TY - JOUR A1 - van Helden, Jan A1 - Reichard, Christoph T1 - Management control and public sector performance management JF - Baltic Journal of Management N2 - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether and how evolving ideas about management control (MC) emerge in research about public sector performance management (PSPM). Design/methodology/approach This is a literature review on PSPM research through using a set of key terms derived from a review of recent developments in MC. Findings MC research, originating in the management accounting discipline, is largely disconnected from PSPM research as part of public administration and public management disciplines. Overlaps between MC and PSPM research are visible in a cybernetic control approach, control variety and contingency-based reasoning. Both academic communities share an understanding of certain issues, although under diverging labels, especially enabling controls or, in a more general sense, usable performance controls, horizontal controls and control packaging. Specific MC concepts are valuable for future PSPM research, i.e. trust as a complement of performance-based controls in complex settings, and strategy as a variable in contingency-based studies. Research limitations/implications Breaking the boundaries between two currently remote research disciplines, on the one hand, might dismantle “would-be” innovations in one of these disciplines, and, on the other hand, may provide a fertile soil for mutual transfer of knowledge. A limitation of the authors’ review of PSPM research is that it may insufficiently cover research published in the public sector accounting journals, which could be an outlet for MC-inspired PSPM research. Originality/value The paper unravels the “apparent” and “real” differences between MC and PSPM research, and, in doing so, takes the detected “real” differences as a starting point for discussing in what ways PSPM research can benefit from MC achievements. KW - Public sector KW - Performance management KW - Management control Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-01-2018-0021 SN - 1746-5265 SN - 1746-5273 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 158 EP - 176 PB - Emerald Group Publishing Limited CY - Bingley ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ringeling, Arthur A1 - Reichard, Christoph T1 - Some Reflections on the Development of Education for Public Administration in Europe BT - Permanent Study Group 9: Teaching Public Administration JF - Public Administration in Europe. Governance and Public Management N2 - The chapter presents an overview about the evolution of the teaching dimension in the academic debate within the EGPA community. Major topics of EGPA’s permanent study group on “PA and teaching” over the last decade are displayed. From a more general perspective, the authors discuss the various types and target groups of academic programs in Public Administration and their change over time. They also shed some light on the change of contents and pedagogical approaches in the last decades. Furthermore, different patterns and degrees of institutionalization of Public Administration as academic discipline across Europe are illustrated. In a short résumé the authors reflect about future educational developments in our field and about the role of EGPA Y1 - 2018 SN - 978-3-319-92856-2 SN - 978-3-319-92855-5 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92856-2_19 SP - 203 EP - 212 PB - Palgrave Macmillan CY - Cham ER - TY - GEN A1 - Grossi, Giuseppe A1 - Reichard, Christoph A1 - Thomasson, Anna A1 - Vakkuri, Jarmo T1 - Editorial T2 - Public money & management : integrating theory and practice in public management Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2017.1344007 SN - 0954-0962 SN - 1467-9302 VL - 37 SP - 379 EP - 386 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - THES A1 - Vu, Thi Thanh Van T1 - Local government on the way to good governance T1 - Lokale Regierung auf dem Weg zu Good Governance BT - the case of Hanoi and Berlin BT - Fallstudie in Berlin und Hanoi N2 - Bad governance causes economic, social, developmental and environmental problems in many developing countries. Developing countries have adopted a number of reforms that have assisted in achieving good governance. The success of governance reform depends on the starting point of each country – what institutional arrangements exist at the out-set and who the people implementing reforms within the existing institutional framework are. This dissertation focuses on how formal institutions (laws and regulations) and informal institutions (culture, habit and conception) impact on good governance. Three characteristics central to good governance - transparency, participation and accountability are studied in the research. A number of key findings were: Good governance in Hanoi and Berlin represent the two extremes of the scale, while governance in Berlin is almost at the top of the scale, governance in Hanoi is at the bottom. Good governance in Hanoi is still far from achieved. In Berlin, information about public policies, administrative services and public finance is available, reliable and understandable. People do not encounter any problems accessing public information. In Hanoi, however, public information is not easy to access. There are big differences between Hanoi and Berlin in the three forms of participation. While voting in Hanoi to elect local deputies is formal and forced, elections in Berlin are fair and free. The candidates in local elections in Berlin come from different parties, whereas the candidacy of local deputies in Hanoi is thoroughly controlled by the Fatherland Front. Even though the turnout of voters in local deputy elections is close to 90 percent in Hanoi, the legitimacy of both the elections and the process of representation is non-existent because the local deputy candidates are decided by the Communist Party. The involvement of people in solving local problems is encouraged by the government in Berlin. The different initiatives include citizenry budget, citizen activity, citizen initiatives, etc. Individual citizens are free to participate either individually or through an association. Lacking transparency and participation, the quality of public service in Hanoi is poor. Citizens seldom get their services on time as required by the regulations. Citizens who want to receive public services can bribe officials directly, use the power of relationships, or pay a third person – the mediator ("Cò" - in Vietnamese). In contrast, public service delivery in Berlin follows the customer-orientated principle. The quality of service is high in relation to time and cost. Paying speed money, bribery and using relationships to gain preferential public service do not exist in Berlin. Using the examples of Berlin and Hanoi, it is clear to see how transparency, participation and accountability are interconnected and influence each other. Without a free and fair election as well as participation of non-governmental organisations, civil organisations, and the media in political decision-making and public actions, it is hard to hold the Hanoi local government accountable. The key differences in formal institutions (regulative and cognitive) between Berlin and Hanoi reflect the three main principles: rule of law vs. rule by law, pluralism vs. monopoly Party in politics and social market economy vs. market economy with socialist orientation. In