TY - JOUR A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Richter, Philipp T1 - Decentralizing for performance? A quantitative assessment of functional reforms in the German Lander JF - International review of administrative sciences : an international journal of comparative public administration N2 - In the last 10 years, the governments of most of the German Länder initiated administrative reforms. All of these ventures included the municipalization of substantial sets of tasks. As elsewhere, governments argue that service delivery by communes is more cost-efficient, effective and responsive. Empirical evidence to back these claims is inconsistent at best: a considerable number of case studies cast doubt on unconditionally positive appraisals. Decentralization effects seem to vary depending on the performance dimension and task considered. However, questions of generalizability arise as these findings have not yet been backed by more ‘objective’ archival data. We provide empirical evidence on decentralization effects for two different policy fields based on two studies. Thereby, the article presents alternative avenues for research on decentralization effects and matches the theoretical expectations on decentralization effects with more robust results. The analysis confirms that overly positive assertions concerning decentralization effects are only partially warranted. As previous case studies suggested, effects have to be looked at in a much more differentiated way, including starting conditions and distinguishing between the various relevant performance dimensions and policy fields. KW - decentralization KW - de-concentration KW - federalism KW - local government KW - performance measurement KW - public service delivery KW - social and environmental administration Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315586916 SN - 0020-8523 SN - 1461-7226 VL - 82 SP - 291 EP - 314 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER - TY - GEN A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Richter, Philipp T1 - Decentralizing for performance? BT - a quantitative assessment of functional reforms in the German Länder T2 - International review of administrative sciences N2 - In the last 10 years, the governments of most of the German Lander initiated administrative reforms. All of these ventures included the municipalization of substantial sets of tasks. As elsewhere, governments argue that service delivery by communes is more cost-efficient, effective and responsive. Empirical evidence to back these claims is inconsistent at best: a considerable number of case studies cast doubt on unconditionally positive appraisals. Decentralization effects seem to vary depending on the performance dimension and task considered. However, questions of generalizability arise as these findings have not yet been backed by more 'objective' archival data. We provide empirical evidence on decentralization effects for two different policy fields based on two studies. Thereby, the article presents alternative avenues for research on decentralization effects and matches the theoretical expectations on decentralization effects with more robust results. The analysis confirms that overly positive assertions concerning decentralization effects are only partially warranted. As previous case studies suggested, effects have to be looked at in a much more differentiated way, including starting conditions and distinguishing between the various relevant performance dimensions and policy fields. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 92 KW - decentralization KW - de-concentration KW - federalism KW - local government KW - performance meas- urement KW - public service delivery KW - social and environmental administration Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-405158 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Territorial reforms in Europe BT - effects on administrative performance and democratic participation T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Territorial reform is the most radical and contested reorganisation of local government. A sound evaluation of the outcome of such reforms is hence an important step to ensure the legitimation of any decision on the subject. However, in our view the discourse on the subject appears to be one sided, focusing primarily on overall fiscal effects scrutinised by economists. The contribution of this paper is hence threefold: Firstly, we provide an overview off territorial reforms in Europe, with a special focus on Eastern Germany as a promising case for cross-country comparisons. Secondly, we provide an over-view of the analytical classifications of these reforms and context factors to be considered in their evaluation. And thirdly, we analyse the literature on qualitative performance effects of these reforms. The results show that territorial reforms have a significant positive impact on functional performance, while the effects on participation and integration are indeed ambivalent. In doing so, we provide substantial arguments for a broader, more inclusive discussion on the success of territorial reforms. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 100 KW - municipal amalgamation effects KW - territorial reform KW - municipal mergers KW - local government performance KW - administrative reforms Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-420583 SN - 1867-5808 IS - 100 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Kuhlmann, Sabine A1 - Bogumil, Jörg T1 - Territorial reforms in Europe BT - effects on administrative performance and democratic participation JF - Local government studies N2 - Territorial reform is the most radical and contested reorganisation of local government. A sound evaluation of the outcome of such reforms is hence an important step to ensure the legitimation of any decision on the subject. However, in our view the discourse on the subject appears to be one sided, focusing primarily on overall fiscal effects scrutinised by economists. The contribution of this paper is hence threefold: Firstly, we provide an overview off territorial reforms in Europe, with a special focus on Eastern Germany as a promising case for cross-country comparisons. Secondly, we provide an overview of the analytical classifications of these reforms and context factors to be considered in their evaluation. And thirdly, we analyse the literature on qualitative performance effects of these reforms. The results show that territorial reforms have a significant positive impact on functional performance, while the effects on participation and integration are indeed ambivalent. In doing so, we provide substantial arguments for a broader, more inclusive discussion on the success of territorial reforms. KW - Municipal amalgamation effects KW - territorial reform KW - municipal mergers KW - local government performance KW - administrative reforms Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2018.1530660 SN - 0300-3930 SN - 1743-9388 VL - 45 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 23 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - BOOK A1 - Nierhaus, Michael A1 - Ebinger, Falk A1 - Bogumil, Jörg A1 - Bull, Hans Peter A1 - Dombert, Matthias A1 - Meyer, Hubert A1 - Rolfes, Manfred A1 - Seitz, Helmut A1 - Stüer, Bernhard A1 - Thieme, Werner A1 - Tessmann, Jens ED - Büchner, Christiane ED - Franzke, Jochen ED - Nierhaus, Michael T1 - Verfassungsrechtliche Anforderungen an Kreisgebietsreformen BT - zum Urteil des Landesverfassungsgerichts Mecklenburg-Vorpommern N2 - Das Urteil des Landesverfassungsgerichts Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in dem die geplante Kreisgebietsreform für verfassungswidrig erklärt wurde, hat Auswirkungen über dieses Bundesland hinaus. Es setzt den weiterhin anstehenden Kreisstrukturreformen auch in anderen Bundesländern bestimmte verfassungsrechtliche Grenzen. Angesichts der Bedeutung dieses Urteils halten die Herausgeber es für sinnvoll, in der vorliegenden Publikation des Kommunalwissenschaftlichen Institutes der Universität Potsdam erste Stellungnahmen der Fachwissenschaften einzuholen. Profunde Kenner verschiedener Fachdisziplinen – aus Rechts-, Politik- und Verwaltungswissenschaft sowie Finanzund Regionalwissenschaft – legen ihre Sicht zu dem Urteil dar. Diese Meinungsäußerungen spiegeln die vielschichtige und zugleich auch kontroverse Debatte zu den Wirkungen der verfassungsgerichtlichen Entscheidung wider. T3 - KWI-Gutachten - 2 Y1 - 2008 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-15765 SN - 978-3-940793-06-5 SN - 1439-8907 PB - Universitätsverlag Potsdam CY - Potsdam ER -