Autonomy and Control of State Agencies

Transcription

1 Autonomy and Control of State Agencies

2 Public Sector Organizations Editors: B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of Government, Pittsburgh University, USA, and Geert Bouckaert, Professor at the Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Organizations are the building blocks of governments. The role of organizations, formal and informal, is most readily apparent in public bureaucracy, but all the institutions of the public sector are composed of organizations, or have some organizational characteristics that affect their performance. Therefore, if scholars want to understand how governments work, a very good place to start is at the level of the organizations involved in delivering services. Likewise, if practitioners want to understand how to be effective in the public sector, they would be well-advised to consider examining the role of organizations and how to make the organizations more effective. This series will publish research-based books concerned with organizations in the public sector and will cover such issues as: the autonomy of public sector organizations, networks and network analysis, bureaucratic politics; organizational change and leadership and methodology for studying organizations. Titles include: Koen Verhoest, Paul G. Roness, Bram Verschuere, Kristin Rubecksen and Muiris Mac- Carthaigh AUTONOMY AND CONTROL OF STATE AGENCIES Comparing States and Agencies Forthcoming titles: Geert Bouckaert; B. Guy Peters; Koen Verhoest THE COORDINATION OF PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS Shifting Patterns of Public Management Amanda Smullen TRANSLATING AGENCY REFORM Rhetoric and Culture in Comparative Perspective Public Sector Organizations Series Series Standing Order ISBN (Hardback) (Paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

3 Autonomy and Control of State Agencies Comparing States and Agencies Koen Verhoest Assistant Professor and Research Manager, Public Management Institute, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium Paul G. Roness Professor, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway Bram Verschuere Lecturer in Public Management, University College Ghent, Belgium Kristin Rubecksen Research Fellow, Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen, Norway Muiris MacCarthaigh Research Officer, Institute of Public Administration, Ireland

4 Koen Verhoest, Paul G. Roness, Bram Verschuere, Kristin Rubecksen, Muiris MacCarthaigh 2010 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Neither the COST Office nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the information contained in this publication. The COST Office is not responsible for the external websites referred to in this publication. ESF provides the COST Office through an EC contract COST is supported by the EU RTD Framework programme

5 Contents List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Notes on the Authors vii x xii xiii Part I Introduction 1 Central Research Questions and Argument 3 2 Central Concepts 17 3 Theoretical Lenses 29 4 Data and Methods 45 Part II Describing Agencies and Their Contexts 5 Politico-Administrative Regimes in Norway, Ireland and Flanders 57 6 Agencification in Norway, Ireland and Flanders: History, Reforms and Types 78 Part III Comparing States 7 Theories on Similarities and Dissimilarities Between States Comparing Agency Autonomy, Control and Internal Management Between States Explaining Similarities and Dissimilarities in Agency Autonomy, Control and Internal Management Between States 163 Part IV Comparing Agencies 10 Theories on Similarities and Dissimilarities Across Agencies Comparing Autonomy and Control of Agencies Comparing Internal Management of Agencies 236 v

6 vi Contents 13 Explaining Agency Autonomy, Control and Internal Management: The Importance of Agency- and State-Level Characteristics 249 Appendix A Distribution of Dependent Variables 270 Appendix B Comparing Agency Autonomy, Control and Internal Management: The Importance of Agency Characteristics Without and with Controlling for State-Level Factors 277 Appendix C List of State Agencies 284 Bibliography 289 Index 302