Berlin the logic of appropriateness and codes of conduct are respect for laws, respect of individual freedom and ideas and awareness of community development. People in Berlin take for granted that public services are delivered to them fairly. Ideas such as using money or relationships to shorten public administrative procedures do not exist in the mind of either public officials or citizens. In Hanoi, under a weak formal framework of good governance, new values and norms (prosperity, achievement) generated in the economic transition interact with the habits of the centrally-planned economy (lying, dependence, passivity) and traditional values (hierarchy, harmony, family, collectivism) influence behaviours of those involved. In Hanoi “doing the right thing” such as compliance with law doesn’t become “the way it is”. The unintended consequence of the deliberate reform actions of the Party is the prevalence of corruption. The socialist orientation seems not to have been achieved as the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. Good governance is not achievable if citizens and officials are concerned only with their self-interest. State and society depend on each other. Theoretically to achieve good governance in Hanoi, institutions (formal and informal) able to create good citizens, officials and deputies should be generated. Good citizens are good by habit rather than by nature. The rule of law principle is necessary for the professional performance of local administrations and People’s Councils. When the rule of law is applied consistently, the room for informal institutions to function will be reduced. Promoting good governance in Hanoi is dependent on the need and desire to change the government and people themselves. Good governance in Berlin can be seen to be the result of the efforts of the local government and citizens after a long period of development and continuous adjustment. Institutional transformation is always a long and complicated process because the change in formal regulations as well as in the way they are implemented may meet strong resistance from the established practice. This study has attempted to point out the weaknesses of the institutions of Hanoi and has identified factors affecting future development towards good governance. But it is not easy to determine how long it will take to change the institutional setting of Hanoi in order to achieve good governance. N2 - Bad governance (schlechte Regierungsführung) verursacht neben wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Schäden auch Umwelt- und Entwicklungsprobleme in vielen Entwicklungsländern. Entwicklungsländer haben zahlreiche Reformen in Angriff genommen, welche sie in der Entwicklung von good governance (gute Regierungsführung) unterstützen sollen. Der Erfolg solcher Reformen staatlicher Steuerungs- und Regelsysteme hängt jedoch maßgeblich von der Ausgangssituation in den einzelnen Ländern ab. Einfluss auf den Erfolg haben Faktoren wie z. B. die existierende institutionelle Ordnung, auf die zu Beginn solcher Reformen zurückgegriffen werden kann. Auch der verantwortliche Personenkreis, der mit der Umsetzung der Reformen beauftragt wird, ist für deren Erfolg maßgeblich. Diese Dissertation befasst sich damit, wie sich formelle Institutionen (Gesetze und Regeln) sowie informelle Institutionen (Kultur, Gewohnheit und Wahrnehmung) auf good governance auswirken können. Im Rahmen dieser Forschungsarbeit werden drei Merkmale mit besonderem Bezug zu good governance untersucht: Transparenz, Partizipation und Rechenschaftspflicht. Folgende Untersuchungsergebnisse sind hervorzuheben: In Bezug auf good governance stellen Berlin und Hanoi zwei Extreme dar. Während Berlin auf einer „good-governance-Skala“ im positiven oberen Bereich anzusiedeln wäre, müsste sich Hanoi eher im unteren Bereich wiederfinden. Good governance im Sinne von verantwortungsvoller Regierungsführung ist in Hanoi bei weitem noch nicht erreicht. So sind in Berlin Informationen sowohl über die Ziele und die Entscheidungen der am Politikprozess beteiligten Akteure und über Dienstleistungen der Verwaltung als auch über die öffentlichen Finanzen allgemein abrufbar, verlässlich und verständlich. Dies ist nicht der Fall in Hanoi. Während in Berlin die BürgerInnen keine Schwierigkeiten im Zugang zu öffentlichen Informationen haben, so sind diese Informationen in Hanoi nicht oder nur schwer erhältlich. Weiterhin gibt es zwischen Hanoi und Berlin erhebliche Unterschiede in den drei Arten der Partizipation. Während die Wahlen kommunaler Vertreter in Hanoi rein formell und erzwungen sind, so sind Wahlen in Berlin gleich, geheim und frei. Bei den Berliner Kommunalwahlen entstammen die VertreterInnen den unterschiedlichen Parteien und Wählervereinigungen, während die Kandidatur der KommunalvertreterInnen in Hanoi weitgehend durch die Volksfront bestimmt wird. Obwohl die Wahlbeteiligung bei den lokalen Wahlen in Hanoi bei fast 90% liegt, so ist die Legitimität sowohl der Wahlen selbst als auch des Vertretungsprozesses so gut wie nicht vorhanden. Die zu wählenden VolksvertreterInnen werden ausschließlich durch die Kommunistische Partei bestimmt. In Berlin wird die Teilhabe der BürgerInnen bei der Lösung kommunaler Probleme durch die Regierung gefördert. Hierzu werden unterschiedliche Methoden genutzt, u. a. der Bürgerhaushalt, Bürgerportale, Bürgerinitiativen etc. Einzelne BürgerInnen können entscheiden, ob sie sich individuell oder auch kollektiv einbringen. Durch das Fehlen von Transparenz und bürgerlicher Teilhabe ist die Qualität öffentlicher Dienstleistungen in Hanoi gering. So werden Dienstleistungen selten innerhalb der Fristerbracht, die gesetzlich vorgegeben ist. BürgerInnen, die dennoch öffentliche Dienstleistungen in Anspruch nehmen und zeitnah erhalten wollen, können die verantwortlichen Beamten direkt bestechen, ihre persönlichen Beziehungen nutzen oder eine dritte Person gegen Bezahlung beauftragen – einen „Mediator“ (Vietnamesisch: „Cò“). Im Gegensatz hierzu werden Dienstleistungen in Berlin kundenorientiert erbracht. Die Qualität der Dienstleistungen ist in Bezug auf Zeit und Kosten hochwertig. Schmiergeldzahlungen, Bestechung sowie das Nutzen persönlicher Beziehungen im Austausch für „bessere“ öffentliche Dienstleistungen sind in Berlin unüblich. Die Analyse der Fallstudien in Berlin und Hanoi verdeutlichen, wie Transparenz, bürgerliche Teilhabe sowie Rechenschaftspflicht miteinander verflochten sind und sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. Es ist schwierig die Kommunalverwaltung in Hanoi zur Rechenschaft zu ziehen. Hierzu fehlt es an geeigneten Instrumenten, wie z.B. freie und gleiche Wahlen. Es fehlt ebenfalls die Beteiligung von Akteuren wie freien Medien, Nichtregierungsorganisationen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Organisationen. Der wesentliche Unterschied formeller regulativer und kognitiver Institutionen zwischen Berlin und Hanoi wird anhand von drei Prinzipien dargestellt: Rechtsstaatlichkeit (Rule of Law) vs. Herrschaft durch Recht (rule by law), Pluralismus vs. Einheitspartei innerhalb der Politik sowie Marktwirtschaft vs. Marktwirtschaft sozialistischer Prägung. In Berlin gelten Verhaltensnormen, welche das Gesetz und die individuelle Freiheit respektieren. Ebenso herrscht das Bewusstsein vor, die Gemeinschaft zu fördern. EinwohnerInnen Berlins erachten es als selbstverständlich, dass sie öffentliche Dienstleistungen gerecht in Anspruch nehmen können. Die