S. van Thiel

The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Municipally owned corporations (MOCs) are increasingly utilised to provide local public services, but little remains known about their efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we offer a typology of MOCs, explore the variables that affect their behaviour, and perform a systematic review of public administration articles published between 2001 and 2015 on their efficiency and effectiveness. We find that MOCs are often more efficient than local bureaucracies in the provision of services such as refuse collection, water distribution, and transit services, although they also have high initial failure rates. We conclude that municipally owned corporations are a viable means for delivering some local public services for localities capable of initiating and managing complex contracts. In light of the scarcity of literature on this topic, our conclusions remain tentative, and we encourage additional research into this growing phenomenon.

Boards of public sector organizations: a typology with Dutch illustrations

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present two heuristics for researchers to identify different types of boards in public sector organziations, and thus enable exchange of research findings and comparative research. Design/methodology/approach – Based on existing knowledge, two typologies are presented. The first typology discerns four archetypes of boards, and the second typology distinguishes six board roles. The use of these typologies is briefly illustrated with findings on supervisory board in Dutch ZBOs. Findings – Application of the two heuristics is possible and should preferably been done in combination as formal competencies and actual practices of boards do not always coincide. In the Dutch case, boards take on more than one role often exceeding their formal position. On the other hand, examples can be found where boards are overruled and stripped from their formal powers. Combining the two heuristics renders more comprehensive insight into what boards are and do. Originality/value – The...

The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe

This Handbook offers a systematic review of state-of-the-art knowledge on public administration in Europe. Covering the theoretical, epistemological and practical aspects of the field, it focuses on how public administration operates and is studied in European countries. In sixty-three chapters, written by leading scholars, this Handbook considers the uniqueness of the European situation through an interdisciplinary and comparative lens, focusing on the administrative diversity which results from the multiplicity of countries, languages, schools of thought and streams of investigation across Europe. It addresses issues such as multi-level administration and governance, intensive cross country cooperation in administrative reform policy, and public accountability under different systems. It also considers the issue of welfare service delivery, at a time of major economic and societal challenges, as well as understudied emerging issues like Islamic Public Administration and the dynamics of public sector negotiations. With contributions from key experts in Public Administration and Public Management, this cutting edge Handbook offers a significant contribution to the field of comparative public administration, policy and management.

Public Administration and Public Management Research in Europe: Traditions and Trends

The chapter reviews the evolution of the state of the art of research in public administration and management in Europe since WWII. It argues that a pan-European community has developed, flanking and in many respects integrating the distinct national communities that characterised the field till the 1970s/1980s. After a bibliographical review of the main themes that catalyse the interest of PA scholars, it focuses on the most researched theme in Europe, namely public management reform. The ways in which the topic has been studied before, during and after the NPM ideological wave are examined by looking into country clusters across Europe: Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, Southern European, Nordic European, and Central-Eastern European. Concluding points include the theoretical importance of context in European research, and the profile of the European scholar.

Political Control of Arm’s-Length Agencies: One Standard Does Not Fit All

The increased use of semi-autonomous agencies for the delivery of government services has often been criticized for leading to a loss of political control. In the Netherlands, the debate is most st...ABSTRACT The increased use of semi-autonomous agencies for the delivery of government services has often been criticized for leading to a loss of political control. In the Netherlands, the debate is most strong regarding the so-called ZBOs, which are agencies that produce unilaterally binding legal decisions. Based on data from secondary sources and interviews, an assessment was made of the level and type of controls of 11 ZBOs. Results show that political controls are stronger than expected, negatively affecting ZBOs’ autonomy. Also, there is large variety in the application of uniform guidelines. We introduce a citizen demand perspective of services as a new tool for the explanation of variety in control. This tool, together with political saliency and the legal status of ZBOs, has an impact on the actual levels of control.

Implementation of EU initiatives on gender diversity and executive directors’ pay in municipally-owned enterprises in Germany and The Netherlands

A popular topic in the assessment of the functioning of municipally-owned enterprises is the corporate governance (CG) of such organizations. The results of the comparative study presented in this paper indicate that European Union initiatives on gender diversity and executive directors’ pay are often not implemented in public CG codes and in practice in municipally-owned enterprises in Germany and The Netherlands. The paper proposes that EU initiatives should specifically target municipally-owned enterprises and shows concrete hard and soft regulation options for national and international policy-makers and future research perspectives.

Languages and Public Administration in Europe

One of the key features of public administration in Europe is that multiple languages are in use, both in the public and academic debates. Language shapes thought, debate and hence also research. To find out which problems researchers run into when they want to convey results of their research and the debates on public administration to academics and practitioners in other countries, we have asked a number of scholars to describe how several key concepts in public administration and public management are translated into their native language and which problems they encounter when doing so. Their contributions make up for the largest part of this chapter, preceded by a short analysis and commentary on some of the common problems and lessons that should be drawn.