecosystem of more powerful actors that contribute to these social problems. Using human ecological theory, we focus on the example of early care and education (ECE) to illustrate how SIBs in the US, Canada, and Europe narrow their interventions to create changes in the decisions, behavior, and psychology of individual vulnerable clients—and then count those changes as social outcomes. In the early education field for example, human ecological theory looks at child welfare in the context of family (micro system), neighborhood institutions (meso system) and public policy (macro system). The logic of the SIB model only operates at the micro system level, when the social outcomes that are needed are at the meso and macro systems level. We argue this is due to the narrow metrics required of the financial model and the propensity of SIBs to focus their behavioral interventions on the receiving client, rather than on the strong actors within the public or market service delivery system.

The necessary focus on the micro system limits and the need to measure outputs in a quantitative, precise, and timely manner constrains the ability of SIBs to achieve true social outcomes. The requirement that SIB services show accountability inherently limits their impact. As the number of SIBs grows around the world, this limiting conception of social services may in turn influence conceptions of public goods, public values, and the very notion of social rights—or perhaps the growing popularity of SIBs is already a sign of global changes in those ideas. Our exploration of the SIB confusion of outputs with outcomes in early care and education cases from around the OECD will end with a discussion of how that confusion may actually undermine broader conceptions of public value.

ABSTRACT. The effects of performance information have been one of the prime concerns of behavioral public administration (see Moynihan 2017 and Kroll 2015 for an overview). Research that accounts for the political implications of performance information however is still an emergent topic in the study of performance information use (James 2011). Performance information is not politically neutral. The information always plays out in a political arena. Performance information may provide backing for some political positions while discrediting others. Therefore, this paper asks whether and how party affiliation affects the impact of performance information on citizen satisfaction.

We expect different effects depending on whether citizens support the ruling parties or not. Publishing performance information has been demonstrated to lead to motivated reasoning (James and Van Ryzin 2017; Baekgaard and Serritzlew 2016). We therefore might expect the provision of performance information to have a stronger effect on citizens that support the parties in power. Negativity bias on the other hand leads us to expect that the provision of performance information may mainly lead to a lower satisfaction amongst citizens that support the opposition (Nielsen and Moynihan 2016).

The data are collected from a large survey experiment in the field. We administered a survey to all addresses in a municipality on the satisfaction with local public services. An information leaflet with performance information was randomly added to half of the surveys. We obtained 3850 survey responses (a response rate of 24%). For the analysis, we will estimate an OLS regression with interaction effect for party identification. We will also estimate Bayesian posteriors to assess the strength of the evidence on the parameters in the model.

Nielsen, P.A. and D.P. Moynihan (2016), “How do politicians attribute bureaucratic responsibility for performance? Negativity bias and interest group advocacy”, JPART, Vol. 27/2 Kroll, A. (2015), “Drivers of performance information use: Systematic literature review and directions for future research”, PPMR, Vol. 38/3, pp. 459-486 James, O. and G. Van Ryzin (2017), “Motivated reasoning about public performance: An experimental study of how citizens judge the Affordable Care Act”, JPART, V ol. 27/1, pp. 197-209, James, O. (2011), “Performance measures and democracy: Information effects on citizens in field and laboratory experiments”, JPART, Vol. 21/3, pp. 399-418, Baekgaard, M. and S. Serritzlew (2016), “Interpreting performance information: Motivated reasoning or unbiased comprehension”, PAR, Vol.76/1, pp. 73-82

ABSTRACT. A common theme in the literature on public organizations is trying to understand how to improve organizational performance. As one explanation, scholars have demonstrated how financial resources can lead—or not lead—to improved performance. In this study, we bring more theoretical precision to how money influences performance by examining how managerial capacity can condition that relationship. We predict that a higher managerial capacity can better utilize financial resources to see a stronger improvement of performance. This theory is empirically tested with data from state level transportation agencies from 1995 to 2013. We find that the relationship between improvements in road quality and money to capital and physical maintenance is stronger in states with high scores on the Government Performance Project quality of capital and infrastructure management. 

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the effect of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) National Background Check Program (NBCP) on organizational performance in US nursing homes. With the transformation of government's role from providing services directly to relying on third-party organizations for service delivery, regulation is used as a key governance tool to augment performance of public and private organizations in providing public services. Regulators adopt a variety of regulatory tools such as sanctions, reviews, licensure, certification, and incentives, and standards applied to different aspects of the regulated entities’ behaviors. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the CMS National Background Check Program, a regulatory tool focusing specifically on frontline workers, on service quality in the context of nursing home care.

Since June 2010, when the CMS began accepting applications for the NBCP grants, twenty-six states have been awarded grants to participate in this program. Award amounts as well as the implementation across states vary considerably: some states have finished implementing all aspects of the program, while others are still in the early stages, or have not applied or received grants at all. This variation in program participation allows us to conduct an inquiry into the impact of NBCP components on service quality in public, nonprofit and for-profit nursing homes. We hypothesize that the NBCP regulatory tools will have both direct and indirect effects on the incidence of health violations found in nursing homes: by enabling the providers to screen out of direct care employees with prior drug or violent behavior problems as well as by signaling to organizations the importance of sound hiring practices and the consequences of violating these best practices.

Our data come from three sources. First, we use the Nursing Home Compare data set (2006-2016), which includes performance indicators, facility size, ownership, and other variables. Second, we collected data on the implementation of NBCP in each state on the grants received and other relevant information from a variety of sources such as the CMS website and legislative summaries. Third, we collected state-level crime data from a publicly-available Federal Bureau of Investigation database. Our preliminary empirical findings suggest that states’ participation in NBCP is associated with service quality improvement in nursing homes within those states. This paper contributes to the literature on government regulation by shedding light on the importance of regulating frontline workers and the effectiveness of voluntary rules on organizational performance.

ABSTRACT. To improve accountability and allow citizens to make informed decisions about public services, citizens have access to various types of ranked performance information (Van de Walle and Roberts, 2008). Examples include hospital rankings, star-ratings for local authorities, league tables for universities and international rankings of pupil test results. Ranking performance information allows users to find order and maintain a sense of control (Bevan and Hood, 2006). Rankings have the advantage that they often aggregate a multitude of performance dimensions into an overall score, and therefore provide citizens with a general evaluation, which, in turn, enables citizens to make fast decisions. In contrast, due to their aggregative nature, the underlying criteria that constitute rankings are often ambiguous and not transparent. Hence, a strong focus on performance rankings might constrain informed decision-making because citizens no longer assess the dimensions underlying performance rankings but rather focus on the overall relative position of public organizations.

Given the increased use of rankings for public services – in combination with an exponentially growing information supply – we pose following research question: To what extent do performance rankings about public services enable or constrain citizens to search for more information when making decisions? By answering this question, we complement current public management research on the content of performance information (e.g. Nielsen and Baekgaard, 2015; George et al, 2018) because we explicitly focus on the way performance information is presented. Additionally, we include the role of cognitive styles and argue that the impact of performance rankings on informed decision-making is contingent upon whether citizens have an analytical or intuitive cognitive style.

We adopt a state-of-the-art eye-tracking laboratory experiment, in which we ask about 60 students to analyse 10 cases. For each case, we experimentally vary the presence of explicit performance ranking information (n = 600 nested observations) – so either a ranking or a random list is presented. Our dependent variable of interest is visual attention to different pieces of information, and we test whether the presence of overall rankings reduces the relative attention to other, more concrete performance dimensions. Moreover, before initiating the experiment we ask our subjects to fill out a survey including questions on their cognitive style. Data are analysed using multilevel modelling in Stata. We conclude with the implications of our work and a future research agenda on the presentation method underlying performance information on public services.

ABSTRACT. The Great Recession, which "officially" lasted from about December 2007 through June 2009, has had a well-documented impact on the nation's economy and the fiscal position of the states. While there is a growing body of research focused on larger cities and targeted impacts on specific taxes and bonding activity, the full impact of the recession on smaller municipalities has been largely ignored. In a recent study of small Georgia and Florida municipalities, it was found that revenue losses due to slow or negative growth during the years 2010 through 2013 dwarfed losses realized during the recession from 2007 through 2009, and losses continued through at least 2015. In this study the impact of the Great Recession on small- to medium-sized municipalities is expanded to a comparison between cities in nineteen states representing a wide range of revenue generation preferences and preferred methodologies for addressing the impact of recessions. The impact is documented through quantitative analysis of financial data, with an examination of the methodologies and strategies utilized by the cities to maintain public service levels despite greatly reduced revenues.

ABSTRACT. Cutback management strategies are often employed by public organizations during times of fiscal stress (Levine, 1978). Following the Great Recession, a non-trivial amount of fiscally-troubled school districts in the United States switched from a traditional five-day school week to a four-day school week. For example, since 2009, approximately 20% of school districts in Oklahoma have moved to a four-day school week. In theory, it is possible that a four-day school week allows school districts to be more efficient with their scarce resources. However, it is unclear whether reducing the number days per week a student attends school could have adverse effects on student achievement, especially for students from disadvantaged households that have fewer options for child care (Anderson and Walker, 2015; Thompson, 2017).

With additional U.S. school systems considering similar changes, it is vital that public managers and policymakers become more aware of the intended and unintended consequences from this type of cut management strategy used by school districts. To my knowledge, no previous study examines how much money is saved for school districts that switch to a four-day school week. To fully understand the effectiveness of switching to a four-day school week, it is important to measure the effects on both student performance and educational resources at the same time. The current study fills this gap.

Using a difference-in-difference approach, the current study exploits variation in the timing of when several school districts in Oklahoma switched to a four-day school week starting in 2009 to measure the effect of switching to a four-day school week on both student achievement and educational expenditures. I use school district-level data between the 2008-09 and 2014-15 academic years from Stanford Education Data Achieve to measure effects of on student achievement and the effects on educational expenditures.

Preliminary findings suggest there is a modest reduction in math test scores following the switch to a four-day work week. I find no evidence of an increase or reduction in reading test scores. Interestingly, unlike previous studies, I find this reduction in math test scores continues to grow over time. Additionally, I find only small reductions in instructional and non-instructional expenditures. Overall, these preliminary results suggest that switching to four-day school weeks may not be as cost-effective as originally intended by policymakers.

ABSTRACT. In recent decades, many state and local governments have experienced periods of significant fiscal distress. Because financial austerity can be highly disruptive to public organizations, practitioner and scholarly communities have naturally increased their efforts to understand how fiscal challenges arise, how they affect governments, and how public officials respond. To date, most of the attention has focused on measuring and predicting fiscal stress and identifying its effects on government budgets. Relatively little is known, however, about salient effects on other financial management policies and practices, such as how financial condition affects the administrative systems used to ensure financial accountability.

Among the few studies that look at the relationship between fiscal condition and financial accountability, there is significant disagreement on whether fiscal distress tends to improve or harm financial accountability. Some researchers contend that fiscal distress motivates governments to strengthen their administrative practices and procedures, which is thought to include their financial accountability systems (e.g., Maher and Deller 2007). Others argue that fiscal distress motivates government officials to narrowly focus on seeking efficiency gains, which can inadvertently draw organizational attention away from ensuring financial accountability (e.g., Schick 1988). And still others expect that fiscal distress directly harms financial accountability by motivating government officials to adopt less transparent accounting and reporting practices (e.g., Kopits and Craig 1998).

This paper empirically examines the effect of fiscal condition on financial accountability by testing whether financial condition is associated with the likelihood of internal control deficiencies in local governments. We match a nineteen-year panel of county-level financial data from the New York State Office of the State Comptroller with internal control data from the U.S. Census Single Audit Clearinghouse to test the association between financial condition and the likelihood of internal control deficiencies. Our findings indicate a negative relationship between fiscal condition and both the likelihood and severity of internal control deficiencies. Our results also emphasize the importance of auditor characteristics in maintaining financial accountability in public organizations.

Works Cited:

Kopits, George, and JD Craig. 1998. Transparency in Government Operations. No. 158. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.

Maher, Craig S., and Steven C. Deller. 2007. “Municipal responses to fiscal stress.” International Journal of Public Administration. 30 (12-14): 1549-1572.

Schick, Allen. 1988. “Micro-Budgetary Adaptations to Fiscal Stress in Industrialized Democracies.” Public Administration Review. 48 (1): 523-533.

ABSTRACT. The concept of coproduction, which refers to ‘the involvement of both users and public sector professionals in the delivery of public services’ (Nabatchi et al. 2016), is resurging in popularity in public administration. Many scholars have focused on why organizations want to coproduce, for example to better manage increasing demand for services, cope with squeezed budgets, address complex social problems, or reinvigorate the roles of citizens in their communities beyond those of simply voter and/or customer. However, little empirical research has focused on why citizens want to coproduce. In this paper, we help begin to fill that gap by investigating the micro foundations of coproduction, that is the perspectives, attitudes, and behaviours of the individuals involved in coproduction. In the paper, we use a between-subject online survey experiment to investigate the impact of two factors on the willingness of citizens to coproduce: (1) the financial health and stability of the local government, and (2) the recompense for the coproducing citizen (no reward, non-monetary reward, monetary reward). The survey experiment was carried out in both the United States and Italy. Unlike other survey experiments, respondents in this study were not only required to report their willingness to coproduce, but also to execute tasks, which is considered to be a more objective measure of intended behaviours (Bellé and Cantarelli 2017). The results not only shed light on the circumstances under which citizens are more (and less) likely to engage in coproduction, but also have implications for the design of coproduction processes, particularly in terms of participant recruitment and communication strategies.

ABSTRACT. The active involvement of citizens in the provision of public services, otherwise known as coproduction, is increasingly considered an important element of public service delivery. However, there is need for more research on what factors influence citizens to engage in the coproduction of public services. Drawing from the coproduction and policing literature, we explore the following three variables that is assumed to influence citizen coproduction: direct experiences with the police, race, and neighborhood contextual factors. We draw data from the 2011 Police-Public Contact Survey available through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (administered by the Department of Justice). This survey collected data from persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative, stratified, multistage cluster sample of U.S. households. While the detailed set of questions ask about the type of contacts that the public had with the police, we focus on a set of questions that concern activities related to seeking help from the police or participating in some type of anti-crime program. Since the dependent variables are binary questions that ask the respondents about their involvement in coproducing public safety, we estimate the likelihood of a ‘‘yes’’ response for each question using logistic regression. Among the key findings, we find that black citizens who had experience being stopped by the police were less likely to report crime, while black citizens who felt that the police behaved properly during contact with the police were more likely to report crime. Meanwhile, being stopped by the police, those who felt that the situation improved after their most recent contact with the police, and those who felt satisfied with police response were more likely to report a non-crime emergency. Finally, those who were approached by police for assistance and those who felt that the situation improved after contacting the police were more likely to participate in a block watch or other anti-crime programs with the police. These findings suggest the significance of the role of direct experiences with the police and the role of race in terms of coproducing public safety.

ABSTRACT. Nudge strategies have become a popular tool of politicians and public managers. Nudging aims at redesigning the choice architecture for citizens, hopefully giving them opportunities for making better decisions (Sunstein and Thaler 2009). Moreover, the research on the many benefits of changing citizens’ choice architecture and thereby overcoming decision biases is accumulating (Allcott and Sunstein 2015). However, little is known about how governments can use nudging to affect citizens’ active participation in governmental coproduction initiatives. Coproduction initiatives utilize inputs from both regular and citizen producers in the production of public services with potential benefits for both the citizen and the society at large (Voorberg et al. 2015).

Therefore, this study investigates the effect of a governmental information nudge on citizens’ coproduction efforts and health. We test this in a field experiment carried out in the City of Aarhus, Denmark. The treatment contains informational nudges that aims at increasing citizens' motivation and ability to coproduce their health and eventually create healthy eating and exercising habits. The treatment was embedded in a short survey and consisted of a simple infographic nudge containing relevant and documented information on the societal costs of unhealthiness, the benefits of becoming more healthy, and advice on how to achieve this by eating healthier and exercise. The coproduction efforts intended in this study are therefore happening indirectly through independent, yet related efforts of regular producers and the citizens (Parks et al. 1981).

A representative sample of citizens (n = 4880) from the City of Aarhus were invited to participate in the field experiment by the City. The experiment was conducted in two rounds. In the first round, the treatment group received the nudge treatment, and both the treatment and the control group received the first outcome questions about motivation and ability to coproduce their health. In the second round survey a month later, all citizens answered a set of validated outcome questions about their weekly physical activity, their food habits and their general health. 883 citizens answered both surveys.