Vorstellung, Geld oder Beziehungen auf unrechtmäßige Art zu nutzen, um Verwaltungsvorgänge abzukürzen, herrschen weder bei Verwaltung noch bei den BürgerInnen vor. Innerhalb eines schwachen formellen Rahmens von good governance in Hanoi interagieren neue Werte und Normen einer Volkswirtschaft im Umbruch (Wohlstand, Erfolg) mit denen einer Planwirtschaft (Lügen, Abhängigkeit, Passivität) sowie mit denen traditioneller Gesellschaften (Hierarchie, Harmonie, Familie, Kollektivismus) und beeinflussen die Handlungen der Akteure. In Hanoi wird es nicht als selbstverständlich angesehen, das zu tun, was in Berlin als „das Richtige“ angesehen würde, z. B. Gesetze einzuhalten. Unbeabsichtigte Konsequenzen willkürlicher Reformaktivitäten der Partei zeigen sich im Fortbestehen von Korruption. Die sozialistische Orientierung der Marktwirtschaft scheint nicht erreicht worden zu sein, da sich die Schere zwischen Reich und Arm geweitet hat. Good governance ist unerreichbar, wenn BürgerInnen, Verwaltung und PolitikerInnen hauptsächlich von Eigeninteressen gelenkt werden. Der Staat und die Gesellschaft hängen voneinander ab. Um theoretisch good governance in Hanoi zu erreichen, müssten (formelle und informelle) Institutionen geschaffen werden, die positiven Einfluss auf BürgerInnen, Verwaltung und VolksvertreterInnen haben. BürgerInnen sind „gut“ aufgrund von Lernprozessen und Gewöhnung und nicht aufgrund ihrer Natur. Das Rechtstaatlichkeitsprinzip ist notwendig, um die Leistungsbereitschaft lokaler Verwaltungen sowie der Volksvertretungen zu stärken. Sobald Rechtstaatlichkeit konsequente Anwendung findet, verringert sich auch der Raum, in dem informelle Institutionen angewendet werden können. Die Förderung von good governance in Hanoi hängt im Wesentlichen vom Verlangen ab, die Regierung und die Menschen zu verändern. Good governance in Berlin sollte als Ergebnis eines andauernden Prozesses von Entwicklung und Änderung von Lokalregierung und BürgerInnen angesehen werden. Institutionelle Transformation ist ein langwieriger und komplizierter Prozess. Veränderungen formeller Regelungen sowie die Art der Implementierung solch neuer Regelungen trifft möglicherweise auf starken Widerstand seitens etablierter Akteure mit ihren Gewohnheiten. In dieser Studie wurde gezeigt, welches die Schwachpunkte der Institutionen in Hanoi sind. Ebenso wurden jene Faktoren identifiziert, welche die zukünftige Entwicklung in Richtung von good governance beeinflussen können. Es ist jedoch schwierig einzuschätzen, wie lange es dauern wird, das institutionelle Gefüge in Hanoi hin zu verantwortungsvoller Regierungsführung zu ändern. KW - local governance KW - Hanoi KW - Berlin KW - good governance KW - gute Regierungsführung KW - schlechte Regierungsführung KW - Hanoi KW - Berlin KW - Transparenz KW - Partizipation KW - Rechenschaftspflicht KW - Rechtsstaatlichkeit KW - Korruption KW - neuer Institutionalismus KW - Kultur KW - Institution KW - kulturell-kognitive Institution KW - regulative Institution KW - formale Institution KW - informelle Institution KW - Teilhabe der BürgerInnen KW - sozialistische Orientierung der Marktwirtschaft Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93943 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fischer, Caroline A1 - Siegel, John A1 - Proeller, Isabella A1 - Drathschmidt, Nicolas T1 - Resilience through digitalisation BT - how individual and organisational resources affect public employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - This article examines public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures. We argue that the pandemic and related policies led to increasing demands on public organisations and their employees. Following the job demands-resources model, we argue that resilience only can arise in the presence of resources for buffering these demands. Survey data were collected from 1,189 German public employees, 380 participants were included for analysis. The results suggest that the public service was resilient against the crisis and that the shift to telework was not as demanding as expected. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 168 KW - resilience KW - digitalisation KW - innovation KW - telework KW - work-place behavior KW - capacity KW - job demands-resources model KW - multi-level study Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-608040 SN - 1867-5808 IS - 4 ER - TY - THES A1 - Dribbisch, Katrin T1 - Translating innovation T1 - Translating Innovation BT - the adoption of Design Thinking in a Singaporean ministry BT - die Adoption von Design Thinking in einem Singapurer Ministerium N2 - This doctoral thesis studies the process of innovation adoption in public administrations, addressing the research question of how an innovation is translated to a local context. The study empirically explores Design Thinking as a new problem-solving approach introduced by a federal government organisation in Singapore. With a focus on user-centeredness, collaboration and iteration Design Thinking seems to offer a new way to engage recipients and other stakeholders of public services as well as to re-think the policy design process from a user’s point of view. Pioneered in the private sector, early adopters of the methodology include civil services in Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States as well as Singapore. Hitherto, there is not much evidence on how and for which purposes Design Thinking is used in the public sector. For the purpose of this study, innovation adoption is framed in an institutionalist perspective addressing how concepts are translated to local contexts. The study rejects simplistic views of the innovation adoption process, in which an idea diffuses to another setting without adaptation. The translation perspective is fruitful because it captures the multidimensionality and ‘messiness’ of innovation adoption. More specifically, the overall research question addressed in this study is: How has Design Thinking been translated to the local context of the public sector organisation under investigation? And from a theoretical point of view: What can we learn from translation theory about innovation adoption processes? Moreover, there are only few empirical studies of organisations adopting Design Thinking and most of them focus on private organisations. We know very little about how Design Thinking is embedded in public sector organisations. This study therefore provides further empirical evidence of how Design Thinking is used in a public sector organisation, especially with regards to its application to policy work which has so far been under-researched. An exploratory single case study approach was chosen to provide an in-depth analysis of the innovation adoption process. Based on a purposive, theory-driven sampling approach, a Singaporean Ministry was selected because it represented an organisational setting in which Design Thinking had been embedded for several years, making it a relevant case with regard to the research question. Following a qualitative research design, 28 semi-structured interviews (45-100 minutes) with employees and managers were conducted. The interview data was triangulated with observations and documents, collected during a field research research stay in Singapore. The empirical study of innovation adoption in a single organisation focused on the intra-organisational perspective, with the aim to capture the variations of translation that occur during the adoption process. In