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Reforming Public Service Provision: What have we learned?

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  • Peter Birch Sørensen

    (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

The essay discusses some key features of the wawe of public sector reforms that has swept through the OECD area during the last three decades under the heading of New Public Management. I review what economic theory and the empirical evidence can say about the effects of introducing pay for performance, performance measurement and various forms of competition in the public sector. I also review some evidence on the growing bureaucratization of the public sector and discuss the drivers behind this trend. The final part of the essay draws some implications for the design of public sector reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Birch Sørensen, 2015. "Reforming Public Service Provision: What have we learned?," EPRU Working Paper Series 2015-01, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:kud:epruwp:15-01
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    File URL: http://web.econ.ku.dk/eprn_epru/Workings_Papers/WP-2015-01.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    : Public sector reform; New Public Management; Bureaucracy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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