Results show that informational nudges can affect the citizens’ perceptions of coproduction ability, the physical activity and their general health, although effect sizes are rather small. There are no effects on healthy eating. These results are encouraging for using low-cost informational nudges as a tool to engage citizens in small-scale coproduction, but policy makers should carefully consider the context and value added of these ways of engaging citizens.

ABSTRACT. The New Public Management reforms that dominated the latter part of the last century ushered in a wave of market-based reforms that sought to improve public accountability by replacing hierarchical command-and-control mechanisms, where accountability theoretically extended from voting booths to street-level bureaucrats, with a competitive market of service providers, where consumers exert pressure on bureaucrats by exercising choice. Questions remain as to whether the aggregate of individual consumer choices for public services reflects the broader public interests or creates an accountability gap.

This study offers an empirical examination of market-based reforms in education. Education policy research suggests that markets for education are driven in part by a desire for segregation among parents, resulting in a market imperfection that current policies have yet to effectively address in some locales (Bifulco & Ladd, 2006). We examine how charter board governance drives school-level choices that contribute to these wicked social problems. Using theories of representative governance in nonprofit management, we explore how representation in nonprofit charter school governance creates schools that are inclusive of the public they serve.

Though nonprofit boards are not democratically elected to represent a community, theories of representation and participation suggest that certain features of nonprofit governance might increase the organization’s responsiveness to the community. Guo and Musso (2007) suggest that nonprofit governance employing formal, descriptive, and participatory representation can increase a nonprofit’s capacity to achieve symbolic and substantive representation of constituents’ interests. This theory suggests that increasing the representation and participation of constituents from the broader community can counteract organizational tendencies to adjust to market imperfections, such as preferences for racial segregation in the charter school context.

We use a novel longitudinal, multilevel data set from North Carolina’s Education Data Research Center coupled with the founding applications for the 200+ NC charter schools to determine the effect of board representativeness on school outcomes. This data allows us to examine the relationship between formal, descriptive, and participatory representation of the board and outcomes such as school demographics, community engagement, parent investment, curricular innovation, teacher composition and preparedness, and student performance. We aim to increase understanding of the critical inputs that create high quality schools, including school-level actors’ responses to school choice reforms as well as to inform policy by examining a potential lever for increasing access and equity in our public schools. Finally, we hope to inform practice by suggesting effective governance practices for nonprofit charter school operators.

ABSTRACT. Assessments of performance are a core feature of public management. Yet, a growing body of research suggests that performance evaluations are oftentimes shaped by factors unrelated to performance. As such, evaluations of performance can be biased in several ways, producing unreliable measures of actual performance. Research into the “romance of leadership”, for example, suggests that evaluators are more likely to attribute causal responsibility to individuals in leadership positions rather than situational factors (e.g. task difficulty or resource availability) in times of poor performance. Additional research suggests that leaders’ demographic characteristics, such as race and gender, strongly influence evaluations of performance. In this study, we focus on the latter in order to examine whether leaders of public organizations are evaluated differently based on their gender.

Insights from existing literature give rise to competing expectations about the role of gender in performance evaluations. Role incongruity theory suggests that evaluations of a leader are a function of a (mis)match between the stereotypical characteristics of gender and leadership roles. From this perspective, leadership roles are typically associated with stereotypically masculine characteristics, creating a perceived incongruity between women and leadership positions, in turn leading to worse evaluations for women leaders. On the other hand, expectancy disconfirmation theory posits that individuals form evaluations based on a (mis)match between their expectations and actual performance. This perspective suggests that associations between leadership and male stereotypes may lead to higher expectations of male public managers – and less favorable evaluations of men – if such expectations are disconfirmed.

We test these competing expectations using a 2 by 3 factorial between-subjects experimental design in which we vary both leader gender (male or female name) and level of organizational performance (high, moderate, low. We randomly assign participants to one of six survey vignettes about a fictitious U.S. high school using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk online platform. Participants were subsequently asked to rate the performance, adequacy, and competence of the school principal. Preliminary results based on a sample of 200 participants indicate that male school principals are rated less favorably than female principals when the school is performing poorly, providing partial support for the expectation-disconfirmation hypothesis. Our findings thus question whether performance evaluations can work as accurate and reliable tools for holding public organizations and their leadership accountable.

ABSTRACT. This theoretical paper presents institutional racism in the United States as a wicked problem in public management. The paper revolves around two questions:

1. To what extent, and in what ways, does institutional racism align with the definition of a wicked problem? 2. How does conceptualizing institutional racism as a wicked problem potentially facilitate the greater integration of race and racism into public management theory?

Public administration and public management research has been critiqued in the past decade for largely sidestepping the topics of race and racism (Alexander & Stivers 2010; Gooden 2014; Heckler 2017; Starke, Heckler, & Mackey 2018; Witt 2006) although representative bureaucracy scholarship has long examined race as one dimension across which public servants identify with those they serve (Meier 2018). The central premise of the present study is that a theoretical framework to intellectually grapple with institutional racism is missing from public management research. Extending beyond race as a variable in regression analyses, this paper presents institutional racism as a wicked problem to launch theoretical generalizing and hypothesizing about how institutional racism broadly affects the management and performance of public and nonprofit organizations in the United States.

Rittel and Webber (1973) provide ten characteristics of wicked problems, each of which is mapped onto institutional racism in this paper, to illustrate “there are no ‘solutions’ in the sense of definitive and objective answers” (p. 155) to managing wicked problems. This paper’s analysis of institutional racism as a wicked problem presents important new theoretical terrain for the field, acknowledging public management theory often emerges by “emphasizing new relationships, illustrating new conceptual linkages,” and “organizing and reorganizing the existing literature” (Meier 2014, p. 3).

This study makes three contributions by building an expository case that institutional racism is a wicked problem in public management. First, the paper offers an alternative to public administration’s conventional “race neutral” paradigm (Starke, Heckler, and Mackey 2018) by offering a theoretical vantage point on institutional racism that responds to calls for a “race aware” paradigm (Gooden 2014; Heckler 2017). Second, the paper explores three prominent theoretical frameworks in public management (representative bureaucracy, administrative burden, and public service motivation) relative to institutional racism to gauge the utility of such a “race aware” paradigm. Finally, the paper presents epistemological and theoretical considerations for future public management research on race and racism in the United States.

ABSTRACT. Sexual misconduct has negative effects on women and the organizations in which they work. The experience of sexual misconduct is stressful and can cause women to leave their positions rather than report (Stockdale, 1998) or decrease individual performance (Rosell, Miller, & Barber, 1995) which can in turn impact team performance (Gelfand & Raver, 2005). At the organizational level, lawsuits against public organizations can be expensive (French, 2009). In the nonprofit sector, high profile scandals, “creat[e] a climate where donors are more questioning” (Charity Watch, 2018).

The business literature extensively examines sexual misconduct. However, there is less research on sexual misconduct within nonprofit and public organizations. Research on this topic is warranted for a number of reasons. To begin with, women are overrepresented in the nonprofit workforce (Preston & Sacks, 2010), but underrepresented in the ranks of nonprofit leadership (Gibelman, 2000). This kind of power imbalance may create an environment conducive to sexual misconduct.

Second, female employees who interact directly with powerful nonprofit resource providers may be vulnerable to sexual misconduct. Nonprofit organizations rely on distinct types of resources including volunteers, donations, and grants (Preston & Sacks, 2010). Therefore, female fundraisers may be particularly likely to encounter sexual misconduct.

Finally, because nonprofit and public employees may be motivated by a sense of public service (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007), survivors of sexual misconduct can face a difficult decision to come forward, knowing that doing so impede fulfillment of the organization’s mission. This scenario is horrifically illustrated by the 2015 murder of the director of a Bronx homeless shelter who was killed by a client (Baker, 2015). Far from an isolated incident, "stalking of health care professionals is a common occupational hazard, yet it remains under researched and underreported” (McIvor & Petch, 2006).

To better understand the experiences women encounter with sexual misconduct in and around nonprofit and public organizations, this study relies on interviews with women who have directly or indirectly experienced sexual misconduct. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic, we take a snowball sampling approach by first identifying informants and then relying on referrals. During interviews, participants are asked to share the details of their experiences. The interviews are to be transcribed and analyzed for common themes using nvivo coding. We hope our findings give voice to our participants’ experiences and reveal valuable recommendations for nonprofit and public leaders about creating an organizational culture free of sexual misconduct.

ABSTRACT. The increasing interdependence and interweaving of public functions with non-public organizations has resulted in the reliance on organizational networks to address wicked problems. These networks often involve both mandated and emergent members via the participation and collaboration of partner organizations, both inside and outside government (Raab & Kenis 2009). These networks pose different management challenges than in a single (Agranoff & McGuire 2001) or homogenous organization and how to govern these networks is an issue. While the research on network governance has flourished, there is a dearth of scholarship examining the factors that influence governance mode selection. Public officials and agencies are often thought to be best suited to manage complex networks in the name of the public interest. However, the multi-sectoral nature of these networks typically means that multiple nested network archetypes are present, which must be coordinated and managed to foster collaboration and long-term network success. These archetypes may vary based on dimensions of connectedness and community structure, which evolve from individual environmental demands (Tatarynowicz et al. 2016). For instance, the way agencies involved in public safety engage with one another may be very different than how healthcare agencies engage. Thus, we argue that the Network Administrative Organization (NAO) is the best governance mode suited to manage multi-sectoral networks comprised of multiple network archetypes. NAOs exist solely to govern a specific network and its activities (Provan & Kenis 2008). Due to its independence, inherent neutrality, and singular dedication to network goal obtainment, NAOs can adapt management techniques to engage actors in ways that conform with the subnetwork archetype’s culture and avoid tipping the scale towards accommodating only one archetype. To support this argument, we draw on several different network studies from the US and Canada. We use network analysis to demonstrate the different archetypes associated with different service domains and examine whether these archetypes are consistent across different types of networks. We also draw on qualitative data collected on these networks to examine how these different archetypes modify the techniques network managers use to engage these groups and why an NAO is best suited to adapt in this way. We end by discussing the implications of network governance selection decisions for complex multi-sectoral networks in the public sector.

ABSTRACT. Over the past several decades, a considerable amount of literature has been devoted to understanding representation in bureaucracy (Riccucci and van Ryzin 2016). However, very few studies have explored representation in alternative governance settings. Governing arrangements have been transformed from hierarchical bureaucracy into collaborative governance where organizations from different sectors engage in policy decision-making (Ansell and Gash 2008; Emerson and Nabatchi 2015). In collaborative governance, the participation of diverse stakeholders and representation of the general public is critical for achieving productivity, legitimacy, and public value (Bryson, Crosby, and Stone 2015; Koski et al. 2018).

This study examines representation in collaborative governance, focusing on symbolic representation. Studies on symbolic representation suggest that representation in government workforces enhances the legitimacy and fairness of government and increase citizens’ willingness to coproduce. This study examines whether representation in collaborative governance matters, not just to the governance participants, but to the broader citizenry. The hypothesis is that citizens will perceive a greater degree of legitimacy and effectiveness of collaboration when a collaborative process is represented on the basis of the sector. It also tests whether the effects of representativeness vary across the context of governance networks (in the emergency vs. normal situation).

To test these hypotheses, I design an online survey experiment where participants are presented with an announcement about a hypothetical food policy council and then asked about their perceptions and judgment. The experimental manipulation of sector representativeness is straightforward: I randomly vary the composition of the council members in terms of the proportion of public, private, and nonprofit sector participants. For dependent variables, the effectiveness, fairness, and trustworthiness of collaboration are measured. To compare the effect of representation across the contexts, questions will be also asked for a case of a natural disaster response system.

This study will contribute to our understanding of collaborative outcomes such as legitimacy and accountability. The study fills a gap in the literature by providing experimental evidence that cross-sector collaboration improves perceived policy outcomes among the general citizenry. The significance of this paper further lies in the discussion of participant selection for collaborative governance. This study offers insights into how collaborative governance arrangement can be designed to encourage participation of diverse sets of stakeholders and enhance inclusion.

ABSTRACT. In practice, solutions to complex social problems are often delivered through networks that are favored by government and philanthropic investment (Kania & Kramer, 2011). Despite broad application of this collective approach, theory development for understanding this phenomenon has fallen behind in explaining system-wide dynamics (Milward, 2016). Using an insular view of networks, studies have overlooked the broader network domain, defined as collections of networks sharing an environmental niche in a single geographic and problem-area (Nowell, Hano, & Yang, 2018). Moreover network evolution studies have not yet addressed the tensions between a network’s formation impetus and its internal capacity (Bryson, Crosby, & Stone, 2015).

In this study, shared membership is considered an important mechanism establishing ties between networks in their network domain. Traditional board interlocks studies view these connections as valuable and strategic (Zona et al., 2016), while resource dependency suggests that sharing members creates scarcity in human capital assets (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978). Further, collaborative engagement theories suggest that the more embeddedness, the better (Agranoff & McGuire, 2001; Nowell & Foster-Fishman, 2011). This research seeks to clarify these tensions by examining: 1) What effects do shared membership have on a network’s evolution? and 2) What effects do internal capacity have on a network’s evolution?

This study utilizes a bipartite longitudinal network data set that includes 74 networks with a 97+% population response rate. The two-mode dataset includes more than 2600 individuals’ connections to networks in their network domain. Hypothesis testing regarding the effects of network domain dynamics and network capacity is accomplished using a Stochastic Actor-Oriented Model (SAOM). The SAOM examines the contribution of both network and network domain attributes in evolution (Burk, Steglich, & Snijders, 2007). Results address dynamics of shared membership, suggesting that network domain density may negatively affect survival, yet centrality of a single network in the domain supports survival. Findings also indicate that capacities like the presence of a convening organization, funding, and paid staff have unique dynamics when the network domain effects are included.

This study advances current network theories by addressing the tension between differing views of the utility or liability of shared membership. Additionally, this research contributes to conversations in practice that are examining the challenges of evaluating network success in network domains with multiple, embedded networks. This study, by describing and clarifying the dynamics of shared membership in network domains, can also help inform future impact investing and network leaders’ strategic decisions.

Download: To connect or not to connect? Examining the evolutionary dynamics of shared membership in network domains

ABSTRACT. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for extending the triple bottom line (financial, social, environmental) performance framework (used globally by for-profit business, governmental, and non-governmental organizations) to include cultural vitality as a fourth bottom line. A newly proposed quadruple bottom line (QBL) framework is theorized as a performance framework for multisectoral networks comprised of governmental, for-profit, and non-governmental organizations.

The triple bottom line (TBL) performance framework is currently primarily used as to account for financial and non-financial values related to environmental sustainability and social responsibility. The TBL is already part of a de facto global standard related to its integration in the Global Reporting Initiative and other related international reporting initiatives (e.g., ISO 26000) that provide sustainability reporting guidance to businesses, governments, and other organizations around the world. The TBL is also a scalable framework used by businesses ranging from large global corporations to small businesses, by governments ranging from nation-states to small cities, as well as by large to small nonprofits. In these ways, the TBL meets the tests of comparability, cross-sectoral utility, analytical coherence, as well as provides a metaphoric/heuristic means of examining both financial and non-financial values. Consequently, the TBL framework provides a conceptual cross-walk for investigating non-financial value creation across sectors and in multisectoral networks.

This paper adds a fourth bottom line that defines cultural vitality as a set of values related to social/organizational culture, identity, creativity, design, and innovation. This fourth bottom line is analogous to the environmental/ecological bottom line in that it is situated within a systemic view of individual and organizational processes. The paper argues that just as the environmental bottom line developed during recent decades to help account for sustainability practices, that a cultural vitality bottom line similarly helps account for emergent values related to the rise of the global knowledge-based creative industries/economy as well as the rise of culture/identity as global political phenomena.

This theory-building paper contributes to public network management theory by proposing a theoretically-derived QBL performance framework that more fully accounts for financial and non-financial values in multisectoral networks. The paper assesses the conceptual and methodological challenges, opportunities, and trade-offs of a QBL framework, as well as outlines implications for multisectoral network research and managerial coordination.