so doing, this study opened the black box often assumed in implementation studies. Second, this research advances translation studies not only by showing variance, but also by deriving explanatory factors. The main differences in the translation of Design Thinking occurred between service delivery and policy divisions, as well as between the first adopter and the rest of the organisation. For the intra-organisational translation of Design Thinking in the Singaporean Ministry the following five factors played a role: task type, mode of adoption, type of expertise, sequence of adoption, and the adoption of similar practices. N2 - Die Dissertation untersucht den Prozess der Innovationsadoption in Verwaltungen, ausgehend von der Forschungsfrage, wie eine Innovation in den lokalen Kontext einer Organisation übersetzt wird. Empirisch untersucht die Arbeit, wie Design Thinking als neuer Problemlösungsansatz von einem Singapurer Ministerium eingeführt wurde. Mit einer am Nutzer orientierten, kollaborativen und iterativen Arbeitsweise verspricht Design Thinking eine neue Möglichkeit, Leistungsempfänger/innen und andere Stakeholder öffentlicher Dienstleistungen einzubinden sowie den Gesetzgebungsprozess ausgehend von der Nutzerperspektive neu zu gestalten. Dieser zunächst in Unternehmen eingeführte Innovationsansatz wurde in den vergangenen Jahren verstärkt von Verwaltungen weltweit aufgegriffen, zum Beispiel in Australien, Dänemark, Großbritannien, den USA und Singapur. Es existieren jedoch bisher nur wenige empirische Studien darüber, wie und für welche Zwecke Design Thinking im Verwaltungskontext zum Einsatz kommt. Die vorliegende Arbeit wählt eine Translationsperspektive zur Analyse des Innovation-Adoption-Prozesses. Der Translationsansatz im Sinne des skandinavischen Neo-Institutionalismus untersucht, wie Ideen in lokale Kontexte übersetzt werden. Die Studie grenzt sich damit von einem vereinfachten Verständnis des Innovation-Adoption-Prozesses ab und somit von der Vorstellung, dass eine Idee ohne Anpassung in einen neuen Kontext aufgenommen wird. Die Translationstheorie ermöglicht eine differenzierte Betrachtung des Innovation-Adoption-Prozesses, indem sie den Blick auf die Anpassungen und Veränderungen richtet. Die zentralen Forschungsfragen der Studie lauten: Erstens, wie wurde Design Thinking in den lokalen Kontext eines Singapurer Ministeriums übersetzt? Zweitens, was können wir von einem Translation-Theorieansatz über Innovation-Adoption-Prozesse lernen? Es gibt bisher wenige empirische Studien zur organisationalen Adoption von Design Thinking, von denen die meisten sich auf Unternehmen beziehen. Wir wissen wenig darüber, wie Design Thinking in öffentlichen Verwaltungen und Regierungsorganisationen eingebettet wird. Diese Untersuchung liefert deshalb empirische Evidenz, wie Design Thinking in einer öffentlichen Verwaltung eingesetzt wird, insbesondere in Bezug auf die Anwendung im Gesetzgebungsbereich, der in der bisherigen Forschung vernachlässigt wurde. Für die Analyse des Innovation-Adoption-Prozesses wurde ein exploratives Einzelfallstudiendesign gewählt. Basierend auf einem theoriegeleiteten Sampling-Ansatz wurde ein Singapurer Ministerium ausgewählt, das einen Organisationskontext bot, in dem Design Thinking vor einigen Jahren eingeführt und seitdem praktiziert wurde. Das Singapurer Ministerium stellt damit einen relevanten Fall für die Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage dar. Im Rahmen eines qualitativen Forschungsdesigns, wurden 28 semi-strukturierte Interviews (45 bis 100 Minuten) mit Mitarbeiter/innen und Führungskräften durchgeführt. Die Interviewdaten wurden mit Beobachtungen und Dokumenten trianguliert, die während eines mehrwöchigen Forschungsaufenthaltes in Singapur gesammelt wurden. Die empirische Untersuchung der Innovationsadoption in einer Einzelorganisation konzentriert sich auf eine intraorganisatorische Perspektive mit dem Ziel, die Variationen der Translation während des Adoptionsprozesses festzuhalten. Die Studie leistet damit einen Beitrag zur Öffnung der oft in Implementierungsstudien angenommenen Blackbox, weil sie den Blick darauf richtet, was nach der Einführungsentscheidung in der Organisation mit der Innovation geschieht. Zweitens, erweitert die vorliegende Studie die Translationsforschung, weil sie intraorganisatorische Varianz der Übersetzung nicht nur nachweisen, sondern auch erklären kann. Aus dem empirischen Material werden fünf Einflussfaktoren identifiziert, die die Unterschiede in der Übersetzung von Design Thinking innerhalb des Singapurer Ministeriums erklären können: 1) die Art der Aufgabe, 2) der Adoptionsmodus, 3) die Art der Expertise, 4) die zeitliche Abfolge der Adoption und 5) die Integration in die Organisation durch die Kombination mit komplementären Praktiken. Die Hauptunterschiede traten zwischen Service-Delivery- und Policy-Abteilungen auf sowie zwischen der der Abteilung, die Design Thinking zuerst einführte, und dem Rest der Organisation. KW - Design Thinking KW - innovation adoption KW - translation theory KW - public sector innovation KW - public management KW - Design Thinking KW - Innovation KW - Verwaltungsmodernisierung KW - Organizational innovation KW - Neo-institutionalismus Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-104719 ER - TY - THES A1 - von Kaphengst, Dragana T1 - Project’s management quality in development cooperation T1 - Managementqualität von Projekten in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit N2 - In light of the debate on the consequences of competitive contracting out of traditionally public services, this research compares two mechanisms used to allocate funds in development cooperation—direct awarding and competitive contracting out—aiming to identify their potential advantages and disadvantages. The agency theory is applied within the framework of rational-choice institutionalism to study the institutional arrangements that surround two different money allocation mechanisms, identify the incentives they create for the behavior of individual actors in the field, and examine how these then transfer into measurable differences in managerial quality of development aid projects. In this work, project management quality is seen as an important determinant of the overall project success. For data-gathering purposes, the German development agency, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), is used due to its unique way of work. Whereas the majority of projects receive funds via direct-award mechanism, there is a commercial department, GIZ International Services (GIZ IS) that has to compete for project funds. The data concerning project management practices on the GIZ and GIZ IS projects was gathered via a web-based, self-administered survey of project team leaders. Principal component analysis was applied to reduce the dimensionality of the independent variable to total of five components of project management. