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Reforming the public administration: The role of crisis and the power of bureaucracy

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  • Asatryan, Zareh
  • Heinemann, Friedrich
  • Pitlik, Hans

Abstract

The need to balance austerity with growth policies has put government efficiency high on the economic policy agenda in Europe. Administrative reforms that boost the internal efficiency of bureaucracy can alleviate the trade-off between consolidation and public service provision. Against such a backdrop, this paper constructs (and makes available) a novel reform indicator to explore the determinants of public administration reforms for a panel of EU countries. The findings support political-economic reasoning: An economic and fiscal crisis is a potent catalyst for reforms, but a powerful bureaucracy constrains the opportunities of a crisis to promote reform. Furthermore, there is some suggestive evidence for horizontal learning from other EU countries, and for vertical learning associated with a particular type of EU cohesion spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Asatryan, Zareh & Heinemann, Friedrich & Pitlik, Hans, 2017. "Reforming the public administration: The role of crisis and the power of bureaucracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 128-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:48:y:2017:i:c:p:128-143
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2016.08.004
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    6. Jonathan D. Ostry & Andrew Berg & Siddharth Kothari, 2021. "Growth‐equity trade‐offs in structural reforms," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(2), pages 209-237, May.
    7. Asatryan, Zareh & Heinemann, Friedrich & Pitlik, Hans, 2017. "Reforming the public administration: The role of crisis and the power of bureaucracy," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 128-143.
    8. Oleg S. SUKHAREV, 2018. "Public Administration: Institutions, Resource Transfer, Jobs," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 9(5), pages 11-25, October.
    9. Hans Pitlik, 2017. "Österreich 2025 – Verwaltungsreform zwischen Effizienzstreben und Reformwiderständen. Ein Überblick," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 90(3), pages 205-217, March.
    10. Hlaing, Su Wah & Kakinaka, Makoto, 2018. "Financial crisis and financial policy reform: Crisis origins and policy dimensions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 224-243.
    11. Zareh Asatryan & Xavier Debrun & Annika Havlik & Friedrich Heinemann & Martin G. Kocher & Roberto Tamborini, 2018. "Which Role for a European Minister of Economy and Finance in a European Fiscal Union?," EconPol Policy Reports 6, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
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    13. Badri Munir Sukoco & Beta Embriyono Adna & Zainul Musthofa & Reza Ashari Nasution & Dwi Ratmawati, 2022. "Middle Managers’ Cognitive Styles, Capacity for Change, and Organizational Performance," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
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    15. Eleonora Cutrini, 2023. "Postcrisis recovery in the regions of Europe: Does institutional quality matter?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 5-29, January.
    16. Maryna Shashyna & Petro Gudz & Alla Pankova & Olesia Benchak & Oksana Nemyrovska, 2023. "Modernization of public administration in Eastern Europe in the context of implementation of digitalization," Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, PC TECHNOLOGY CENTER, vol. 4(13 (124)), pages 57-65, August.
    17. Сулейменова Г. К. & Карамалаева З. Т., 2018. "Оценка Потребностей В Обучении Государственных Служащих: Пример Казахстана," Вопросы государственного и муниципального управления // Public administration issues, НИУ ВШЭ, issue 5, pages 96-115.
    18. Glenn L. Furton, 2023. "The pox of politics: Troesken’s tradeoff reexamined," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 169-191, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Euro-crisis; Public sector efficiency; Cohesion policy; Theory of bureaucracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

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