ABSTRACT. Universities across the U.S. are not only responsible for educating students, but also employ millions of staff, stimulate the national research and development enterprise, and partner with many stakeholders to achieve public value and serve a large population outside of the student body. Despite these missions, until recently, universities have failed to meaningfully collaborate with surrounding communities to accomplish common goals. Recent increases in competition across the higher education landscape has forced universities to not only collaborate with local governments, but also non-profit and private organizations. It is unclear whether these university partnerships are program/goal specific or if the university partners with external stakeholders as part of their overall strategic brand strategy. The current study examines university partnerships in the areas of local government infrastructure improvements, private economic development, and cultural arts programs across all doctoral research universities (N=115). We begin by measuring the number of each partnership across universities and the degree to which the university incorporates the initiative into its larger brand, a process we conceptualize as public brand-partnership. Finally, using a quasi-experimental design we examine the effect of public brand-partnership on outcomes for universities and their partner organizations.

ABSTRACT. Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) are often viewed as a new tool for public sector reform, albeit with similar promises (market discipline, risk transfer, etc.) and critiques (perverse incentives, profitization values, etc.) as previous new public management strategies. In this paper, I offer a slightly different conceptual framework for how SIBs might impact public service delivery and test it empirically through a qualitative process evaluation of a SIB launched in Essex.

Building on previous work, I lay out the four defining features of a SIB: multi-sector partnership, data monitoring system, external investment, and a payment for outcomes contract. I argue that each feature of the SIB enables a mechanism that can impact public service delivery: multi-sector partnership enables collaboration, data monitoring enables active contract management, external investment enables flexible funding, and the payment for outcomes contract enables outcome goal alignment. In ideal-type scenarios, these mechanisms can each lead to improved systems of public service delivery. Collaboration can lead to stakeholder cooperation and linkages across systems, active contract management can lead to the continuous use of data to identify challenges and implement improvements, flexible funding can unlock additional resources or tailored support, and outcome goal alignment can lead to a greater number of positive outcomes achieved. However, when poorly implemented, these same mechanisms can worsen the system of public service delivery. Collaboration can lead to stakeholder conflict or unclear lines of accountability, active contract management can yield administrative burden and pressures on front line staff, flexible funding can enable an inefficient use of resources, and outcome goal alignment may create perverse incentives.

This conceptual framework provides the basis for a process evaluation of a SIB launched in Essex in 2012 to provide multi-systemic therapy (MST) to young adults at risk of entering the care system. Using semi-structured interviews of key government, investor, and provider stakeholders (n=17/19), interviews and participant observation of front-line staff (n=8/8), and comprehensive documentary review of board papers, meeting minutes, and contracts, I construct a timeline of the six-year project and pinpoint events relating back to specific features of the SIB model. I conclude with a discussion of how the SIB model impacted public service delivery in Essex and suggest areas where knowledge may be transferable.

ABSTRACT. Public-private partnership (PPP) gains much momentum in policy implementation field as it likely couples various advantages from different sectors to cope with “wicked” governance programs and to deliver better public welfare. Yet, not much has been revealed on their formation dynamics. Why do private firms partner with governmental agencies in producing public values remains a thorny issue. Set in environmental governance, this study fills the gap, exploring both institutional and program antecedents in PPP.

Multiple dynamics may be at work for using PPP in environmental governance. First, it is a fertile field where private firms may find new opportunities for more profits. For instance, when the program is more leaned toward user fees, it likely incentivizes private firms to reap that long-term return. Second, it is risk affordable. Every PPP involves some risks and firms do not always get what they hope for. But the degrees of risks may be an important determinant for their choice of “option in”. Such risks include not only program-level economic risks, but also political ricks as political pressure often exercises fundamental swings on private decision. For instance, political corruption is arguably to affect the partnering decision and political commitment against environmental pollution likely pushes for more. Third, institutional settings may effectively leverage the use of PPP. For instance, more capable government may incentivize private firms to partner in joint effects, so are more friendly economic environment.

This study is set to test multiple dynamics with data from 120 metropolitan cities in China through 2007 to 2016. Political commitment against environmental pollution has been high, thus inviting more PPPs to be used on local levels. Most data are collected from environmental yearly book as well as from national data archive center for PPP programs. Longitudinal analyses will be used to sort out potential reasons and its findings will be able to shed light on both theory development and practical guidance for better off PPP implementation.

ABSTRACT. What does it mean for a country to enter the EU in terms of how it structures the financing of large-scale public works? We take this question to cross-national data from European countries regarding public-private partnerships. We test two main hypotheses: first, the deceleration effect hypothesis, that accession to the EU leads to a decrease in the number of PPPs being announced. Second, the substitution effect hypothesis, that accession to the EU leads to a decrease in the average cost of the PPPs being undertaken. Using both a Regression Discontinuity and a Difference-in-Differences design, we find evidence for both of our hypotheses. Our findings suggest that accession to the EU gives countries the collateral they need to become less dependent on private support for major infrastructure works, preferring to use fuller public financing when they can afford to do so.

ABSTRACT. The public-private distinction is a significant theme in public administration both in theory and practice (Heinrich and Fournier 2004). The discussion has evolved to consider dimensional publicness (Miller and Moulton 2013), where publicness refers to as the extent to which an organization is constrained by political (or economic) authority (Bozeman 1987). Research on publicness has investigated components of publicness (Antonsen and Jørgensen 1997; Bozeman 1987, 2002; 2007; Bozeman and Bretschneider 1994; Bozeman and Moulton 2011; Moulton 2009; Goldstein and Naor 2005) and how they may influence individual/organizational outcomes, such as provision of management practices (Goldstein and Naor 2005; Miller and Moulton 2013; Su 2017), individual perception (Feeney and Welch 2012; Rainey, Pandey and Bozeman 1995), organizational performance (Heinrich and Fournier 2004), and network behavior (Walker and Hills 2012). These studies often have regarded publicness as being determined by organizational attributes such as ownership, funding, and control (for exceptions, see Heinrich and Fournier 2004 and Miller and Moulton 2013). However, existing publicness studies have been limited to analyzing how aspects of publicness influence the achievement of public values. This study seeks to fill this gap in the literature and conceptualize publicness as a means of realizing public value. Moulton (2009) proposed a framework of “realized publicness” to link factors that contribute to the attainment of public outcomes. Extending Moulton’s (2009) work, this article provides the empirical and theoretical foundations of felt publicness theory. To conceptualize the theory, the data were collected from interviews of government employees of a southeastern state of United States. Open-ended and semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with thirty government employees to reveal their underlying perceptions about publicness. Given the nature of this study is explanatory, grounded theory was pursued to allow the theory to emerge from the data (Straus 1987). This study used grounded theory on the manner in which government employees understand publicness and realize it in their work situation. The resulting analysis of interviews discovered several themes and patterns of publicness perceived by government employees. I discovered the main theme or “core category”—felt publicness—and it is constructed by three dimensions: 1) the purposes for providing public service, 2) employees’ behavior in the service delivery process, and 3) the outcome of service. Each dimension and its subcategories were supported by public administration literature. The theory emphasizes that employees’ underlying perception of publicness may play an important role in achieving realized publicness.

ABSTRACT. The intensity of the changes in environmental munificence and complexity is referred to as environmental dynamism. Environmental dynamism is a product of the frequency and amplitude of changes, and the unpredictability of changes (Dess & Beard, 1984). Whereas there is strong evidence concerning the negative effects of environmental dynamism on organizational performance (e.g., Boyne & Meier, 2009), much less is known about how and to what extent environmental dynamism affects management.

In response to environmental dynamism, organizations can adapt to changes in the environment through internal management practices that are aimed at organizational stability, and embrace external management practices in order to exploit the environment for critical resources and to buffer the system to minimize the impact of dynamism (O’Toole & Meier, 2011). An important assumption is that organizations are able to apply both strategies simultaneously.

In the present study, we examine the effects of environmental dynamism of both munificence and complexity on internal and external management. First, we expect that dynamism of munificence will increase externally oriented strategies, whereas dynamism of complexity will increase internally oriented strategies. Second, we expect that as the level of environmental dynamism increases, the ratio of external to internal management decreases. In other words, as the level of dynamism increases, organizations will spend more time adapting to the environment instead of searching for opportunities through external management (Van den Bekerom & Meier, 2016).

The study focuses on 1400 secondary schools in The Netherlands. In order to test our hypotheses, we collect longitudinal, objective data on dynamism of environmental munificence and complexity (e.g., employee and student characteristics, government funding, and political stability). Second, we conduct a quantitative content analysis of formal school plans which include—among others—information on internal and external school management practices. At a later stage in the project, these data sources will be combined with a survey among school principals.

Andrews, R., Boyne, G.A., & Walker, R.M. (2006). Strategy content and organizational performance: An empirical analysis. Public Administration Review, 66(1), 52-63. Boyne, G.A., & Meier, K.J. (2009). Environmental turbulence, organizational stability, and public service performance. Administration & Society, 40, 799-824. Dess, G.G., & Beard, D.W. (1984). Dimensions of organizational task environments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29,52-73. Van den Bekerom, P., Meier, K.J. (2016, June 23). Coping with munificence, complexity and dynamism: A theory of managing environmental change. Presented at the, 2016 meeting of the Public Management Research Association, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

ABSTRACT. Within the last decades, there has been an increased interest in the importance of management and leadership in public sector organizations. Literature has illustrated the movement away from Weberian bureaucratic form of governance to the rise and development of newer management regimes such as New Public Management, New Public Governance and Digital Era Governance (Andersen et al., 2017). With these new emerging management regimes old ideas such as hierarchical management and formal organization would seem to be obsolete. Yet, we see how “old” managerial ideas such as LEAN management, Leadership Pipeline, strategic positioning theory seems to keep proliferating in the public sector (Grinsven, 2017: Agger and Dahl, 2015: Rosenberg Hansen and Ferlie, 2016). We engage this puzzle by investigating how and why seemingly “old school” management and leadership models are adopted by contemporary public sector organizations. In particular, we strive to explain why the hierarchical, Weberian-inspired leadership model Leadership Pipeline (Charan, Drotter & Noel, 2001), which was originally developed in the 1970´s and 1980´s, got a fast and widespread diffusion across the Danish municipalities from 2010 until 2017. By 2017, 55% of the Danish municipalities had adopted Leadership Pipeline as guiding model for leadership development. Our research question is: what explains the widespread adoption of an old hierarchical and formal leadership model in Danish municipalities? Based on the literature on diffusion of innovation, management fashion and institutional theory we develop a set of hypothesis to explain the adoption. We further leverage a strong mixed methods design utilizing both register data, questionnaire data and data from 25 semi-structured interviews – gathered in the fall 2017. The mixed methods design allows us to both investigate the question of adoption by forming a panel dataset from 2010 to 2017 on all Danish municipalities as well as providing more detailed and in-depth understanding of underlying mechanisms. Preliminary results suggest that the hierarchical leadership model gained acceptance by being translated into a Danish text version and through a strong alliance between public sector managers, academia and management consultants. Moreover, we find that public sector reforms also advanced the concept where municipalities that had recently merged were more likely to adopt the Leadership Pipeline concept. Through this analysis, the study contribute to the recent calls for studying the role and diffusion of management knowledge in the nexus of management consultancies, business academics and public sector organizations (Ferlie et al., 2015: Ferlie et al., 2018).

ABSTRACT. Migration has always been an important driver of social and institutional change all over the world. In contemporary Europe it represents a permanent societal challenge which has been intensified by the current refugee crisis and whose management is the responsibility of the state and its institutions. Even though different countries approach the topic of migration differently, police forces as the most visible representative of the state with direct responsibility for securing the state and its citizens, controlling borders, enforcing the law, and managing conflicts are in many ways deeply involved in coping with the challenges of mass migration. The police is commissioned with the integral task of both securing the rights of refugees and other migrants as well as fighting crimes committed by such people. Furthermore, police officers oftentimes act as the first and most salient representatives of the majority population for newcomers. Their actions and values are therefore not seldom equated with the attitude of the alleged “majority society”. The police thus serves as an important and indispensable focal point for migrants in overcoming their social and cultural difficulties within their new living environment. Especially in the heated discussions surrounding immigration and integration, policing migration represents a public challenge of paramount importance. In our paper, we investigate the processes of organizational change, by which public organizations in general and police forces in particular respond to the challenges of migration. Based on an extensive review of the existing literature and 40-50 qualitative interviews with German police officers, managers and experts, we analyze the effects of migration on organizational structures and specialization processes, but also on change management and organizational learning issues in order to find out how police officers deal with the multi-faceted practical difficulties that arise in day-to-day contact with migrants. Important aspects in this context will be the bureaucratic nature of police organizations as well as the “white, male” organizational culture of the police (“cop culture”), which is also often associated with negative personality features such as racism, sexism, authoritarianism, hostility and prejudice, and therefore represents a major obstacle in the relationship between police officers and migrants. A better understanding of these issues should contribute to improve the collaboration between public sector organizations and migrants and to optimize the migration-related organizational change and learning processes of police forces, while at the same time facilitating the social integration of migrants.

ABSTRACT. Interactions between street-level bureaucrats and clients constitute a neglected field within research into public administration. Consequently, we do not know much about the significance of the character of these interactions in relation to street-level decision-making. This paper investigates whether clients’ demeanour and characteristics affect street-level bureaucrats’ decision-making practice. The effect of clients’ demeanour and characteristics is studied based on a stated preference method, a quantitative technique allowing for an elicitation of discretionary preferences. The paper draws on nationally representative survey data from prisons, mobile police squads and drop-in centres in Denmark (N =402, 56.0% response rate). The findings confirm that clients’ demeanour and characteristics do affect bureaucratic decision-making practice – regardless of type of organisation, but that it is not all clients’ attributes that have an effect. The analyses also show that client demeanour and characteristics, when compared to legislative provisions, play a minor role in relation to overall decisions in client cases.

ABSTRACT. Front-line public servants are charged with profoundly difficult tasks, often enacting roles characterized by complex rule sets in difficult and dynamic situations. These situations, though sometimes routine or standardized, may test the completeness and efficacy of those rules. Adding to this variability, those receiving services by these street-level workers—citizens, clients, or patients—span all possible types of individual, demographic, and economic categories. Though assumptions of appropriate and fair treatment across categories pervade these functions, both the incompleteness of policy and necessary flexibility to account for situational factors remain. This resulting uncertainty and room for discretion allows other factors to emerge as important, including perceptions of service recipients. In some cases surface characteristics and situational factors may impact assessment of service recipient need, interpretation of rules, and discretionary decision-making. Front-line worker behavior, then, is centrally linked to ideas about recipient worthiness for services. Previous research has identified responsibility for the current condition and individual behaviors in response to those conditions as determinants of worthiness. These issues are particularly important in emergency medical services (EMS), a function in which patient worthiness may be invisible and particularly difficult to assess.

This paper examines the impact of individual-level characteristics of street-level bureaucrats on perceptions of patient worthiness in EMS. We use survey data collected in November and December 2017 from paramedics and other advanced clinical health care providers in Pennsylvania to investigate the impact of empathy and expertise on five types of hypothetical patients ranging from theoretically worthy to unworthy. Worthy patients are not responsible for their clinical condition or attempt to actively manage their condition, while unworthy patients are responsible for their clinical condition, take no action to improve their condition, or seek treatment for personal gain. Results indicate that empathy, expertise, education, and risk tolerance impact patient assessment in different ways. Empathy increases perceptions of worthiness across all types of patients, while expertise increases perceived worthiness only in cases where patients are hypothetically considered "worthy" or neutral (those with minor conditions). These results contribute to theories of street-level bureaucracy by understanding the ways in which client interactions are further shaped by front-line worker characteristics. In turn, questions of social equity are raised given the influence such characteristics may influence client outcomes. They also inform practice by imploring clinicians to consider the ways in which patient assessment may be influenced by their own characteristics and not those of the patient or situation at hand.

Slides: Perceptions of Patient Deservingness: Empathy and Expertise in Patient Assessment

ABSTRACT. Incorporating stakeholder engagement and collaboration into the environmental management process is an increasingly popular prescription for environmental conservation issues. Among other benefits, collaboration can help incorporate local knowledge and better information inputs into the decision-making process (Anderson & Ostrom, 2008; Reed et al., 2006), make additional resources available to managers (Hill & Lynn, 2013), and allow more appropriate management decisions (Norton, 2015). This study explores the impact of target fixation on the behaviors of managers responsible for collaborative processes with stakeholders. Target fixation entails focusing all of a manager’s processing power on a single object to the neglect of other management subjects. As public enthusiasm for a particular conservation subject or species grows, so will the collaborative opportunities associated with it. A key question is whether managers adapt their allocations of effort and attention to species with high collaborative opportunities at the expense of other species with less popular profiles and lesser opportunities for collaboration.