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis identified the differences between the separate components on these two project types. Enriched by qualitative data gathered via interviews, this thesis offers insights into everyday managerial practices in development cooperation and identifies the advantages and disadvantages of the two allocation mechanisms. The thesis first reiterates the responsibility of donors and implementers for overall aid effectiveness. It shows that the mechanism of competitive contracting out leads to better oversight and control of implementers, fosters deeper cooperation between the implementers and beneficiaries, and has a potential to strengthen ownership of recipient countries. On the other hand, it shows that the evaluation quality does not tremendously benefit from the competitive allocation mechanism and that the quality of the component knowledge management and learning is better when direct-award mechanisms are used. This raises questions about the lacking possibilities of actors in the field to learn about past mistakes and incorporate the finings into the future interventions, which is one of the fundamental issues of aid effectiveness. Finally, the findings show immense deficiencies in regard to oversight and control of individual projects in German development cooperation. KW - development cooperation KW - project management quality KW - evaluation KW - GIZ KW - knowledge management KW - Entwicklungszusammenarbeit KW - Qualität des Projektmanagements KW - Evaluierung KW - GIZ KW - Wissensmanagement Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-430992 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Fuhr, Harald ED - Rüland, Jürgen ED - Carrapatoso, Astrid T1 - Development thinking and practice BT - from carbon-led growth to low-carbon development T2 - Handbook on global governance and regionalism N2 - After some seventy years of intensive debates, there is an increasingly strong consensus within the academic and practitioner communities that development is both an objective and a process towards improving the quality of people's lives in various societal dimensions – economic, social, environmental, cultural and political – and about how subjectively satisfied they are with it. Since 2015, the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) reflect such consensus. The sections behind this argument are based on a review of (i) three key theoretical contributions to development and different phases of development thinking; (ii) global and regional governance arrangements and institutions for development cooperation; (iii) upcoming challenges to development policy and practice stemming from a series of new global challenges; and, (iv) development policy as a long and steady, increasingly global and participatory learning process. KW - aid KW - development KW - dependency KW - modernization KW - post-development Y1 - 2022 SN - 978-1-80037-755-4 SN - 978-1-80037-756-1 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800377561.00037 SP - 365 EP - 380 PB - Edward Elgar Publishing CY - Cheltenham, UK ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Giesen, Michael T1 - Framing gender-based violence in multi-level contexts BT - a networked approach to studying adoption of the Istanbul Convention JF - European journal of politics and gender N2 - International institutions are an essential driving force of contemporary policies to combat gender-based violence but remain toothless if political actors do not implement them in domestic policies. How can scholars conceptualise the transposition of international gender-based violence norms into domestic policies? I argue that discourse network analysis provides a powerful conceptual and methodological extension of critical frame analysis to understand how frames shape the meaning of gender-based violence norms in multi-level institutional contexts. Frames’ normative and cognitive network structure invites combining discourse network and frame analysis techniques that locate frames’ power in their ability to connect different institutional spheres temporally and spatially. I outline a multi-level research agenda that traces the framing processes of international norms and their domestic implementation through gender-based violence policies in the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention. This agenda includes avenues to study how complex transnational policy frameworks like the Istanbul Convention play out in domestic policy implementation. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16693059192022 SN - 2515-1088 SN - 2515-1096 VL - 6 IS - 1 SP - 76 EP - 91 PB - Bristol University Press CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dörfler, Thomas A1 - Heinzel, Mirko Noa T1 - Greening global governance BT - INGO secretariats and environmental mainstreaming of IOs, 1950 to 2017 JF - The review of international organizations N2 - The last decades have seen a remarkable expansion in the number of International Organizations (IOs) that have mainstreamed environmental issues into their policy scope—in many cases due to the pressure of civil society. We hypothesize that International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), whose headquarters are in proximity to the headquarters of IOs, are more likely to affect IOs' expansion into the environmental domain. We test this explanation by utilizing a novel dataset on the strength of environmental global civil society in proximity to the headquarters of 76 IOs between 1950 and 2017. Three findings stand out. First, the more environmental INGOs have their secretariat in proximity to the headquarter of an IO, the more likely the IO mainstreams environmental policy. Second, proximate INGOs’ contribution increases when they can rely on domestically focused NGOs in member states. Third, a pathway case reveals that proximate INGOs played an essential role in inside lobbying, outside lobbying and information provision during the campaign to mainstream environmental issues at the World Bank. However, their efforts relied to a substantial extent on the work of local NGOs on the ground. KW - international organizations KW - environmental mainstreaming KW - international non-governmental organizations KW - policy scope KW - geographical proximity KW - world bank Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-022-09462-4 SN - 1559-7431 SN - 1559-744X VL - 18 IS - 1 SP - 117 EP - 143 PB - Springer CY - Boston ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dijkstra, Hylke A1 - Debre, Maria Josepha A1 - Heinkelmann-Wild, Tim T1 - Governance abhors a vacuum BT - the afterlives of major international organisations JF - The British journal of politics & international relations N2 - International organisations have become increasingly contested resulting in worries about their decline and termination. While international organisation termination is indeed a regular event in international relations, this article shows that other institutions carry the legacy of terminated international organisations. We develop the novel concept of international organisation afterlife and suggest indicators to systematically assess it. Our analysis of 26 major terminated international organisations reveals legal-institutional and asset continuity in 21 cases. To further illustrate this point, the article zooms in on the afterlife of the International Institute of Agriculture in the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Refugee Organization in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Western European Union in the European Union. In these three cases, international organisation afterlife inspired and structured the design of their successor institutions. While specific international organisations might be terminated, international cooperation therefore often lives on in other institutions. KW - death KW - institutional theory KW - international organisations KW - termination Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481231202642 