7 List of Tables and Figures Tables 5.1 Relevant elements of environment, politico-administrative culture, polity, with respect to actor constellations and deliberate actions Legal tradition and Hofstede s cultural values in Norway, Ireland and Flanders Parliamentary and extra-parliamentary control on agencies actions in Norway, Ireland and Flanders Timeline of some selected public sector reform initiatives in Ireland Agency features in Flanders, Norway and Ireland. Percentages of agencies with different types of characteristics Overview of hypotheses based on the change management approach and the principal agent delegation approach Extent of agency autonomy in Norway, Ireland and Flanders (percentages) Agency autonomy in Norway, Ireland and Flanders. Rankings of states, based on Mann-Whitney or X 2 tests Extent of agency control in Norway, Ireland and Flanders (percentages) Agency control in Norway, Ireland and Flanders. Rankings of states, based on Mann-Whitney or X 2 tests Result control systems in Norway, Ireland and Flanders. Additional information The use of management techniques in Norway, Ireland and Flanders. Rankings of states, based on X 2 tests Hypotheses on comparing states based on the change management approach and the principal-agent delegation approach. Extent of support marked in grey Overview of hypotheses on comparing autonomy (and control) of state agencies. Main arguments and expectations Agency characteristics and autonomy. Total sample. Gamma (first value) and estimates in logistic regression (second value) Agency characteristics and control. Total sample. Gamma (first value) and estimates in logistic regression (second value) Summary of findings on autonomy and control. Extent of support of hypotheses 234 vii

8 viii List of Tables and Figures 12.1 Overview of hypotheses on comparing the use of management techniques by state agencies. Main arguments and expectations Agency characteristics and the use of management techniques. Total sample. Gamma (first value) and estimates in logistic regression (second value) Agency autonomy and control, and the use of management techniques. Total sample. Gamma (first value) and estimates in logistic regression (second value) Overall model of significant variables affecting the use of management techniques. Total sample. Estimates in logistic regression Hypotheses on comparing the use of management techniques based on agency characteristics. Extent of support 246 A.1 Distribution of dependent variables 270 B.1 Agency characteristics and agency autonomy. Total sample. Estimates in logistic regression, without controlling for state-level factors (first value) and with controlling for state-level factors (second value) 278 B.2 Agency characteristics and agency control. Total sample. Estimates in logistic regression, without controlling for state-level factors (first value) and with controlling for state-level factors (second value) 280 B.3 Agency characteristics and the use of management techniques. Total sample. Estimates in logistic regression, without controlling for state-level factors (first value) and with controlling for state-level factors (second value) 282 Figures 3.1 A model for comparing and explaining agency autonomy, control and internal management in different state Number of units within sub-types of civil service organizations Relationship between cabinet and agencies in Ireland Relationship between cabinet and agencies in Flanders The use of internal management techniques in Norway, Ireland and Flanders (percentages) Overview of effects of agency-level factors on agencies autonomy. Significant effects without and with controlling for state-level factors 251

9 List of Tables and Figures ix 13.2 Overview of effects of agency-level factors on agencies control. Significant effects without and with controlling for state-level factors Overview of effects of agency-level factors on agencies internal management. Significant effects without and with controlling for state-level factors The model for comparing and explaining agency autonomy, control and internal management in different states revisited 265

10 Acknowledgements The process of writing a book is never a solitary one. We extend our gratitude to several individuals who have provided us with inspiration and help in the development of this volume. First, we thank Amy Lankester-Owen, Allison Howson and Gemma d Arcy Hughes from Palgrave Macmillan for the trust they placed in us and for providing us with fulsome support during the editorial process. Second, we would like to thank the many colleagues who commented on previous papers on which this book has drawn. In particular we recognise the contribution of the members of the Comparative Public Organization Data Base for Research and Analysis (COBRA) network ( which is an academic research collaboration in the field of public management. The COBRA network gathers and analyses similar survey data on agency autonomy and control in a large number of participating countries, allowing the comparison of agency types and features operating in different politico-administrative cultures. This book draws on three such surveys which were conducted at the initiation of the network. In a similar vein we would like to thank our colleagues of the COST Action IS0601 Comparative Research into Current Trends in Public Sector Organization ( Within this network, high-quality European public management research teams from 22 countries are joining their forces in a common research strategy on public sector organisation. A central research focus in this work is the changing autonomy, control and coordination of public agencies, as well as the explanations and consequences of this trend. Among this excellent group of scholars we especially would like to thank Geert Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven), B. Guy Peters (University of Pittsburgh), Per Lægreid (University of Bergen), Peter C. Humphreys (Institute of Public Administration), Sandra van Thiel (Erasmus University), Tom Christensen (University of Oslo), and Kutsal Yesilkagit (University of Utrecht). As this book is based on survey data of originally more than 300 public organizations in Norway, Ireland and Flanders, we want to express our enormous respect and gratitude to all the senior managers who have taken the time to fill in the survey and to give us supplementary information where required. Without their efforts, this comparative study would not have been possible. We hope that when reading this book, these officials will affirm the value of comparative studies on autonomy and control of public sector organizations, both from a scientific and practical point of view. x