In this study, I investigate the implications of stakeholder engagement at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GDNR). This organization is tasked with managing environmental subjects in Georgia, and in doing so, runs several collaborative management groups out of its Coastal Resources Division. I focus on the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative which it coordinates on Georgia’s barrier islands to promote sea turtle conservation. This group engages volunteers and local stakeholders with GDNR managers on each island, performing research, monitoring, and turtle management during the annual nesting season. The long tenure and high popularity of this program make it an ideal subject by which to study how the level of collaborative engagement impacts (A) turtle populations, (B) organizational motivations, and (C) organizational attention and priorities over time.

I employ a mix of GDNR archival and organizational records, including biological data (turtle population), archival state permitting (level of collaborative engagement) and program data (number/funding of programmatic initiatives focused on turtles), and semi-structured interviews (managerial motivations) to investigate these research questions. Using a mixed-methods research design, I will rely on Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) multivariate regression to investigate relationships between annual collaborative engagement and both turtle populations and organizational focus. Embedded qualitative analysis is used to assess organizational managers’ motivations and how they might be influenced by stakeholder collaboration. The results will be valuable to environmental managers, guiding their decisions about whether, where, and how to most appropriately incorporate collaboration into their management programs for different subjects.

ABSTRACT. Recently, scholars have paid increasing attention on collaborative environmental governance at the local level in the context of China. With the purpose of strengthening water resource governance and enhancing its governance performance, Chinese government spend more effort on water governance and the development of hydro-ecological friendly cities. However, most of the recent literature has focused on the factors of the formation of collaborative governance, few studies have theoretically examined and empirically measured the factors influencing water resource governance. This study aims at filling the gap by answering the following research question: what are the influential factors of water governance in China. With the rapid development of economy and society, many local governments in China are faced with tremendous challenges in managing and governing its water resources. In terms of promoting successful experience and achieving effective water governance, Chinese central government selected 105 pilot cities including Dongguan city and E’zhou city. Following a similar codebook and data collection procedure used in the Ecology of Games framework, we set up two unique dataset with governmental actors from different administrative levels and nongovernmental actors, through semi-structured interview and questionnaire. The Dongguan Water Governance Network dataset was collected from 2015 to 2016 and involved 61 actors. The E’zhou Water Governance Network dataset was collected from 2016 to 2017 and contained 59 actors. These two cities are of different geographic location, drainage basin, level of economic development, circumstance of water resources, and population, which make this comparative research more interesting. We compared these two interlocal collaborative governance networks by Quadratic Assignment Procedures models and Exponential Random Graph Models. The core network actors observed by these two networks were indicated by similar network level statistics, focusing on network characters like degree centrality, betweenness centrality, reciprocity, clustering, transitivity, and so on. The highly correlated relationships were measured by and QAP regression analysis, for analyzing how different factors influence the performance of water resource governance. The network microstructures were measured by ERGM, for understanding network formation and comparing the patterns of relationships. Preliminary results indicates bonding capital and bridging capital presented by network characters played different influence on collaborative governance. Other factors like geographic factors, financial factors, demographic factors were have different effect on different governance context. The study represents practical significance and theoretical contribution to the literature on collaborative network governance.

ABSTRACT. While interagency collaborative governance have been long believed as an effective means to achieve what conventional regulatory approaches cannot address in environmental domain, empirical studies with evidence are not many. What’s more, few looks inside the black box of managerial practices in collaboration process and directly links them with environmental outcomes. This paper is to address the gap by examining whether there are managerial practices in collaboration leading to improved environmental outcomes in China’s joint prevention and control of atmospheric pollution programs, particularly through comparison analysis on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under "One Country, Two Systems" and Jing-Jin-Ji region. Scholars have separated managerial practices in collaboration into two categories: collaborative management in particular (e.g. building trust and information sharing) and hierarchy light practices (e.g. performance measurement and gaining central government fund). This paper is to examine these managerial behaviors in collaborative process through the empirical assessment of survey data and interview from 136 officials and bureaucrats of cities in the two regions and their longitudinal air quality data from Jan. 2013 to Jun. 2018. The preliminary results show that there are management practices associated with greater success at reducing air pollution, but depending on different background circumstances. In addition, further correlation study on background contingencies demonstrates that actors in collaboration between regions with different political and social systems have a preference for collaborative management in particular rather than hierarchy light practices. This study is conducive to deepen our understanding on interagency and international collaboration over global environmental governance.

ABSTRACT. Inter-jurisdictional collaboration has been regarded as an effective approach to address policy issues with externalities, such as air pollution and water contamination, little attention, however, has been paid to the potential heterogeneity of collaboration per se. Generally speaking, collaboration could be either formed voluntarily among lateral agents or engendered by intervention from their superior. Collaborations in different forms might be embedded in different levels of superior involvement and distinctive working mechanisms, thus engender heterogeneous policy effects. We try to offer preliminary exploration for this topic with the study of collaborative governance practices in the field of air pollution in authoritarian China. Specifically, we identified three types of collaboration governance emerged in different areas of China, i.e., collaboration with interventions from central authority (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area), collaboration led or intervened by the provincial governments (Hunan and Shandong), and collaboration voluntarily formed by the municipal agents (Sichuan), and investigated their effectiveness in air pollution control.

Empirically, we collected city-day air quality data from 2013 to 2018 and estimated the effects of these different collaborations on air pollution control. The difference-in-difference (DID) model with multiple treatment periods were applied to gauge both the short- and long-term policy effects. Our results show that collaborations with interventions from the upper authority work yield more significant and more sustained policy effects in controlling air pollution than their voluntary-based counterpart. Moreover, collaboration led by the provincial governments turns out to be more effective than that intervened by the central authority.

In a nutshell, our research emphasized the need for the scholarly explorations of the heterogeneity among different collaboration practices, which might not only contribute to the current theoretical works on collaborative governance but also offer insights for policy making that pursues better governance performance.

ABSTRACT. This paper analyzes the effects of management primacy on Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement under American Indian tribal governance. Extensive research on “environmental federalism” investigates the effects of shared state-federal management on policy outcomes under the landmark American environmental laws of the 1970s. But these laws originally made no mention of American Indian tribal lands, and subsequent research on environmental federalism has given them little attention. As sovereign nations under federal government trust, Tribal governments administer U.S. environmental policies directly in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), not under state authority. Previous research on CWA and Safe Drinking Water Act implementation (Teodoro, Haider & Switzer 2016) finds that, compared with non-tribal facilities, tribal facilities are managed less rigorously and violate environmental laws more frequently. The authors describe this disparity as a case of “systemic regulatory neglect.” However, since 1987, tribes have been eligible to assume management primacy under federal environmental law, similar to states. To date, 54 tribal governments have secured CWA implementation primacy. The number and diversity of tribes operating regulated facilities provides uncommon leverage on key questions about environmental federalism. Do tribes that secure primacy enforce environmental rules more rigorously? Or does primacy allow tribes to shirk regulations in a race-to-the-bottom?

Environmental policy implementation on tribal lands offers an exceptional opportunity to study the effects of primacy status on enforcement under environmental federalism. Analysis of CWA enforcement across 405 tribal wastewater facilities finds that, on average, enforcement increases significantly under tribal management (primacy). The findings offer insights about environmental management and tribal governance more broadly, with important implications for environmental justice. These results are consistent with Cornell and Kalt’s (1998) “driver’s seat” hypothesis: tribes are better off when they seek to manage and administer their own affairs, rather than relying on the federal government. The findings offer important lessons for public management and policy design in a federal system, and perhaps even more profound implications for environmental justice.

ABSTRACT. Several public administration scholars have studied the relationship between bureaucrats and politicians in order to characterize their roles in the policy process (Peters & Pierre, 2001). Such analyses have aimed to understand how different arrangements and interactions between bureaucrats and politicians can lead to multiple scenarios in the policy making process. Thus, affecting the quality of the actions of governments in itself. Nonetheless, most characterizations in the extant literature have only addressed fully developed bureaucracies, which, to a certain degree, have successfully achieved an ideal level of independence and professionalization.

There is scant literature about how such arrangements actually operate in countries where that ideal has not been reached. In this vein, we aim to start filling a gap in this work by applying the typology proposed by Dasandi & Esteve (2017) in order to classify the politics-bureaucratic interaction within a developing country. To do so we study a country with a hybrid system in which political patronage practices coexist with merit based practices in the civil service (Sanabria, 2015). We will adopt an exploratory quantitative approach in order to explore how the variables of the model relates to organizational capacity.

The theoretical model proposed by Dasandi and Esteve has two main dimensions: Separation (the extent to which political and administrative spheres are clearly distinct), and Autonomy (the extent to which bureaucrats can perform their duties without political interference). For the purposes of our analysis, we will aim to operationalize both dimensions. To measure the two dimensions we rely on a database of 97 public agencies in Colombia. These agencies are located at the national level. To measure the autonomy dimension we propose two distinct measures. The first one aims to measure formal autonomy, and the second one tries to measure de facto autonomy.

Our work provides two main contributions, one theoretical and one practical. First, we believe that by providing empirical evidence for such theoretical efforts to categorize bureaucracies we will provide a better picture of the applicability of such categories at the organizational level. Second, by relating the typology itself with capacity we will understand the actual practical effects of such relationship in the context of a country where political patronage and managerial practices still coexist. Hence, we want to find out if the politics-civil service interface has any effect on public organizations capacity.

ABSTRACT. How effectively can political officials constrain the policymaking activities of administrative agencies through statute? This study addresses this question by looking at the effects of “No More Stringent” (NMS) laws, which have been widely adopted among the American states. The laws are explicitly designed to curb the ability of state environmental agencies to issue strict rules regulating pollution.

NMS laws differ along two important dimensions: restrictiveness and comprehensiveness. The least restrictive NMS laws require state agencies to submit a report justifying any regulations that are more stringent than the minimum level required by federal law to the state legislature and/or governor for review. Others only allow more stringent regulations under emergency conditions, such as a serious, imminent threat to public health. Finally, some states have strict NMS laws that unconditionally prohibit state agencies from issuing regulations more stringent than federal minimums, thereby presumably removing all discretion from state administrators.

These measures also vary in their comprehensiveness. Some of them are media-specific, focusing only on air pollution, water pollution, or hazardous waste. Some of them are source-specific, focusing only on pollution from leaking underground storage tanks or surface mining activities. Some of them are general laws that govern environmental regulations across all of these categories. The most stringent NMS laws, then, are both unconditional and general, prohibiting environmental agencies from promulgating any environmental regulation more stringent than is required by federal law.

This study seeks to leverage variation across states in the presence, restrictiveness, and comprehensiveness in NMS laws to ascertain their effectiveness in constraining environmental regulators. The empirical models assess the effects of NMS laws on the environmental compliance costs imposed on industry in the state. The data consists of a pooled set of observations from the 48 contiguous U.S. states over time, which enables the study to exploit variation in several important factors pertaining to NMS laws, characteristics of the affected state agency, and a variety of political and economic control variables. These analyses are sensitive to the fact that NMS laws are not randomly assigned across states, and will employ techniques designed to address the issue of causal inference, including synthetic case control approaches, in addition to traditional regression-based methods. The results should shed light on how well, and under what circumstances, legislators can effectively circumscribe the policymaking activities of bureaucrats through statutory mandates.

ABSTRACT. Does preference divergence across the bureaucracy’s key political principals lead to agency policy autonomy? We provide the first empirical test of this frequently asserted relationship using data gathered across the American states at two points in time. We capture preference divergence by measuring the ideological distance between the bureaucracy’s multiple political principals—legislators, governors, and courts—on the common left-right dimension. We measure policy autonomy through multi-faceted surveys of state agency leaders. In contrast to the dominant position in the literature, we find no direct support for the preference divergence hypothesis. We do find support, however, for a conditional argument, which incorporates the important role that institutional ideological divides play in modern society. Specifically, we demonstrate that the preference divergence hypothesis holds under ideologically unified—but not divided—government. The results shed light on when, and why, ideological congruence across the bureaucracy’s key political principals provides an oversight check on the policymaking power of the modern administrative state.

ABSTRACT. America’s nonprofit sector has started to fill the hole left by the “Hollow State” and increased in political and economic importance. It now accounts for roughly ten percent of the US economy (McKeever et al., 2016), and has been shown to significantly impact the quality of life of communities (Sharkey et al., 2017; Rupasingha et al., 2000), and it plays an important role in the delivery of essential government services (Smith and Lipsky, 2009; Boris et al., 2010).

As a result, some have argued that the nonprofit sector represents an alternative model to large government and socialist policies using a model of tax expenditures that support civic engagement and autonomy of community actors. Recent research challenges this vantage point, however, because nonprofit resources and activities are not evenly distributed across the population. Nonprofits are more likely to be located in wealthy communities than poor ones (Joassart-Marcelli & Wolch, 2003), are less likely to channel human service grants to diverse communities (Garrow, 2012), and can be used to circumvent public policy designed to equalize the quality of public institutions across communities (Nelson & Gazely, 2014). More so, some question whether foundations and wealthy donors are accountable to the public (Giridharadas, 2018), and the Citizens United case enabled the use of nonprofits to launder funds designed to shape policy and politics for undemocratic interest groups (Mayer, 2017).

To better understand the collective role that nonprofits play in society, we introduce a framework for studying the political economy of the sector. Using a new dataset of 150,000 nonprofit start-ups, we are able to link founder characteristics to taxonomies of nonprofit missions in order to examine relationships between founder wealth, race, and political partisanship with features of nonprofit missions and activity. We can also test for the relationship between nonprofit density and community need. Additionally, we apply machine learning techniques to 3.5 million nonprofit mission statements and program service accomplishments statements available through a new open data source on IRS 990 e-filers. By linking machine learning techniques and new open data sources in this way, we can generate a high-level understanding of the geography of nonprofit mission and its relationship to population characteristics in the communities in which they operate.

ABSTRACT. Nonprofit organizations support themselves through many different sources of income, including government grants and contracts (public), donations (private), and earned income (market). While existing studies have mainly focused on the effects of one type of funding, they have not examined how the configuration of various funding sources affects nonprofit mission and activities. Do nonprofits exhibit distinct funding configurations, and if so, what do they look like? How are funding configurations related to nonprofit strategies? In this article, we will address these research questions by drawing on evidence from a nationwide survey of 274 environmental NGOs in China in 2014-2015. We first used cluster analysis to group NGOs into meaningful clusters based on the proportion of funding they receive from various sources. Our analysis showed that four distinct funding configurations were identified, including donation-centered, service income-centered, diverse funding sources, and government funding centered.

To examine the link between funding configurations and NGO strategies, we first distinguished two types of strategies that environmental NGOs frequently use: environmental education and policy advocacy. Here, environmental education examines the extent to which environmental NGOs engage in public environmental education and media environmental publicity campaigns, the goal of which is to raise public awareness of the importance of and strategies for environmental protection; policy advocacy refers to the various tactics (e.g., participating in policy formulation and revision, serving on government-organized guidance committees) that environmental NGOs use in advocating for policy change. We integrated resource dependence theory and stakeholder theory and presented a framework to test the direct effects of the four funding configurations on NGO strategies. We also took into account the moderating role of perceived impact of the funder on NGO strategies.

Findings showed that compared with NGOs with a diverse funding portfolio, government funding-centered NGOs are likely to engage more in environmental education, but they do not necessarily have more policy advocacy. However, when NGO leaders perceive government funders’ impact as high, they will advocate less. In addition, compared with NGOs with diverse funding sources, donation-centered NGOs have similar levels of environmental education, but they engage less in policy advocacy. When NGO leaders perceive a high degree of donors’ impact, they are likely to engage less in environmental education. The study contributed to the literature on nonprofit funding and nonprofit-government relations by demonstrating how various funding configurations and NGO leaders’ perception of funders’ impact may shape NGO strategies differently.

ABSTRACT. All other things being equal, are clients or donors of social businesses willing to pay a premium for nonprofit status? Social entrepreneurs and service providers currently operate in an environment in which the value of organizational form is ambiguous. Although most empirical studies that examine differences between the sectors are unable to find substantial sector-based differences between organizations that perform similar functions, some studies suggest that nonprofit organizations benefit from a “halo effect”.