SN - 1369-1481 SN - 1467-856X PB - Sage CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Heinzel, Mirko A1 - Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias T1 - Harmful side effects BT - how government restrictions against transnational civil society affect global health JF - British journal of political science N2 - Governments have increasingly adopted laws restricting the activities of international non-governmental organizations INGOs within their borders. Such laws are often intended to curb the ability of critical INGOs to discover and communicate government failures and abuses to domestic and international audiences. They can also have the unintended effect of reducing the presence and activities of INGOs working on health issues, and depriving local health workers and organizations of access to resources, knowledge and other forms of support. This study assesses whether legislative restrictions on INGOs are associated with fewer health INGOs in a wide range of countries and with the ability of those countries to mitigate disability-adjusted life years lost because of twenty-one disease categories between 1993 and 2017. The findings indicate that restrictive legislation hampered efforts by civil society to lighten the global burden of disease and had adverse side effects on the health of citizens worldwide. KW - international non-governmental organizations KW - INGOs KW - restrictions to civil society KW - closing civic space KW - authoritarianism KW - health services KW - global health KW - burden of disease KW - disability-adjusted life years Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123422000564 SN - 0007-1234 SN - 1469-2112 VL - 53 IS - 4 SP - 1293 EP - 1310 PB - Cambridge University Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Debre, Maria Josepha T1 - Clubs of autocrats BT - regional organizations and authoritarian survival JF - The review of international organizations N2 - While scholars have argued that membership in Regional Organizations (ROs) can increase the likelihood of democratization, we see many autocratic regimes surviving in power albeit being members of several ROs. This article argues that this is the case because these regimes are often members in "Clubs of Autocrats" that supply material and ideational resources to strengthen domestic survival politics and shield members from external interference during moments of political turmoil. The argument is supported by survival analysis testing the effect of membership in autocratic ROs on regime survival between 1946 to 2010. It finds that membership in ROs composed of more autocratic member states does in fact raise the likelihood of regime survival by protecting incumbents against democratic challenges such as civil unrest or political dissent. However, autocratic RO membership does not help to prevent regime breakdown due to autocratic challenges like military coups, potentially because these types of threats are less likely to diffuse to other member states. The article thereby adds to our understanding of the limits of democratization and potential reverse effects of international cooperation, and contributes to the literature addressing interdependences of international and domestic politics in autocratic regimes. KW - regional organizations KW - authoritarian resilience KW - democratization KW - survival analysis KW - domestic politics Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-021-09428-y SN - 1559-7431 SN - 1559-744X VL - 17 IS - 3 SP - 485 EP - 511 PB - Springer CY - Boston ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Debre, Maria Josepha A1 - Dijkstra, Hylke T1 - Are international organisations in decline? BT - an absolute and relative perspective on institutional change JF - Global policy N2 - Many international organisations (IOs) are currently challenged, yet are they also in decline? Despite much debate on the crisis of liberal international order, con-testation, loss of legitimacy, gridlock, pathologies and exiting member states, there is little research on IO decline. This article seeks to clarify this concept and argues that decline can be considered in absolute and relative terms. Absolute decline involves a decrease in the number of IOs and their authority, member-ship and output, whereas relative decline concerns a decrease in the centrality of IOs in international relations. Reviewing a wide range of indicators, this article argues that, whereas there is limited decline in absolute terms since 1945, there may well be important decline in relative terms. Relative decline is more difficult to measure, but to probe its significance this article presents data from speeches during the United Nations General Assembly General Debate. It shows that IOs were most often mentioned in 1996 and that there has been a decline since. These findings indicate that, whereas IOs might survive as institutions, they are decreasingly central to international relations. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13170 SN - 1758-5880 SN - 1758-5899 VL - 14 IS - 1 SP - 16 EP - 30 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dijkstra, Hylke A1 - Debre, Maria Josepha T1 - The death of major international organizations BT - when institutional stickiness is not enough JF - Global studies quarterly N2 - Major international organizations (IOs) are heavily contested, but they are rarely dissolved. Scholars have focused on their longevity, making institutional arguments about replacement costs and institutional assets as well as IO agency to adapt and resist challenges. This article analyzes the limits of institutional stickiness by focusing on outlier cases. While major IOs are dissolved at considerably lower rates than minor IOs, the article nevertheless identifies twenty-one cases where major IOs have died since 1815. These are tough cases as they do not conform to our institutionalist expectations. To better understand these rare but important events, the article provides case illustrations from the League of Nations and International Refugee Organization, which were dissolved due to their perceived underperformance and a disappearing demand for cooperation. These cases show the limits of the institutional theories of IO stickiness: sometimes member states find high replacement costs justified or consider assets as sunk costs, and IOs may lack agency to strategically respond. This article refines theories of institutional stickiness and contributes to the institutional theory of the life and death of IOs. Les principales organisations internationales (OI) sont fortement contestées, mais rarement dissoutes. Pour expliquer leur longévité, les chercheurs ont avancé des arguments institutionnels concernant les coûts de remplacement et les actifs de l'institution, mais aussi la capacité des OI à s'adapter et à résister aux défis. Cet article analyse les limites de la persistance des institutions en se concentrant sur des cas particuliers. Tandis que les principales OI sont dissoutes bien moins fréquemment que des OI moins importantes, cet article identifie néanmoins 21 cas de disparition d'OI principales depuis 1815. Ces derniers sont particulièrement difficiles, car ils ne correspondent pas à nos attentes en termes d'institutions. Afin de mieux comprendre ces événements rares, mais non moins importants, l'article propose comme illustrations de cas la Société des Nations et l'Organisation internationale pour les réfugiés, qui