11 Acknowledgements xi We all want to thank our home institutions and respective colleagues for granting us the time and support to do this study. Moreover, we want to thank our partners and families for their patience and encouragement when writing this book. This publication is supported by COST. Therefore, we gratefully acknowledge the European Science Foundation and COST for allowing the COST Action ISO601 to fund the involved network activities, which has further enabled this comparative research. COST the acronym for European Cooperation in Science and Technology is the oldest and widest European intergovernmental network for cooperation in research. Established by the Ministerial Conference in November 1971, COST is presently used by the scientific communities of 35 European countries to cooperate in common research projects supported by national funds. The funds provided by COST less than one per cent of the total value of the projects support the COST cooperation networks (COST Actions) through which, with EUR 30 million per year, more than 30,000 European scientists are involved in research having a total value which exceeds EUR two billion per year. This is the financial worth of the European added value which COST achieves. A bottom up approach (the initiative of launching a COST Action comes from the European scientists themselves), à la carte participation (only countries interested in the Action participate), equality of access (participation is open also to the scientific communities of countries not belonging to the European Union) and flexible structure (easy implementation and light management of the research initiatives) are the main characteristics of COST. As precursor of advanced multidisciplinary research COST has a very important role for the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA) anticipating and complementing the activities of the Framework Programmes, constituting a bridge towards the scientific communities of emerging countries, increasing the mobility of researchers across Europe and fostering the establishment of Networks of Excellence in many key scientific domains such as: Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences; Food and Agriculture; Forests, their Products and Services; Materials, Physical and Nanosciences; Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies; Earth System Science and Environmental Management; Information and Communication Technologies; Transport and Urban Development; Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health. It covers basic and more applied research and also addresses issues of pre-normative nature or of societal importance. Web:

12 List of Abbreviations NPM GDP MBOR SMI DBG BBB FTE OECD IMF HRM FM EU EEA CEO CAF New Public Management Gross Domestic Product Management by Objectives and Results Strategic Management Initiative Delivering Better Government Beter Bestuurlijk Beleid (Better Administrative Policy) Full Time Employee Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development International Monetary Fund Human Resource Management Financial Management European Union European Economic Area Chief Executive Officer Common Assessment Framework xii

13 Notes on the Authors Muiris MacCarthaigh (Dr) is a research officer with the Institute of Public Administration, Dublin. His research interests include public sector organization and reform, governance and accountability regimes and legislative studies. He has published a number of articles and books on these topics, as well as several studies about state agencies and commercial state-owned enterprises. Paul G. Roness (dr.philos) is a professor at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen. He has published widely on organization theory and public administration reform. Among his recent books are Organization Theory and the Public Sector (with Tom Christensen, Per Lægreid and Kjell Arne Røvik, 2007) and Change and Continuity in Public Sector Organizations (edited with Harald Sætren, 2009). Kristin Rubecksen is a research fellow and doctoral candidate at the Department of Administration and Organization Theory, University of Bergen. Her research interests are in public sector organizations. She has published articles on this topic in Financial Accountability and Management, International Public Management Journal, Scandinavian Political Studies and Public Organization Review. Koen Verhoest (Dr) is Assistant Professor and Research Manager at the Public Management Institute (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium) where he studies organization, control and marketization of public tasks. He has published articles in Governance, Public Administration and Development, International Review of Administrative Sciences and Public Organization Review. Bram Verschuere (Dr) is a lecturer in public management at University College Ghent (Belgium). Previously he worked at the Public Management Institute (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium). His research interests are in public sector organization and state third-sector relationships. Part of his work has been published in Public Management Review, Governance and Public Administration and Development. xiii