This empirical paper examines whether the “halo effect” of nonprofits exists and if it extends to a willingness to pay. In the face of “hybridization,” “sector blurring,” and theories of the “fourth sector,” many scholars have sought to identify the distinct characteristics and advantages associated with nonprofitness. We extend this research to determine the extent to which clients and donors are willing to pay a premium for nonprofit status as compared with government or for-profit status. In an environment in which multiple organizational forms are viewed as viable delivery mechanisms for social services and achievement of social outcomes, answering this question will help us understand the market environment for nonprofit organizations.

This paper uses conjoint analysis to quantify the preferences of 1,250 respondents. Conjoint analysis is a technique that allows for the examination of an individual’s choice process and the trade-offs that he or she makes while making that decision. While this technique is typically used by companies to match product feature mixes to market segments and pricing models, we use it to identify the value—in financial and nonfinancial terms—of nonprofit status.

This study contributes to the study of sector boundaries in two ways. First, it directly contributes to our understanding of the implications of nonprofit organizational form in a way that identifies market-driven, empirical data about the value of nonprofitness.

Second, it makes a methodological contribution to the study of sector. We are unaware of any studies using this methodology in a broad macroeconomic sense to address the value of sector. We believe that conjoint analysis is a potentially fruitful contribution to the study of sector.

By developing an empirical—rather than purely theoretical—basis for understanding the value of sector distinctions, we will be in a better position to test theories about the nature and value of the nonprofit sector as a whole and to inform the strategic decisions of individuals choosing between incorporating as a for-profit or non-profit organization.

Slides: The marginal market value of sector: Does nonprofitness matter to consumer

ABSTRACT. The relationship between government and nonprofits is an important focus in public and nonprofit management studies. The research in this area has largely examined questions of how government funding impacts nonprofits, the type of relationships between government and nonprofit organizations, and the implications of blurred boundaries between the sectors.

The recession of the late 2000s evolved this relationship further as local and state tax bases decreased, leading to decreased financial support for some public services. In response, nonprofit foundations evolved or were created to support public services. This includes an increase in the number of foundations that support traditional public services, such as education and public safety (see Nelson & Gazley 2014).

The number of police foundations are growing in the United States, with more communities creating these philanthropic organizations to support police departments (Police Executive Research Forum 2014). Our overall project is exploring the funding, spending, and overall purpose of these foundations. This portion of the study focuses on the role of the foundations in supporting departments. Is the support congruent with traditional police foundations, like supporting the families of fallen officers or creating scholarships for future officers? Or, is this support for activities that directly impacts the mission of the department. These activities include fundraising for new technology or the K-9 unit or even conducting strategic planning for a department.

We created a purposive sample of 72 foundations that have a presence on the Internet. We gathered the mission statements, strategic plans, annual reports, and information pages. Using NVivo, we are analyzing the content of this information to determine the purpose of the foundations in our sample. Preliminary analysis demonstrates that most the foundations were created or have evolved to impact the direct services of the police department the foundation supports.

This exploratory research raises important questions about the evolving relationship between government services and nonprofit foundations. Is philanthropic help keeping public organizations stay afloat financially in rough times? And, does this help come at the detriment of democracy as decisions are made outside of the traditional decision-making processes of local government?

References

Nelson, A. A., & Gazley, B. (2014). The Rise of School-Supporting Nonprofits. Education Finance and Policy, 9(4), 541–566.

Police Executive Research Forum. (2014). Future trends in policing. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services. Retrieved from http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS114905

ABSTRACT. Ever since the 1980’s, policy and management scientists have tried to find ways of explaining what accounts for implementation outcomes, in particular the degree of success or failure of implementation. Research interest in this topic is found not only in political science and policy but also in sociology, management and engineering. The goal of this paper is to develop a theory of implementation that conceptualizes implementation as a continuous construct that can be tested empirically in multiple settings that integrates across these disparate perspectives. We start by defining implementation as a process that can actually begin prior to formal policy adoption. This processes has organizational and individual attributes and is also effected by environmental factors. By organizational, we mean, the statute, executive order, court decision, or policy; we add both conditions in the external environment, e.g., an economic downturn, as well as monetary and human resources available to achieve success in implementation to the mix. By individual, we include the culture, norms, value and work routine as well as the will and skill of those in charge of transforming policy into practice. We also incorporate characteristics of the policy/innovation and consider their implications to implementation process and results. For example, in the case of a controversial public policy, if the adoption process was long and/or contentious post-adoption implementation process and outcomes will differ in potentially significant but predictable ways. In order to develop our framework and to help illustrated some important implications, the paper makes use of an empirical example based on implementation of sustainable procurement policies in local government. The example helps to identifies, for example that implementation effort exist in part due to local norms, task domain of the policy and other organizational factors.

ABSTRACT. Why does a program or policy implemented with success in one jurisdiction or organization fail to achieve similar results in another context? There is a large body of literature in public affairs and related fields that wrestle with this question. These approaches place varying emphasis on the constraints of the institutional system relative to the role of human agency in bringing about successful outcomes, and tend to generate lists of factors that enable or impede successful implementation. In this manuscript, we present an alternative theoretical approach that is grounded in an understanding of social skill. In complex social systems, individuals exert agency to enact changes to a core program by enabling institutional learning and change—a process known as structuration. This approach emphasizes the structuration of rules, routines, culture, and resources during the process of implementation. Instead of viewing policy and program implementation as replication, this theoretical orientation focuses upon how to engage others in practices of innovation, helping them to understand the opportunities and constraints within their context and creating resources to build capacity and shift constraints, thereby improving policy and program outcomes.

ABSTRACT. Interpretation has long been recognized as an important aspect of implementation. Yet, interpretation remains understudied and undertheorized in the implementation literature. In this paper, I argue that implementation will always involve several processes of interpretation, as the abstract model or intention that constitutes a public service intervention is recreated as concrete actions in specific locations. Drawing on recent developments in implementation and organization theory, I theorize these processes as translation and suggest that socially skilled actors act as translators by interpreting public service interventions in ways that foster collective action. To do so successfully, they must exercise four distinct translation skills: knowledge, creativity, patience and strength. I further argue that processes of translation unfold along three dimensions in the implementation system–within the hierarchy (vertical), across fields (horizontal) and over time (longitudinal). To illustrate this argument, I present a multi-sited case study of the implementation and translation of evidence-based practice in Danish child protective services as it has unfolded over two decades. By calling attention to the crucial role of interpretation on all levels of the implementation system and theorizing this as translation, the paper contributes to our understanding of implementation as a complex social process, which is both highly context-specific and at the same time characterized by generalizable patterns of action. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

ABSTRACT. This paper links four separate but related literatures: the literature on implementation from public management scholars (many of whom are part of this panel); “implementation science” which has its roots in public health (e.g., Fixsen et al. 2005); “improvement science” which focuses on implementation and learning from plan-do-study-act cycles (e.g., Bryk et al. 2015; also related to performance measurement and management efforts); and implementation research in evidence-building initiatives (e.g., Knox, Hill, Berlin 2018). The paper develops a crosswalk among these literatures, showing their commonalities and distinctions in general goals, terminology, question focus, and assumptions. Implementation theory and research are at the crux of program improvement and effectiveness questions. For example, the four literature streams share a focus on the mechanisms, core components, or “active ingredients” of programs. There is growing interest in these questions, driven partly by a growing hunger for data-informed decision-making by local program managers; and partly by interest in theory-testing from academic disciplines such as economics, political science, or psychology. With their knowledge of public program and policy environments, organizational structures, organizational cultures, and managerial craft, public management researchers are uniquely positioned to contribute to this literature. Program managers and policymakers are grappling with how to scale-up or expand “evidence-based” programs. At the same time, “continuous improvement” initiatives are gaining momentum in many domains such as education and early childhood home visiting. This paper informs the confluence of these efforts and places them within the broader context of evidence building in social programs.

ABSTRACT. While women are increasingly represented in the public sector workforce, they still struggle to reach leadership positions (Riccucci, 2009). Gender diversity in leadership is important for ensuring that the values of diverse groups are considered in government decision making (Mosher, 1982). Gender diversity in leadership also has implications for mentoring, the retention and promotion of women, job satisfaction and commitment, and the performance of public sector organizations. To promote gender diversity in leadership, we must understand how careers advance in the public sector.

Traditional careers are marked by commitment to a single organization, goals of advancing up the organizational hierarchy, and achievement of a high salary (Hall, 1976). For careers in public service, meritocracy is espoused and idealized with formal structures for advancement – civil service laws, the general schedule classification, the senior executive service among others (Weber, 1946). However, career development is also relational. Mentoring, social networks, and role models also influence advancement (Barbulescu, 2015; Higgins & Kram, 2001; Higgins & Thomas, 2001). In addition, the career climate or “the meaning employees attach to career policies, practices, and procedures within their organization” shapes careers (Hall & Yip, 2014, p. 216).

The purpose of this study is to examine how espoused paths for career advancement interact with relational and career climate dimensions of careers in the public sector workforce. We focus our study in the context of the U.S. Army. The Army – distinguished by its strict rule-orientation, hierarchical structure, and defined path for advancement – is one of the largest public sector employers in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Defense, 2018). Yet, this context has received little attention in public management research. In addition, promoting diversity in leadership is of interest to military practitioners (U.S. Army, 2017).

We take an inductive stance using mixed methods to address the purpose of this study. Using survey data from 18,000 Army personnel and transcripts from focus groups with 190 Army personnel, we identify pathways to leadership espoused by the Army, what career paths for Army personnel actually look like, and how relational and career climate dimensions influence careers. We pay particular attention to gender differences. We develop a theoretical model of career advancement in public sector organizations. We contribute to public management research by examining how formal and informal dimensions interact to shape careers in the military – a unique context in public management scholarship.

ABSTRACT. We argue that the federal government’s policy to give veterans preferential treatment in hiring has considerable unintended consequences for federal personnel management. While meant to apply only to federal hiring decisions, we argue that veterans’ preference is likely to influence other important personnel management decisions, including employee promotions, employee performance evaluations, and employee reassignments. We draw on theories of cultural and occupational homophily to suggest that managers who are veterans will treat employees who are veterans favorably relative to employees who are not veterans. Specifically, we hypothesize that managers who are veterans will be more likely to promote employees who are veterans, that managers who are veterans will provide larger performance pay bonuses to employees who are veterans, and that managers who are veterans will be less likely to reassign employees who are veterans to other work units.

We use fine-grained panel data on federal personnel actions to test the above hypotheses. Our data allow us to follow managers and employees over time, as they move from work group to work group, and so we are able to exploit longitudinal variation in our variables of interest to test our hypotheses. For instance, we can compare whether an employee who moves from a veteran-led work group to a civilian-led work group experiences differential treatment in these two groups. We can also compare whether a manager who moves from a work group composed entirely of veterans to a work group composed entirely of non-veterans treats these groups’ employees differently. Additionally, our data indicate whether employees are Vietnam-era veterans, pre-Vietnam-era veterans, or post-Vietnam-era veterans, allowing us to examine whether different degrees of cultural homophily between managers and employees are associated with different degrees of favorable treatment in personnel decisions. For instance, we examine whether managers who are Vietnam-era veterans treat employees who are also Vietnam-era veterans particularly favorably. In addition to illuminating the unintended management consequences of the federal government’s veterans’ preference policy, our findings contribute to the representative bureaucracy and public sector performance pay literatures. Practically speaking, they tell us whether federal employees who are military veterans enjoy a veterans’ preference that is not statutory, but is instead a de facto and pervasive part of federal personnel management.

ABSTRACT. There is a large body of scholarship exploring the extent to which managerial behaviors and leadership traits vary by gender. Overall this empirical research suggests gender matters and identifies fundamental differences in the organizational values, management styles, policy preferences, and leadership strategies of men and women (e.g., Burns 1979; Gilligan 1982; Rosener 1990; Kathlene 1989, 1995; Thomas 1994; Rosener 1995; Hatcher 2003). For example, previous public management research has found that women provide more emotional labor in organizations (Meier, Mastracci, and Wilson 2006; Guy and Newman 2004; Bellas 1999), have different motivations for work in the public sector (DeHart-Davis, Marlowe, and Pandey 2006), are more democratic (Bass and Avolio 1993), and are “less hierarchical and more participatory, interactional, flexible, consociational, and multifaceted” (Meier, O’Toole, and Goerdel 2006, p. 25). As Stivers (2002, p. 3) wrote, the “images of professional expertise, management, leadership, and public virtue that mark justifications of administrative power contain dilemmas of gender.”

While research has tackled the question of how leadership styles vary by gender, far less is known about whether there are fundamental differences in how men and women view leadership. For example, are there differences in the traits women and men associate with effective leaders and does the gender of a leader impact how they construct ideas of leadership? Do these differences help explain disparities in how male and female leaders behave? Are there more unconscious, deeply engrained gender biases in leadership perspectives?

This exploratory study offers insights into these important questions drawing on data from 30 focus groups (with 10-15 participants each) with local government elected officials from across North Carolina. Officials identify characteristics they prescribe to effective leaders as well as provide views of what derails leaders. In addition, demographic information about participants, including both their gender and race, as well as characteristics about the jurisdictions for which they work was collected. We analyze focus group data using QSR NVivo and pattern-matching (Yin, 1994). The primary focus of the study examines how gender influences elected officials’ perceptions of leadership. However, our unique dataset also allow us to explore the potential intersectionality of gender and race as well as how contextual, regional, and community factors may influence local elected officials’ perceptions of leadership. Research implications inform scholarship on leadership, gender, and political dynamics.

ABSTRACT. The public sector has the opportunity to lead in addressing social equity issues through human resource policies. As discussions of fairness, equity and workplace climate maintain policy salience, we examine whether disparities in pay exist, persist or are diminishing when comparing employees in terms of gender, race and ethnicity. Additionally, we examine how the economic downturn and subsequent recovery, and geographic cultural differences impact advances in pay equity considering the changing role of unions, regional economic conditions and differences in political values. The study evaluates whether public sector employers contribute to societal concerns over parity in pay or act as leaders.

Data was collected from about 2,500 employees every second year since 2002 and up until 2018 – the resulting pooled cross-sectional dataset includes over 15,000 public procurement employees. The surveyed employees are categorized in four levels of employees in the public procurement field: Buyers, Senior Buyers, Managers, and Directors. The dataset includes variables on actual pay, geographic location, regional cost of living and regional economic indicators, family structure, education and years of experience. In addition, we include other demographic, cost of living, economic condition, and human capital variables.

This unique dataset allows us to control for personal factors that are widely used to explain pay disparities and evaluate whether any disparities are correcting as time progresses. Our ability to explore environmental changes and trends over time offers a powerful tool for understanding the complexity of disparities and patterns in compensation. The study aims to identify the predictors of persistence of the pay disparities and the effect of economic and political events that occurred since 2002 while offering new insights that contribute to theoretical frameworks related to gender and human resource practices.

ABSTRACT. The council-manager form of government has become the most common form of municipal government in the United States. As such, city councils hire a professional public manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the majority of American municipalities. However, women make up only a small portion of the city managers in the United States, and female city managers make, on average, lower annual salaries than their male counterparts. Prior research has examined the gender wage gap in other public sector organizations, including federal and state agencies, and school districts, but few studies have examined this phenomenon among city managers. The few existing studies fail to account for the impact of municipal level income-related factors such as local resources or for individual level factors such as the manager’s prior experience and education. Using original data from the employment contracts of all city managers in the state of Florida along with additional municipal level data, we examine the gender wage gap among city managers. We find that female city managers in Florida do make significantly less in salary than their male counterparts. The extensive dataset allows us to parse out how a variety of factors related to individual productivity (particularly education and years of experience) and the nature of each specific job (specifically municipal economic/financial condition and municipal political climate) impact manager compensation separate from gender. We conduct a wage decomposition analysis comparing male and female salaries, taking into account measured personal and municipal characteristics. As such, we can both isolate and measure the impact of gender on compensation. This allows us to understand whether certain characteristics are valued more among men than women, such as holding a graduate degree or years of experience, and to determine whether there remains an unexplained portion of the gender wage gap, suggesting that municipal councils may compensate men more generously than women, all else equal.

ABSTRACT. Managing cross-sector collaborations is a growing area of research and practice within the field of public administration. While this body of research is expanding, limit research exists guiding the management of powerful interests within health collaborations especially within addiction treatment. This is a particularly important gap to address because many cities are responding to the growing opioid epidemic by convening cross-sector collaborations. While the intent of these collaborations is to bring multiple sectors and perspectives together to provide relevant and effective policy solutions, collaborating with organizations of differing levels of power can open the collaboration to policy manipulations. This can have deadly consequences when residents’ health is on the line.