ont été dissoutes à cause de leur manque apparent de résultats et de la disparition de la demande de coopération. Ces cas mettent en évidence les limites des théories institutionnelles de persistance des OI : parfois, les États membres considèrent les coûts de remplacement élevés justifiés ou les actifs comme des coûts irrécupérables, et les OI n'ont peut-être pas la capacité de leur répondre de manière stratégique. Le présent article affine les théories de persistance institutionnelle et contribue à la théorie institutionnelle de vie et de mort des OI. Las organizaciones internacionales (OI) más importantes son muy cuestionadas, pero rara vez se disuelven. Los investigadores se han centrado en la longevidad de las IO, formulando argumentos institucionales sobre los costes de sustitución y los activos institucionales, así como sobre la capacidad de adaptación y resistencia de las organizaciones internacionales. Este artículo analiza los límites de la rigidez institucional centrándose en casos atípicos. Aunque las OI más importantes se disuelven en proporciones considerablemente menores que las OI de menor importancia, el artículo identifica 21 casos en los que OI más importantes desaparecieron desde 1815. Se trata de casos difíciles, ya que no se ajustan a nuestras expectativas institucionalistas. Para comprender mejor estos raros pero importantes acontecimientos, el artículo ofrece ejemplos de casos de la Sociedad de Naciones y de la, Organización Internacional para los Refugiados que se disolvieron debido a su bajo desempeño percibido y a la desaparición de la demanda de cooperación. Estos casos muestran los límites de las teorías institucionales sobre la rigidez de las OI: En ocasiones, los Estados miembros consideran justificados los elevados costes de sustitución o consideran que los activos son costes irrecuperables, y las OI pueden no disponer de capacidad de respuesta estratégica. Este artículo profundiza en las teorías de la rigidez institucional y contribuye a la teoría institucional de la vida y la muerte de las organizaciones internacionales. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksac048 SN - 2634-3797 VL - 2 IS - 4 SP - 1 EP - 13 PB - Oxford University Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Dieter, Heribert ED - Mirchandani, Maya ED - Suri, Shoba ED - Warjri, Laetitia T1 - Germany in the Covid-19-crisis BT - more robust than other European countries? T2 - The viral world N2 - The COVID-19 virus has hit Germany as unexpectedly as other European countries. For a few weeks, Germans thought that COVID-19 was an issue for Asian states and not for their country. Although Germany continues to be affected by the coronavirus, the situation is nowhere as dire as it was in Britain, Italy or Spain. The race to lift restrictions in Germany began in May, and by early June, the country may be back to normal. Germany, with its enormous financial resources and a well-equipped medical sector, appears to be better placed than other economies to weather the storm. Y1 - 2020 UR - https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/The-Viral-World.pdf SN - 978-93-90159-27-7 SP - 50 EP - 55 PB - Observer Research Foundation CY - New Delhi, India ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Dieter, Heribert ED - Hickmann, Thomas ED - Lederer, Markus T1 - Germany as a leading power BT - a pipe dream T2 - Leidenschaft und Augenmaß Y1 - 2020 SN - 978-3-8487-5249-2 SN - 978-3-8452-9429-2 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845294292-73 SP - 73 EP - 84 PB - Nomos CY - Baden-Baden ET - 1. Auflage ER - TY - GEN A1 - Wegmann, Simone T1 - Policy-making power of opposition players BT - a comparative institutional perspective T2 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The organisation of legislative chambers and the consequences of parliamentary procedures have been among the most prominent research questions in legislative studies. Even though democratic elections not only lead to the formation of a government but also result in an opposition, the literature has mostly neglected oppositions and their role in legislative chambers. This paper proposes to fill this gap by looking at the legislative organisation from the perspective of opposition players. The paper focuses on the potential influence of opposition players in the policy-making process and presents data on more than 50 legislative chambers. The paper shows considerable variance of the formal power granted to opposition players. Furthermore, the degree of institutionalisation of opposition rights is connected to electoral systems and not necessarily correlated with other institutional characteristics such as regime type or the size of legislative chambers. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe - 187 KW - Legislative organisation KW - parliamentary opposition KW - power KW - policy-making Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-566516 SN - 1867-5808 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wegmann, Simone T1 - Policy-making power of opposition players BT - a comparative institutional perspective JF - The Journal of Legislative Studies N2 - The organisation of legislative chambers and the consequences of parliamentary procedures have been among the most prominent research questions in legislative studies. Even though democratic elections not only lead to the formation of a government but also result in an opposition, the literature has mostly neglected oppositions and their role in legislative chambers. This paper proposes to fill this gap by looking at the legislative organisation from the perspective of opposition players. The paper focuses on the potential influence of opposition players in the policy-making process and presents data on more than 50 legislative chambers. The paper shows considerable variance of the formal power granted to opposition players. Furthermore, the degree of institutionalisation of opposition rights is connected to electoral systems and not necessarily correlated with other institutional characteristics such as regime type or the size of legislative chambers. KW - Legislative organisation KW - parliamentary opposition KW - power KW - policy-making Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13572334.2020.1843233 SN - 1357-2334 SN - 1743-9337 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 25 PB - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group CY - Abingdon ER - TY - THES A1 - Feil, Hauke T1 - God, bad, or ugly: Does it really matter? BT - Unterstanding the linkage between the performance of development projects and the recipient country's policy and institutional environment N2 - Each year, donor countries spend billions of Euros on development cooperation. Not surprisingly, a large strand of research has emerged which examines the impact of development cooperation. A sub-discipline within this strand of the literature deals with the question of whether the impact or effectiveness of development cooperation depends on the quality of the recipient country's policy and institutional environment. Over hundreds of studies have assessed this question at the macro level. In so doing, most of these studies test whether a potential effect of aid on the growth of a recipient country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is conditional on the country's policy and institutional environment. However, even after decades of research and hundreds of studies, no conclusive