Decentralizing for performance?
- 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 concerningIn 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.…
Author details: | Falk EbingerORCiD, Philipp RichterORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-405158 |
Title of parent work (English): | International review of administrative sciences |
Subtitle (English): | a quantitative assessment of functional reforms in the German Länder |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Reihe (92) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/05/17 |
Publication year: | 2015 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2018/05/17 |
Tag: | de-concentration; decentralization; federalism; local government; performance meas- urement; public service delivery; social and environmental administration |
Number of pages: | 24 |
Source: | International Review of Administrative Sciences, 82 (2016) Nr. 2, S. 291–314 DOI: 10.1177/0020852315586916 |
Organizational units: | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät |
DDC classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 34 Recht / 340 Recht |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Grantor: | Sage |
License (German): | Keine öffentliche Lizenz: Unter Urheberrechtsschutz |