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to address the following research questions: 1) does the structure of collaborative governance in opioid task forces mitigate domination by powerful interests?, and 2) How can the structure of collaborative governance promote or hinder policy domination by powerful interest? Powerful organizations can limit the influence of other stakeholders within a collaboration and reduce the overall effectiveness toward achieving public aims. Similar to regulatory capture, this can lead to the implementation of policies that promote private interests over the health of the larger community.

Method: We use a mixed-methods approach focusing on opioid task forces in Palm Beach, Florida. This task force represents an ideal case to study because of the inclusion of powerful private sober homes within the opioid task force. Social networks were constructed from qualitative data including task force meeting minutes, handouts, and agendas that were publicly available on the State Attorney’s website. The qualitative method of grounded visualizations was used to assess the strategies and threats in place that influenced sectoral policy domination within this opioid task force. Exponential Random Graph Modeling (ERGM) was used to test the effect of sector on homophilous tie formation within the network.

Results: Through the use of network analysis, we found that private sector interests were less likely to dominate policy tasks because of the strategies employed by the network facilitator and participating organizations. Strategies that hindered policy domination included sharing motivations, guidelines for speaking, laws regarding transparency, a mix of private professionals, and a strong and clearly defined public and nonprofit leadership. Strategies that promoted policy domination were time management, the voices of the few, and a lack of public-sector interagency collaboration.

ABSTRACT. An organizational network is a group of organizations that together needs to form a goal-directed system to serve a common purpose that none of the network members can achieve on their own. Of importance is that this group is stable, because stability allows the network to assemble, sort, and link its members into a goal-directed system.

When a network matures over time interactions and transactions either increase or decrease among a set of present and absent relationships in the network. In this article we are interested in whether such kind of changes in interactions and transactions in the network affect the stability of the network and perhaps more interestingly enhances system-level outcomes or not, especially when the network saturates in terms of its capacity to deal with interactions and transactions?

To answer this we introduce the concept of network saturation and elaborate through a single case study on how network saturation affects the relationship between network stability and network effectiveness. We believe it is important for explaining network effectiveness that network managers in/of the network understand to what extent presence of organizations, relationships, and scope will cause to combine network interactions and transactions until there is no further tendency to combine. This raises an interesting issue of network management, namely how—if at all, the network manages its interactions and transactions to attain both collective and individual interests satisfactory? Specifically, when the number of organizations in the network increases, the integration across the whole network becomes denser, and the scope of the network purpose broadens, because this will highly likely spur the amount of interactions and transactions in the network.

We examined a goal-directed child and youth care service delivery network in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The network is composed of four network cliques and is governed by a network administrative organization (NAO). Data were collected by semi-structured interviews of key representatives of the NAO. In addition, secondary data was gathered to examine network saturation over time in terms of organizations, relationships, and scope. The case is analyzed by using social network- and content analysis and we provide recommendations on a set of principles according to which network managers can cultivate network saturation until the point regarded as necessary and desirable.

ABSTRACT. The article presents the results of a comparative case study of five goal-directed organizational networks in the Flemish primary health and social care sector (ORDGs). We aim to advance insights on the role of network management in establishing and maintaining network legitimacy by asking what it is that networks do to establish legitimacy and accordingly maintain it in the context of the Belgian state reform? Using a mixed methods approach, we collected data through a survey examining the perception of network members on network management, network legitimacy, and network effectiveness and conducted semi-structured interviews with key representatives of each network. In addition, two focus groups were held with network managers to triangulate findings.

By building forth on the work of Human and Provan (2000), we examine cross case through OLS regression analysis (n=94 of 216 [43%]) the perception of network members on what the relationship is between network management and the three conceptually distinct dimensions of network legitimacy—the network as form, the network as entity, and the network as interaction. Based on these findings, we then indicate per case using outcome pattern matching what it is that networks do to establish and maintain legitimacy under circumstances of institutional pressures and resource dependency.

Legitimacy concerns are typical dilemmas for network managers because they (in collaboration with others) are appointed with the task to design and use the organizational network to attain a common purpose, while at the same time they (in collaboration with others) need to manage internal and external legitimacy. We contribute by elaborating that networks can lead to improved system-level outcomes, but only when networks are perceived as credible despite a lack of direct external control, system stability and resource munificence as originally stated as imperative by Provan and Milward (1995). This is salient because public policy planners and practitioners often focus on the impact of system instability and resource scarcity, rather than focusing on how decentralized legitimate coercive power by central government creates opportunities for (local) institutional design and levers of collaboration. Implications for network management are discussed and future recommendations provided on what the prerequisites of network management are to establish and maintain network legitimacy.

ABSTRACT. Many U.S. states have a decentralized child welfare system wherein counties are responsible for managing child protection and support programs, such as facilitating foster youth’s transition to adulthood. Unfortunately, transition-age foster youth (i.e., 16 to 18 years old) remain in a vulnerable position in several domains compared to peers in the general population. To meet the needs of these youth, state- and county-level officials and voluntary sector service providers have revamped services/supports and increased cross-system collaboration (Courtney, 2009). We examine whether there are associations between youths’ outcomes in education, homelessness, employment, and health and: (1) the availability of trainings/services; (2) county child welfare departments’ collaboration with other service systems; and (3) youths’ satisfaction with trainings/services.

This study uses multiple data sources—including representative panel youth survey data, caseworker survey data, and administrative data—gathered by the California Youth Transitions to Adulthood Study, assessing the impact of the extended foster care program in California (CalYOUTH, 2018). The sample for this analysis includes 423 youths who completed two waves of the youth surveys (conducted in 2013 and 2015, when they were age 17 and 19) and whose caseworker completed the caseworker survey. Youth outcome variables include high school/GED completion, days of homelessness, number of quarters employed, and any mental health and/or substance use disorder. The main explanatory variables include youths’ satisfaction with support services/trainings, and caseworkers’ perceptions of service availability and quality of cross-system collaboration. We used multivariate regression with a wide range of controls, including youth demographic characteristics, foster care history, maltreatment records, and county-level attributes.

Youths’ completion of high school or GED was significantly associated with caseworkers’ satisfaction in working with the secondary education system and youths’ satisfaction with services and trainings. Caseworker perception of greater availability of housing options within their county was associated with shorter homeless spells. Youths’ satisfaction with treatment and support services was associated with a lower probability of experiencing mental health or substance use disorders.

Findings underscore the roles that differences between counties in service availability and cross-system collaboration play in promoting positive outcomes for foster youth, and highlight the potential consequences of inequity in access to services and supports under a decentralized child welfare system. Considering foster youths are rarely perceived as valued consumers of health and social services, our results support the importance of engaging foster youths in service design and launching processes to offer more relevant and effective programs.

ABSTRACT. While empirical and experimental studies link transformational and transactional leadership with a wide array of organizational outcomes (Trottier, Van Wart, & Wang, 2008; Wright, Moynihan & Pandey, 2012; Tummers & Nevicka, 2017), calls abound for studies that show how these leadership styles can be strengthened among public managers (Anderson & Sun, 2017 ). Based on a dyadic survey of public managers (n=495), this study examines how transactional leadership styles among public managers are increased and strengthened. This study finds that adding additional leadership routines that (i) clarify public values and (ii) increase communication and psychological contracts with employees in transactional leadership significantly increases organizational commitment among public employees (an antecedent of many positive outcomes).

We also find that the effects of augmented transactional leadership are comparable to those of transformational leadership on organizational commitment. Our study addresses the current shortfall of research on transactional leadership styles (e.g., Dinh 2014) and contributes to the literature in important ways. Theoretically, our approach to “transforming transactional leadership” shows how clarifying “public value” can be added and integrated into transactional leadership. This results in an augmented style that distinctive for public organizations. Our study is also practically pertinent, suggesting specific ways to increase the effectiveness of transactional leadership. This is especially relevant in public setting with low opportunities for transformational leadership. This cutting edge research is relevant for those interested in public management leadership and research.

ABSTRACT. Government agencies tend to deal with crises much more frequently than other organizations. Such instances may include economic, political, and legal crises as well as government shutdowns, cyber attacks, and natural disasters. In times of crisis, stakeholders and the media often point to the important role of “true leadership.” Yet, empirically we know very little about the impact of leadership in those situations, let alone, specific effects of different leadership styles on employees during times of crisis.

Our paper will contribute to filling this gap. Following Al-Dahash (2016, p.1195), we conceptualize a crisis using the following features: “uniqueness, danger, being troublesome or causing damage, being unexpected, and usually emotional.” We focus on two leadership styles, which according to Bass (1998) cover a relevant spectrum of leader behaviors: transactional (“rewarding”) and transformational (“inspiring”) leadership. According to scattered previous work, both styles are supposed to be particularly effective during crises because they provide a clear definition of goals, tasks, and consequences (transactional) as well as encouragement to turn the crisis into an opportunity for positive change (transformational).

We examine these hypotheses using two empirical studies. Study 1 is the correlational analysis of large-N data sets to probe the effect of the two leadership styles on employee satisfaction, commitment, and motivation before and during a crisis. We focus on three crises (the NSA-Snowden leaks, the VA’s waitlist scandal, and the FEMA response to Hurricane Katrina) and employ federal employees as our sample. Study 2 is still in preparation: Here, we run a laboratory experiment in which we cross leadership in crises treatments following seminal work from the organizational behavior area. Students will be randomly selected into different treatment groups in which members are supposed to work together on a joint task, led by instructors performing distinct leadership styles. Initial results from study 1 suggest that, in fact, there is little support for the leadership-matters-during-crises hypothesis.

ABSTRACT. The literature on leadership in public organizations centers on illustrating the performance-enhancing effects of leadership (Orazi et al. 2013; Van Wart, 2013). In particular transformational and transactional leadership has been thoroughly studied (Vogel & Masal, 2015; Bellé, 2014; Jacobsen & Andersen, 2015; Andersen et al., 2017). However, these leader-centric leadership styles have recently been supplemented by an interest in performance effects of employee-centric leadership such as distributed leadership (Jakobsen et al., 2016; Harris, 2011; Hulpia and Devos, 2009). Part of this literature takes the argument a bit further and points to the importance of team-relations (e.g., Carson et al, 2017). Just as formal hierarchical leadership has been shown to affect motivation and performance, so has this literature demonstrated how team-relations are important to motivation (Vandenabeele et al., 2004; Anderfuhren-Biget et al., 2010). Still, little is known regarding the potential benefits of looking towards horizontal relations in improving performance of public organizations. This paper holds the ambition to compare the relative importance of leader-centric leadership, distributed leadership, and team-relations on three types of performance measures: self-perceived performance reported in a survey, objective performance measures operationalized as preventable hospitalizations, and user-perceived performance reported in user satisfaction surveys. The paper draws on a cross-sectional fixed effects design using a sample of employees (n = 427) in elderly care in Denmark. This is a very relevant testing ground since nursing homes in Denmark have a very strong team organization enabling us to create a multilevel setup. Although this design does not provide the equivalent potential to infer causality about the relationships as a randomized field experiment (Margetts, 2011; Schlotter et al., 2011), our study still provides relatively robust evidence to determine what type of leadership matters the most compared with existing studies. Preliminary analysis shows that the correlation between team-relations and performance is much (2.5 times) stronger than between leader-centric transformational leadership and performance. This finding indicates that just as we should continue to take a keen interest in formal leadership in public sector organizations, more attention should be directed towards the establishment and maintenance of well-functioning horizontal relations.

ABSTRACT. Education policymakers have been under pressure over the last decade to reform teachers’ appraisal systems. Minimal research, however, investigates teachers’ fairness reactions to and the impact of performance appraisal systems.

The central questions to be explored in this paper include: Do teachers assess the fairness of different sources of performance information differently? If so, what is driving those different fairness perceptions? In addition, what are the consequences of these fairness perceptions for teacher attitudes and behaviors, specifically burnout, turnover, and helping behaviors? To frame these questions, we draw on education policy research and the psychology literature on performance appraisal, social exchange theory, and organizational justice.

Even though the education literature has investigated teacher appraisals, this literature focuses largely on measurement and implementation challenges (e.g., Ballou & Springer, 2015; Loeb, et al. 2014; Russell et al. 2015). Only a few studies explore the implications of appraisals for teachers’ job-related attitudes (e.g., Grissom, et al. 2014). We seek to contribute to this literature by considering how fairness perceptions may mediate the relationship between negative appraisal reactions and negative outcomes (Hewitt 2015; Tuytens & Devos, 2012). The psychology literature has already linked fairness perceptions to a host of attitudes and consequences for organizations (e.g., Cohen-Charash & Spector, 2001; Colquitt, et al. 2013; Rupp et al, 2014; Tayfur, et al. 2013).

Our study will empirically examine these questions using two data sources. First, the recent federal National Teacher and Principal Survey includes a series of questions on performance appraisal use (note the research team already has access to this survey data). This survey provides a nationwide look at perceptions of appraisal systems. Second, we will present the results of a purpose-built survey of teachers in New York State, administered in two waves in October and November 2018. The New York survey will provide a more focused analysis on specific fairness reactions to components of the appraisal, and investigate possible causal linkages to teacher burnout, turnover, and helping behaviors.

There may be several policy implications resulting from our research. Understanding why teachers view particular appraisal metrics as fair or unfair could help school districts design more effective appraisal systems. In addition, when negotiating with unions over the design of appraisal systems, school districts would be better able to choose among and weight various teacher appraisal metrics according their consequences, and design interventions to improve fairness perceptions of the appraisal metrics.

ABSTRACT. Trust has been an important topic of inquiry in public administration and management for a long period of time. Among many relationships between trust and other constructs, scholars have clearly demonstrated significant and growing interest in the relationship between trust and performance (e.g., Van Ryzin 2011; Vigoda-Gadot & Yuval, 2003; Yang & Holzer, 2006, etc.). Although meaningful insights have been provided to explain the trust-performance link, several key issues have been overlooked. First, limited efforts have been made to cumulate and assess the empirical research on the trust-performance link in the field of public management. Second, a diversity in construct focus has emerged in the literature. It is unclear whether specifying the construct in alternative ways (interpersonal trust vs. institutional trust; cognitive forms of trust vs. affective forms of trust; citizens’ or employees’ trust in higher-level officials or institutions vs. government officials’ trust in citizens or supervisors’ trust in employees) results in different findings and, if so, how. Third, the trust-performance link has not been well examined across different contexts.

In this study, we report a meta-analysis that quantitively summarizes and evaluates the primary relationship between trust and performance. We also examine how diverse trust constructs and political contexts affect the trust-performance link. The data for the study was collected from three databases: Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, and Web of Science. We used “trust” and “performance” as searching items in “topic” to search related articles in the field of public administration. A set of exclusion criteria was developed to screen the articles. In total, 120 articles were selected. Preliminary analysis shows that affective/cognitive trust construct and interpersonal/institutional construct do moderate the relationship between trust and performance, while upward/downward trust or political context does not show any moderating role.

Theoretically, this study provides the first meta-analysis of the primary relationship between trust and performance in the field of public management, explores whether different specifications of the trust construct moderate this primary relationship, and attempts to provide insight and theoretical parsimony to the literature on the trust-performance link. Practically, this study provides guidance on whether organizations should focus resources on establishing trust in supervisors and government officials or in specific agency and institution; it also sheds light on whether affective trust or cognitive trust should be restored to enhance performance.

ABSTRACT. With the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity laws in the United States, blatant efforts to undermine and alienate ethnic minorities and women in the workplace have become illegal. The codes of conduct within all public organizations also articulate that public employees should not engage in any discriminatory practices and that they are expected to make the workplace free from harassment and discrimination (c.f., the Code of Ethics for Government Services). Despite the accumulated legal and organizational efforts, racial and gender prejudices persist in both overt and subtle ways in public organizations (Brown, Harris, & Squirrell, 2010; Riccucci & Saldivar, 2014).

Considering the importance of subject, scholars in public administration have conducted numerous studies on public employees’ experiences of discrimination and harassment in the workplace. However, much of this work focuses on overt forms of mistreatment experienced by public employees. The proposed study focuses on a more subtle form of mistreatment, workplace incivility. Workplace incivility refers to low-intensity deviant behavior with ambiguous intent to harm the target (Anderson & Pearson, 1999). Uncivil behaviors are characteristically rude and discourteous, displaying a lack of regard for others (Cortinal et al. 2001). Such experiences are associated with greater stress, dissatisfaction, and work withdrawal (Cortinal et al. 2001).

