TY  - JOUR
A1  - Marienfeldt, Justine
A1  - Wehmeier, Liz Marla
A1  - Kuhlmann, Sabine
T1  - Top-down or bottom-up digital transformation?
BT  - a comparison of institutional changes and outcomes
JF  - Public money & management
N2  - This article analyses incremental institutional change and subsequent organizational and performance outcomes of the digital transformation from a comparative perspective. Through 31 expert interviews, the authors compare two digitalized public services in Germany. Two digitalization approaches are identified. The voluntary, decentralized bottom-up approach involves layering of new rules, limited organizational restructuring, and performance deficits. Conversely, the compulsory, top-down approach with centralized control facilitates displacement of existing rules and far-reaching organizational change; in this study, it is also associated with improved performance.
KW  - bottom-up
KW  - digital transformation
KW  - electronic tax returns
KW  - Germany
KW  - institutional change
KW  - performance
KW  - vehicle registration
KW  - top-down
Y1  - 2024
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2024.2365351
SN  - 0954-0962
SN  - 1467-9302
PB  - Taylor & Francis
CY  - Abingdon
ER  - 
TY  - CHAP
A1  - Wehmeier, Liz Marla
ED  - Kuhlmann, Sabine
ED  - Laffin, Martin
ED  - Wayenberg, Ellen
ED  - Bergström, Tomas
T1  - Intergovernmental relations in digitalization policy
BT  - German tax administration between centralization and decentralization
T2  - New perspectives on intergovernmental relations
N2  - Despite the high hopes associated with public sector digitalization, especially in times of crisis, it does not yet hold up to its potential. Both the negotiation and implementation of digitalization policy presents a challenge for all levels of government, requiring extensive coordination efforts. In general, there are conflicting views if more centralized or decentralized policy processes are more effective for coordination—a tension further exacerbated in the context of digitalization policy within multilevel systems, where the imperative of standardization collides with decentralization forces inherent in federalism.

Based on the analysis of expert interviews (n = 29), this chapter examines how digitalization policy in the context of the German federal intergovernmental relations context is located and negotiated, and how this relates to local policy implementation. Focusing on the decentralized German tax administration as a case study, the analysis reveals a shift from a conflicted to a multi-layered policy process, underpinned by a mechanism of “concentration without centralization.” Strategic and operational competencies are bundled in an institutionalized and legally regulated network for digitalization to achieve necessary standardization of digital infrastructure. Furthermore, the research emphasizes the influence of intergovernmental relations on local implementation and the associated challenges and opportunities.
KW  - intergovernmental relations
KW  - digitalization policy
KW  - coordination
KW  - implementation
Y1  - 2024
SN  - 978-3-031-61789-8
SN  - 978-3-031-61790-4
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-61790-4_9
SP  - 163
EP  - 185
PB  - Palgrave Macmillan
CY  - Cham
ER  -