result has been found. One of the main reasons for the inconclusive state of the literature is that most macro-level studies have to deal with a high risk of endogeneity, treat aid as nothing but a pure income transfer, and rely on low-quality GDP data. To solve these three methodical issues, some authors have started to change the analytical focus from the macro to the micro level. Thus, these authors assess the determinants for the performance of individual development projects instead of the determinants for an effect of aid on GDP. Yet, even though the number of studies focusing on the micro level has increased steadily over the last few years, the state of the literature on the determinants for the performance of development projects still contains multiple highly relevant research gaps. The present thesis seeks to address three of these research gaps. The first research gap addressed by this thesis is related to the specific type of development cooperation. So far, nearly all existing studies focus on projects by Multilateral Development Banks. Research on the determinants for the performance of bilateral development projects is still rare. Thus, even though donors pledge to implement effective development projects, there are hardly any micro-level studies on bilateral projects. So far, only three studies use a sample which includes bilateral projects. Yet, none of the three studies assess the determinants for the performance of bilateral technical development projects. The first paper in the present thesis (GIZ paper) seeks to address this research gap by assessing the determinants for the performance of projects by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a bilateral state-owned aid agency active in the area of technical cooperation. The results of the paper indicate that some but not all of the existing theoretical arguments can be extended to bilateral technical projects as well.. For example, the level of market interventions in the recipient county only affects the performance of financial development projects, while the recipient country’s government capacity affects both technical and financial development projects. The paper also indicates that effects of determinants may vary among project sectors. The paper also highlights a dilemma of technical development cooperation. The countries with low government capacity are usually the ones most in need of technical cooperation projects. But, at the same time, they are also the countries in which these projects have the poorest performance The second research gap addressed by this thesis is related to one specific factor in the policy and institutional environment of recipient countries, namely corruption. This determinant is often cited as essential for project performance but has gained surprisingly little coverage in empirical studies. The few existing studies on the effect of corruption on project performance are inconclusive. Some find a statistically significant correlation, while others do not. Furthermore, so far, all existing studies use corruption perception indices as a measurement for corruption, despite the fact that these indices have well-known deficits when it comes to this research topic. One of these deficits is that such indices do not distinguish between different forms of corruption, even though it is likely that the effect of corruption will vary depending on the type of development project and form of corruption. The second paper in this thesis (Corruption paper) seeks to address this inconclusive state of the research while focusing on one specific form of corruption, namely bribery between private firms and public officials. The paper finds a small but statistically significant correlation between the corruption level and the performance of World Bank projects. The systematic effect of corruption on project performance confirms the need to consider the risk of corruption in the design and during the implementation of projects. Nonetheless, the relatively small effect of corruption and the low pseudo R-squareds advise not to overestimate the relevance of corruption for project performance. At least for the project level, the paper finds no indication that corruption is a primary obstacle to aid effectiveness. The third research gap addressed by this thesis is related to one specific sample, namely recipient countries of the International Development Association (IDA). The question of whether the policy and institutional environment affects project performance is of particular relevance for these countries, given that the World Bank's ratings on a country's policy and institutional environment decide how much IDA resources it receives. One core justification of such an allocation system is that it helps to steer more resources to places where they are most effective. However, so far, there is no conclusive empirical evidence for this statement. The only study specifically focusing on this topic, a study by the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank from 2010, has essential methodological limitations. The third paper of this thesis (CPR paper) seeks to address this research gap by testing whether a more refined analysis confirms the assumption of previous studies that the policy and institutional environment of IDA-recipient countries, measured by the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment ratings, has an effect on the performance of World Bank projects. Overall, neither the main regression models nor any of the robustness tests indicate a substantial correlation between the policy and institutional environment and project performance. Only for Investments Loans is the coefficient large enough to assume some effect. The overall results not only contradict the results of previous studies, but also raise strong doubts around one of the core justifications for the allocation system of the IDA. All three papers rely on a statistical large-N analysis of the performance ratings of individual development projects. These ratings are usually assigned based on the final evaluation of a project and indicate the merit or worth of an activity. The merit or worth of an activity itself is measured by criteria like relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency. In the case of the two papers on World Bank projects, the needed data stem from different databases of the World Bank. The relevant data for the GIZ paper are gathered from internal evaluation reports of the GIZ. Logistic regressions are applied as the main analytical tool. Overall, the three papers show that the policy and institutional environment of recipient countries matters for project performance, but only to a small degree and under certain circumstances. This result highlights that many researchers and practitioners tend to overestimate the role that the policy and institutional environment of recipient countries plays in project performance. Furthermore, the thesis shows that authors of future studies should consider possible interactions between project- and country-level determinants whenever possible, both in their theoretical arguments and statistical models. Otherwise, the debate on the determinants for project performance is at risk of degenerating into a statistics tournament without any connection to reality. KW - Development cooperation KW - development projects KW - aid effectiveness KW - GIZ KW - World Bank KW - corruption KW - aid allocation Y1 - 2019 CY - Potsdam ER -