Prior research shows that experiences of mistreatment (both overt and subtle) are a function of employees’ personal characteristics, such as age, ethnicity, gender, race, and religion, as well as the composition and climate of their organization (Choi & Rainey, 2014; Ng, Schweitzer, & Lyons, 2012). In the current research, I intend to explore how the demographic makeup of and diversity climate (climate characterized by appreciation of individual differences and fairness towards minorities) within public organizations are related to incivility experienced by public employees. I will explore these relationships using survey data collected from 1193 employees working in 28 departments of two local governments in North Carolina. The preliminary analysis of the data shows complex interactive relationships between employees’ personal characteristics, department demographic composition and diversity climates (climates of fairness and inclusion) in predicting workplace incivility. The research findings provide insights into the sources of workplace incivility in public organizations.

ABSTRACT. Workplace bullying is a widespread phenomenon that needs to be managed and even prevented due to its serious implications to individuals and organizations. Research showed that bullying is often associated with anxiety, negative emotions, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression that would ultimately result in negative employee and organizational outcomes.

This study argues that workplace bullying can be managed and its negative effects on individual and organizational outcomes can be attenuated through perceived organizational support (POS) and psychosocial safety climate that are expected to be negatively related to workplace bullying and positively related to individual and organizational outcomes.

The study builds on the Theory of Preventive Stress Management (TPSM). This theory posits that the organizational stress process flows from a stressor to a stress response to outcomes. A stressor triggers either a positive response (eustress) or a negative response (distress). The first generates positive outcomes, while the latter engenders negative outcomes. This process can be managed by introducing a number of interventions. From this theoretical perspective, workplace bullying could be considered a work-related stressor that would trigger distress (in the form of anxiety, negative emotions, and PTSD) which, in turn, would negatively affect individuals and organizations alike. However, these outcomes can be moderated through POS and psychosocial safe climate. This study tests TPSM using data from the New Zealand Public Service Association Survey 2016.

In this study, workplace bullying is operationalized in terms of occupational stressor and measured using nine items from NAQ- short-form scale (Notelaers & Einarsen, 2008). The objective of this study is three-fold: 1) to explore the facets of workplace bullying in public organizational settings and identify the population of employees that is more likely to be targeted by this abusive behavior; 2) to examine the empirical link between workplace bullying and a set of individual and organizational outcomes; and 3) to examine the extent to which POS and psychological safety climate would moderate this relationship.

The importance of this study lies in the fact that public managers have a responsibility for promoting a safe and healthy workplace in which employees can thrive and prosper. Finding evidence that contextual factors, such as perceived organizational support and psychosocial safety climate, can manage and even attenuate the negative effects of bullying in the workplace is essential to our understanding of how to promote more healthy and safe organizational settings. This is particularly true in the absence of enacted anti-bullying legislation.

ABSTRACT. Emotional labor is essential to the field’s understanding of public organizations—employees capable of providing this form of labor help ensure healthy interactions within the organization among colleagues, and positive interactions between employees and the public. Emotional labor represents effort used by an individual employee to display emotions that align with their organization’s social norms. Prior studies examining emotional labor often emphasized labor produced during interactions between employees and clients, overlooking the production of emotional labor between employees. Using OLS regression to analyze the 2016 Merit Principles Survey of federal employees, this study examines the relationship between emotional labor produced between employees and the development of individual social capital. The findings indicate that emotional labor is positively related to social capital. However, the results also suggest the positive relationship between emotional labor and social capital does not hold for people of color, suggesting the production of emotional labor from people of color is less likely to be associated with social capital than it is for their white counterparts. These findings have implications for the field’s understanding of emotional labor and its impact on employees navigating their organizations.

ABSTRACT. Accountability instruments are important tools of governance to evaluate and, when necessary, sanction behavior. These instruments have an important function in securing democratic and constitutional control, in particular for semi-autonomous public service providers. In the current accountability literature, a focus on public organizations predominates. But accountability instruments can only be effective when people in public service providers perceive these instruments to exist. Only when an agent has a mental imprint of (future) accountability, the accountability instrument can be effective. Therefore, it is necessary to theorize felt accountability: the impression of an actor that (s)he will be held accountable. Felt accountability can metaphorically be interpreted as the constant awareness of an imaginary account holder looking over the shoulder of the actor. The preferences of the account holder are present in the actor’s considerations about decisions and actions. Felt accountability is a concept originally developed in the psychology, but only applied in isolated (laboratory) settings. This concept is a necessary cog in the machinery of government as the idea of felt accountability is implicitly presumed in the development of all accountability mechanisms. The translation of this concept to public administration requires the acknowledgment of the particular relational context, as well as the particular substance of accountability in the public sector. The relation between actor and forum, for example, is exceptional, as accountability is rendered by bureaucrats to politicians. Moreover, arm’s length service provision may lower the perceived legitimacy of accountability. These features shape the intensity and effectiveness of felt accountability. Felt accountability has affective, cognitive, and normative elements, which this study analyzes. The contribution of this paper is the development of a public administration theory of felt accountability. A better understanding of felt accountability will facilitate further development of public accountability theories. It will set out an agenda for improved empirical work where behavioral characteristics of public servants are incorporated in the development of public accountability instruments. Also, this understanding will have practical implications for policy makers who aim to secure political and democratic control of public policy implementation.

ABSTRACT. How do national levels of accountability affect local-level public administrator behavior? This paper poses this question using novel data on Italian politicians from all lev-els of government, official judiciary accusations of corruption of individual politicians, and provincial-level measures of public administrator corruption. Using investigations launched in response to a major political scandal as a shock to the level of public scrutiny being faced by national politicians, I provide evidence that a sudden increase in electoral accountability for national politicians impacts negatively upon the behaviour of local-level public administrators. My findings show that in those (treated) constituencies where deputies are accused of malfeasance, provincial-level public administration corruption increases significantly as compared to non-treated constituencies. I also provide evidence that the scandal did not dissuade accused deputies from re-entering politics after the fact, demonstrating that they had an incentive to maintain their voter base by temporarily delegating the distribution of favors to the local public administration.

ABSTRACT. Infrastructure public-private partnerships (PPPs) eschew traditional public management to provide distributive goods worldwide. Yet, in Colombia, the context of our study, both the promise of and voters’ experience with PPPs hinder incumbent parties in elections when theories of distributive politics expect otherwise. We argue that negative experiences with PPPs introduce a sociotropic turn in individual voting: bad experience crowds out the possibility that promising a new project will improve a voter’s own welfare. Studying what are to our knowledge all 109 Colombian PPP projects between 1998-2014, and over 8,700 individual survey responses, our evidence shows that vote intention for the incumbent executive or his party decreases as experience with more PPPs in respondents’ districts increases. Our analysis and results introduce an important agenda for research into the political significance of these legacies of New Public Management.

ABSTRACT. Regulation and public administration literatures suggest that endowing regulatory agencies with greater independence from political stakeholders increases the credibility of their policies. The insulation of agencies from direct political control is said to have a positive effect on external stakeholders’ perceptions about the time-consistency, impartiality, and expert-based quality of agencies’ regulatory outputs. Surprisingly, however, the effect of agency independence on stakeholder perceptions of credibility has not been directly empirically tested. In this paper, we put the theory to rigorous empirical testing. We also challenge this rationalistic assumption theoretically. We suggest that policy credibility depends not only on agencies’ institutional insulation, but also on the extent to which the policy is consistent with stakeholders’ prior beliefs and positions on the policy matter. Focusing on food safety regulation in the EU and the case of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), we examine these theoretical expectations using a survey experiment with regulatory stakeholders. We test whether emphasizing the agency’s independence from political stakeholders increases the credibility of the agency’s risk assessment of pesticides, while accounting for stakeholders’ prior positions on pesticides’ safety. We find evidence that independence increases the perceived impartiality of regulatory outputs, but not other key aspects of their credibility – i.e. their expert-based quality and stability (time-consistency). At the same time, we find evidence that the credibility of regulatory outputs is greatly influenced by stakeholders’ prior positions. We discuss the broader implications of these findings for (EU) regulatory governance.

ABSTRACT. Scholars recognize three levels of analysis in public administration: macro, meso and micro. But there is uncertainty about the connection between levels, and concern that a focus on one level means neglect of another. This paper addresses both questions. It will show how meso- and micro-level decisions about administration are embedded within macro-level decisions about the overall strategy for governing a state. To put it another way, it is impossible to understand the scope of choices available to administrators at the middle level of government, or on the front-line, without prior understanding of choices already made at much higher levels. So the study of different levels is complementary, not mutually exclusive. This statement has many implications: one has to do with reform and the diffusion of innovations at meso- and micro-levels. Reformers sometimes wonder why meso- or micro-level innovations do not carry from one state to another. The explanation is sometimes "lack of political will," but this is a thin and unsatisfying answer. A better answer is that innovations may conform to macro-level choices in one jurisdiction but collide with macro-level choices in another.

ABSTRACT. Professional networks span organizational boundaries and influence both individual and organizational performance. These critical structures, which facilitate the exchange of information and resources, evolve through the dual processes of tie formation and tie dissolution. To date, however, research on network dynamics has focused almost exclusively on tie formation. In this study, we examine processes by which ties decay and address three limitations in network research. First, understanding why individuals choose to dissolve certain ties raises questions of agency. Most measures of networks simply indicate if a tie is present or absent between two actors creating ambiguity over who or what led to its dissolution. We address the agency question by focusing on individual cognition and motivation behind their intent to dissolve an existing tie. Second, exchange ties are often assumed to be governed by a common set a rules and differences in outcomes are thought to be associated with the personal context of the tie, such as its strength or embeddedness. However, the form of exchange may also have important implications on dissolution. We distinguish two forms of exchange: negotiated, based on mutual bargaining and agreement prior to any exchange, and reciprocal, based on the expectation of future returns. Third, professional ties are embedded in institutions and contexts that may shape patterns of behavior, but institutional forces are often not considered in network dynamics. This paper attempts to connect macro-institutional pressures with micro-level behavior. We explore how changing institutional landscapes and individual perceptions of the rules and norms associated with those institutions shape intentions to dissolve ties in the network. We use original data from a nationally representative sample of research scientists in both public and private organizations that rely on material inputs for their research. Using an ego-network design, we ask respondents about their intentions to leave an existing relationship with each of their network members along with the institutional rules that govern those exchanges. This study has both theoretical implications for our understanding of network evolution and practical implications for the institutions that govern the exchange of resources.

ABSTRACT. Local governments have an array of policy instruments at their disposal to encourage a specific set of actions. Included in these tools is information content governance - the ability to control the specific information and messages shared with the public. The interaction between information shared and action derived is often studied at one level – individual behavior changes in response to shared information. This approach does not treat government messaging and citizen behavior holistically because it does not capture the multiple competing priorities manifest in the choices of messages shared and the multiple behaviors targeted and influenced (Curley, Feiock, Wassel, 2017). In this paper, we apply the information content governance framework offered in Curley et al. (2017) to investigate behavioral change at the individual level to explain which motivations for information sharing result in behavioral changes. We examine the ability of information related to conservation efforts in water and energy to impact consumption behavior and policy participation, as well as the ability of political language to encourage voter registration. Content analysis of utility bill inserts in the City of Tallahassee and data gathered from the utility, property appraisal database, and voter registration are utilized to test hypotheses derived from our framework.

ABSTRACT. In an era of unrelenting fiscal stress, local governmental efforts to achieve greater economic, environmental and social sustainability have become a central focus within urbanized regions. Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) is considered a key driver of a public organization’s willingness to engage in risk taking, innovation, and proactivity aimed at enhancing organizational processes, decision making, and value creation. Most research on public entrepreneurialism has focused on identifying its structural, cultural, and environmental antecedents, with less attention focused on behavioral and psychological components. This paper utilizes a mixed-methods approach to explore the behavioral linkages between managerial risk-aversion and perceptions of an entrepreneurial orientation. Public managers have often been portrayed as risk-averse as a function of their professional norms of neutrality and accountability. Perceptions of performance have been shown to influence how public managers and political elites make decisions. For instance, researchers have found public managers less likely to take risks when performance is just-at expectations, and more likely to do so when it falls further below or above them. Negativity bias also influences whether elected officials are more likely to assign responsibility for performance to bureaucrats when that performance is low. Utilizing interview data and an online survey, this study first explores how managers assess the innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking culture of their own organizations and how this relates to their willingness to engage in higher-risk activities related to sustainability. A survey experiment then tests the extent to which perceptions of EO within an organization mediate the risk-aversion of managers when presented with different high- and low- performance frames of peer local governments. This study provides a linkage between the literatures on motivated reasoning and organizational behavior, and makes prescriptive recommendations for how managers may foster an entrepreneurial orientation.

ABSTRACT. Abstract: Examining the Islamophobic Wave in State Policy-Making Abdul Samad, Milena Neshkova, Florida International University

The hate temperature in the U.S. is on the rise as shown by recent events, such as the shootings in a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Kentucky store, and mailing explosive devices to President Trump’s opponents. While the perpetrators of these incidents have widely been condemned across the political spectrum, numerous legislative bodies across the country have been engaged in hate legislation without much public attention.

Currently, 43 states have introduced and 14 states have adopted various forms of the so-called anti-Sharia laws that violate Muslims’ civil rights, instigate fear of Muslims and Islam, and incite a climate of intolerance towards them. The language used in these bills is in conflict with fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitutions of each of those states and the U.S. Constitution. Ever since the terrorist attack on September 11, the anti-Muslim sentiment, commonly referred to as Islamophobia, has been rising and anti-Sharia movement has become the most organized and prevalent Islamophobic movement in the U.S.

This research seeks to explain the Islamophobic legislative activity across the 50 states. Specifically, we ask two interrelated questions. First, why some states introduce and adopt Islamophobic legislation, but others do not, and under what conditions are the state legislatures more likely to engage in Islamophobic policy-making? Second, what explains the magnitude of hate in such laws? To answer these research questions, we collect and analyze all anti-Sharia laws introduced and adopted by the legislatures of U.S. states between 2010 and 2017. To code the policy content of the bills, we rely on a scheme developed by the Haas Institute. The analyses draw on data from various sources, including the Center for American Progress, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The findings of this paper contribute to the literature on policy diffusion and legislative behavior. The broader value of this study lies in its attempt to shed more light on policies targeting stigmatized populations and escalating hate among social groups. Demographics in the United States are changing, and according to a 2018 report by the Pew Center, the United States will be a majority-minority country by 2050. Minority groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation are becoming more visible, and this generates a reaction, which hinders the integration of these groups and furthers their marginalization.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores how changes in the policy environment affect organizations. More specifically, we investigate the effect of Medicaid expansion on nonprofit hospitals. Organizational ecology theory emphasizes the critical role that the environment – the functionally integrated system where organization interacts – plays in supporting these organizations and determining the rate of growth and decline of organizations. Changes in the environment create some uncertainty organizations have to respond to. A state’s decision on Medicaid expansion changes the local health market by increasing social welfare expense and by increasing Medicaid coverage among the poor, which, in turn, creates an increase of healthcare demand. 

We, first, consider how increases of healthcare demand will influence the density of non-profit hospitals after state adoption of Medicaid expansion. Using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data and leveraging state-level variation in the adoption of Medicaid expansion, we find that Medicaid expansion is associated with an increase of non-profit community health systems within expansion states. However, that does not influence the density of general hospitals and specialty hospitals. The results align with the stipulations of the Organizational ecology theory and are consistent with the proposition that non-profit community health systems are more responsive to the demand of local communities. 

We also test the proposition that government funding can crowd out private donations and contributions received by non-profit organizations. Using hospital-level data, the findings reveal a decrease in contributions received by non-profit general hospitals after Medicaid expansion compared to other types of hospitals and other hospitals in non-Medicaid expansion states. 

Our results suggest is that the nature and size of the impact depend on how nonprofit hospitals interact with their communities. For example, non-profit community hospitals usually provide primary care access and are closer to local community members. They are more responsive to the changes in local demand and their contributions are less affected by government funding. Non-profit general hospitals and non-profit specialty hospitals, on the other hand, usually provide healthcare service to the general population and their outreach is wider but thinner. They are more susceptible to a potential negative impact by the Medicaid expansion.

ABSTRACT. This paper conducts an integrative review of organizational-level performance measurement researches and develops a conceptual framework to guide empirical surveys on public organizational performance. Performance measurement is of interest for public organizations, not only in academic research but in government practice as well. As a result, there is a significant body of literature on the empirical surveys, utilizing different methodologies to assess the performance of public organizations. Nevertheless, there is little specific conceptual framework on what are proper questions, indicators, and instruments for researchers to choose to evaluate the performance of public organizations to fit their researches' interests.

The goal of this paper focuses on how to select and build criteria and indicators while researchers try to utilize organizational-level performance as a factor in their researches. Reviewing evidence-based literatures as the first step, this research conducts an integrative review on articles published before 2018 in ten journals, such as Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, American Review of Public Administration, International Public Management Journal and so on. The goal of this review is to figure out how the researchers who had conducted a public organization survey, defined and evaluated the organizational-level performance as a dependent variable, and the impact of some contextual factors on organizational-level performance. After reviewing these researches, this study tries to integrate and build a conceptual framework based on the performance indicators that previous studies used in public organizations.

Moreover, this paper examines this conceptual framework as mentioned above, exploring the difference between self-perceived and objective-appraised performance factors from the impacts of the same independent and contextual variables used in the same survey. This research offers a recommended conceptual framework for future empirical research on the organizational-level performance of public administration and rectifying errors.

ABSTRACT. While Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) help combat marine resource collective action problems, they have been controversial because of their relatively low success rate (Kelleher et al. 1995). The governability of these systems is sensitive to the network structure and requires careful examination of local ecological and social networks, and how they interact (Meier and O’Toole 2003). Top-down decisions can clash with the bottom up processes causing moral hazard issues. Community engagement networks help combat this issue by having the stakeholders take part in the decision-making process to deepen trust and accountability (Ansell 2008). However, not all networks are created equal. Traditionally, dense networks are more likely to have effective communication and agreed upon institutions. Centralized networks have less incentive to respond to stakeholder pressure (Rowley 1997) This study theorizes that MPAs that have higher community enforcement mechanisms (high density, low centrality) are more likely than MPAs with national or international enforcement mechanisms (low density, high centrality) to have greater economic and environmental benefits. I will be conducting an analysis of the economic and environmental health in relation to the rate of community involvement in management and network density of Marine Protection Areas in North Eastern United States. Environmental health will be obtained through the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. Economic growth will be obtained through the US Census. To measure centrality, MPAs will be assigned values that correspond with their level of community involvement in forming the MPA and in enforcement based on their management plan; the more community based, the lower the score. Network analysis will be used to help identify the density of the stakeholders as a measure of community involvement in decision making. Through the analysis of the effects of the community enforcement mechanisms in I will show that MPAs with higher community enforcement and management are more successful.

Ansell, Chris, and Alison Gash. "Collaborative governance in theory and practice." Journal of public administration research and theory 18, no. 4 (2008): 543-571.

Kelleher, G., Bleakley, C., and Wells, S. 1995. A Global Respresentative System of Marine Protected Areas, The World Bank,Washington DC.

Meier, Kenneth J., and Laurence J. O’Toole. 2003. “Public Management and Educational Performance: The Impact of Managerial Networking.” Public Administration Review 63(6): 689–99.

Rowley, Timothy J. 1997. “Moving beyond Dyadic Ties: A Network Theory of Stakeholder Influences.” The Academy of Management Review 22(4): 887-910

ABSTRACT. Obesity and overweight have become a serious problem that threat the general health condition of children. About 31.2 percent of the youth, ages from 10 to 17, were overweight or have obesity in the U.S. (National Survey of Children’s Health). At the same time, there are low income households that in need of financial assistance to ensure the access of food and medical care. This research focuses on the representative bureaucracy and children’s health outcomes in the U.S.. Specifically, it looks at the female state legislators and their impact on children’s health outcomes, including obesity and overweight. Currently, there are about 25 percent of female legislators at the state level in the U.S. (CAWP). Bureaucrats are more likely to act to improve the vulnerable populations, in this case, children. Past research showed that female public servants usually have different focus points than male when it comes to the social problems. Legislators are able to make impact through determining the program eligibility, drafting policies, and allocate fundings to specific programs. There are several ongoing programs that aim to improve children’s health include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Those programs provide financial assistance to infant, children, and women for better health conditions. All of those programs that mentioned here are at least partially administered by the state level government or partially funded by the state. State legislators make impact through both legislations and budget allocations, which have substantial influence on the program implementations. Some policies and legislations that produced in the past may impact the eligibility of the program, the funding formulas, and etc. This research examines the outcomes of increasing number of female state legislators from both the legislative and bureaucracy perspectives. For the legislative perspective, this research examines the number of legislations that have been enacted in nutrition and health area. From the bureaucracy perspective, it looks at the household participation, state funding, and state share funding of the food and health assistance program. Research Questions and Hypothesis: Research questions: Do female state legislators allocate more funding for food assistance programs? Do female state legislators bring in more legislations in health and nutrition? Does increasing number of female state legislators positively impact children’s health outcomes?

ABSTRACT. With the growth of the federal bureaucracy following the turn of the twentieth century, elected officials devised ways to better monitor administrative agencies. Not only do politicians want bureaucrats to make decisions consistent with their preferences, they want programs to be effectively implemented. Implementation problems—delays or disruption to the desired outcome of a policy—like backlogs in social assistance programs or issues with the rollout of Healthcare.gov cost taxpayers money and undermine the effectiveness of policies. Although many government programs are successfully implemented, problems are common and seemingly inevitable (Pressman and Wildavsky 1984).

While research has considered why problems arise when policies are implemented, scholars rarely consider how or why problems are found. One of the greatest barriers for politicians and agency heads to finding implementation problems is a large information asymmetry. To alleviate information problems, agency heads, presidents, and Congress rely on oversight offices designed to find problems: e.g., Congressional Research Service, Government Accountability Office, and Offices of the Inspector General. Despite politicians agreeing that these offices are important sources of information for legislating and oversight of the bureaucracy (Hird 2005; Patashnik and Peck 2017), how these offices allocate attention to implementation problems is unknown. The types of problems they emphasize ultimately determines what problems are solved.

To fill a gap in existing research, I consider the role of Offices of the Inspector General in monitoring implementation problems. Specifically, I argue that the number and types of problems oversight offices monitor is a function of structure, resources, and incentives. First, structure encourages monitoring of a greater number of problems by cultivating subunits that build area-specific expertise (Baumgartner and Jones 2015). Second, offices with more resources such as staff, professionals, and experience can attend to a wider variety of issues. Professional inject norms into bureaucracies that can impact outcomes (Eisner and Meier 1990; Kaufman 1960; Miller 2000; Rourke 1984). Finally, even quasi-independent offices like inspectors general must justify their existence to political principals. Being responsive to Congress, therefore, may require emphasizing different problems like government waste over slow program rollouts.

There is no comprehensive dataset of OIG problem attention. I am constructing a new dataset based on OIG reports where I code the types of problems IGs emphasize. After providing a descriptive account of problem attention, I will create a measure of entropy to test how structure, resources, and incentives influence the expansion or contraction of IGs’ monitoring agenda.

ABSTRACT. The federal government offers several work-life benefits to employees, including childcare, employee assistance, elder care, telework, and alternative work schedule. However, the literature on the effect of work-life programs on employees, particularly those in the federal government, is scarce. Studies that have examined this area tend to focus on the effect of participating in work-life programs on the productivity of employees. It is argued that while these programs may be an expensive investment, they would generate positive net benefits, including reduced levels of turnover and absenteeism. While these findings are important, few studies have analyzed the effect of work-life benefits on job motivation and satisfaction.

Using data from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), this study plans to analyze the effect of the participation in these work-life programs on job satisfaction and motivation, including organizational commitment and job involvement. This study would provide significant insight on the social-exchange theory and the work-adjustment theory.

First, a factor analysis would be conducted, since FEVS contains several questions that measure job satisfaction and motivation. Then, an ordinary least square model would be estimated, in which demographic characteristics, including age, gender, race, tenure, and supervisory status would be controlled for in the analysis. Workplace characteristics, such as sufficiency of resources and reasonability of the workload, would also be controlled in the analysis.

ABSTRACT. India is facing a serious water crisis of diverse dimensions. The enormity of the current water crisis is almost inconceivable given the massive technical and financial effort that went into the development of the Indian water sector throughout the seven decades after independence, focusing on massive modern water infrastructure across the country, much of which is now in a state of disrepair. In response to the crisis, in recent times, various NGOs, activist groups and local movements around water issues have engaged in severe criticism and practical resistance to the persistent dominance of the modern infrastructure and government bureaucracy. They have suggested the technologies of pre-modern, pre-colonial, or traditional as a viable and appropriate alternative. The clash is not purely between the different kinds of technologies but also the different narratives that are battling for control over water policies and governance systems. This reemergence of both the pre-modern and modern narrative has in a way positioned the Indian water sector at an interesting crossroad. Narratives are powerful, are not without agendas, are a covert exercise of power, and give us a value-driven orientation to policy and governance. This review paper engages in the historical investigation of the development of Indian water sector through four key periods: pre-colonial, colonial, early post-colonial, and the contemporary. It traces through these periods the prevalence and dominance of the three narratives – pre-modern, modern and neoliberal – that have shaped the Indian water sector, trying to understand the path dependencies and historical groundings of these narratives.

ABSTRACT. The number of state tax-based incentive programs has more than doubled from less than one thousand in 1999 to nearly two thousand in 2015. However, there is little evidence supporting the idea that incentives attract business investment, create new jobs, stimulate an increase in the local demand for goods and services, and give rise to further rounds of economic growth (Davis, 2013; Felix & Hines, 2011; Betz et al., 2010; Bartik 2003). Why, then, do local governments use these programs despite a lack of supporting evidence? Specifically, this study examines what determines the use of financial incentive programs by local governments and whether the determinants have changed over time. Previous studies have examined factors explaining the variation in conditions under which local governments are willing or able to adopt incentives and suggested a broad range of demographic, economic, geographical, or political factors to explain the variation (Goeta et al., 2011; Minkoff, 2009; Lobao & Kraybill, 2009, 2005; Reese 2006; Dewes, Lobao & Swanson, 2003; Sullivan 2002; Basolo & Huang, 2001). Building on the factors suggested in previous research, this study classifies them into five categories: socioeconomic factors, government capacity, political factors, industrial composition, and path dependence.

The dependent variable in this study is the total value of tax-based incentives aggregated by a state in a specific year. The data are taken from the Panel Database on Incentives and Taxes (PDIT), developed by the Upjohn Institute, which provides taxes and incentives data for 45 industries and 33 states over the course of 26 years. Independent variables include socioeconomic factors such as poverty and median household income, government capacity measured using a linear composition of total government employment, political factors such as political party and level of political engagement measured by voter turnout per state, and industrial composition as reflected by factors such as the share of manufacturing. The data are derived from the Decennial Census and American Community Survey. Using fixed effects panel estimates, this study provides evidence that the use of incentives is inversely related to local economic conditions but positively related to the share of manufacturing and path dependence.

ABSTRACT. Research Question

How does an organization’s engagement of the public influence citizen satisfaction with an organization?

How does the sector (private, public, nonprofit) influence the effect of public engagement on citizen satisfaction?

Theoretical Significance

Research has explored the relationship between with citizen participation and organizational performance, and the relationship between engagement and perceptional measures of performance, namely client satisfaction. However, little is known about how an organization’s intensity of engaging with citizens influences citizen satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by adding intensity of public engagement to the determinants of perceptual performance measures, and exploring how sector may moderate that relationship.

Method

I conduct a randomized vignette experiment that describes a scenario in which the respondent stayed in a hospital and they answer questions about their satisfaction with the experience. Each respondent is randomly assigned to control (no engagement) or a treatment group (the type of engagement). The treatment group assigned can either be consultation (low intensity) or involvement (high intensity). Respondents are additionally randomly assigned to a sector (private, public, nonprofit) in which the hospital exists.

Implication

Findings provide insights into the importance of engagement in developing citizen’s perception in evaluating performance. Managers should, therefore, give thoughtful considerations to the benefits, costs, and tradeoffs of methods for engaging the public. Depending on how much an organization prioritizes citizen satisfaction, it may be worth the initial costs of investing in more rigorous forms of engagement.

ABSTRACT. The literature of inter-organizational network categorized the formal network and informal network to examine the unique characteristics of a collaborative network that includes public, nonprofit, and business organizations. The term ‘formal network’ is interchangeably used with the ‘mandated network’ in the public management literature. I would refer to it as ‘institutionalized network’ to capture not only the mandated characteristics of relationships but also the routinized aspects of the network. Although one scholar argued that much of public administration literature focuses on formal or mandated networks, however, a handful of studies explicitly have studied the dynamics of the institutionalized network. Alongside with the inter-organizational network literature, collaborative governance literature has examined cross-boundary cooperation and coordination in the various policy implementation venues. This study will look at the inside dynamics of the collaborative network at the policy implementation level. Dynamics of the institutionalized network are attributed to the long-term relationship between actors as well as by the diversity of participating actors.

Federal agencies, state government departments, local governments, tribal groups, and environmental groups around the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR) at southern Arizona located next to the U.S. -Mexico border have managed various natural resources including over 100 endangered plants and 200 endangered animals. The BMGR collaboration was once informal, however, formalized in 1999 by the public law and then by the MOU in 2001. This case provides the unique circumstances to study the longitudinal dynamics of the collaborative network.

This paper asks: Are organizations proactively participating in an institutionalized collaboration over time? How do the participating patterns change over time? And why? I answer this question using official meeting records and interview data using social network analysis and qualitative analysis. Using minutes of meeting documents from 2008 to 2018, this study describes the internal dynamics of collaborative in a given period and finds the variations of actor participation. I will find the variations of participation patterns, information sharing patterns, changes in discussion agendas, and the policy enforcement mechanisms.

The implication of this research is to unpack the collaboration dynamics using the longitudinal datasets. This study also uses mixed methods to understand both the quantitative and the qualitative sense of inside collaboration. The case study could provide unique practical implications for public managers, stakeholders, and citizens to enhance the understanding of the collaborative network.

ABSTRACT. Job satisfaction of public employees is one of the popular research topics that have been widely studied in the field of public administration and human resources management. It has been considered one of the important factors in organizational management for enhanced performance and productivity. Studies have found that higher level of job satisfaction is related to many positive organizational outcomes and behaviors of the employees. Among the various factors that may influence the level of job satisfaction, this study will be focusing on organizational characteristics and context on the levels of job satisfaction in the public employees. Particularly, the study will be examining the job satisfaction of U.S. Federal employees by using Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) published in 2017. The study will examine formal systems of performance-orientation, performance appraisal and ethical climate of the federal agencies. It hypothesizes that different levels of impact of formal institutions are due to different informal institutions that exists in organizations. The research question this study aims to address is “do informal institutions of public organizations influence the effect of formal institutions on employees’ work attitude? Specifically, does leadership complement the effects of formal institutions on employees’ job satisfaction?” This study distinguishes itself from previous studies by looking at two different levels of leadership in organizations rather than integrating leaders of different levels into one leadership measure. Previous studies have argued that leaders of different positions and levels play different roles and carry different responsibilities in their organizations. If leaders of different positions play different roles in organizations, it can be hypothesized that they will have different mechanisms to influence the relationships between formal institutional arrangements and job satisfaction of their employees. This study will contribute to the literature by separately examining the levels of leadership for their moderating effects on formal institutions and job satisfaction.

ABSTRACT. Public participation has long been a critical element of public management and policy implementation. Recent studies have begun to examine how the use of third parties, especially contractors, affects the intent and effectiveness of public participation (Amirkhanyan and Lambright 2018). While contracts provide incentives to gather information from the public, the extent to which this information is meaningfully gathered and used to inform programmatic decision-making is unclear. More work is needed to determine how the use of contractors affects many aspects of participation, including how third-party participation is structured and how data gathered through contracted participation is used to inform public organizations, policies, and policy implementation. Nowhere is participation through contract growing more than in international aid, where “participatory development” has become a popular trend among development communities. Justified as a means of engaging the beneficiary population in making decisions about the aid activities that affect them, “participatory development” is generally implemented through contracts with 3rd party implementers. However, few studies have assessed how the contract affects participation, meaning we know little about how these vehicles are designed and less about how information from beneficiaries is used. As a result, this is an interesting context in which to study the ways that the government contracting process influences and bounds participation in decision-making. To address these gaps, this paper looks at the extent to which donor expectations written into the contract influence on-the-ground implementation, asking: (a) to what extent do implementing partners collect beneficiary input as per contract specifications, and (b) to what extent does beneficiary input influence project activities?