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Reforming the Public Administration. The Role of Crisis and the Power of Bureaucracy

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  • Zareh Asatryan
  • Friedrich Heinemann
  • Hans Pitlik

Abstract

The need to balance austerity with growth policies has put government efficiency high on the economic policy agenda in Europe. Administrative reforms which boost the efficiency of the administration can alleviate the trade-off between consolidation and public service provision. Against such backdrop, this study explores the determinants of efficiency enhancing public administration reforms for a panel of EU countries using a novel reform indicator. The findings support the political-economic reasoning: an economic and fiscal crisis is a potent catalyst for reforms, but a powerful bureaucracy effectively constrains the opportunities of a crisis to promote this particular type of reform. Furthermore, there is evidence for horizontal learning from other EU countries, and for vertical learning associated with a particular type of EU transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Zareh Asatryan & Friedrich Heinemann & Hans Pitlik, 2015. "Reforming the Public Administration. The Role of Crisis and the Power of Bureaucracy," WIFO Working Papers 500, WIFO.
    • Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2015:i:500
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    Cited by:

    1. Roberta Arbolino & Raffaele Boffardi, 2017. "The Impact of Institutional Quality and Efficient Cohesion Investments on Economic Growth Evidence from Italian Regions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-17, August.
    2. Christofzik, Désirée I., 2019. "Does accrual accounting alter fiscal policy decisions? - Evidence from Germany," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Oleg S. SUKHAREV, 2018. "Public Administration: Institutions, Resource Transfer, Jobs," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 9(5), pages 11-25, October.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Iryna Isaienko, 2020. "The Crisis of Power as a Problem of the Development of Public Administration in the Postmodern World," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 11(3), pages 231-243, October.
    9. Ashiru Olayemi Aliyu & Kuppusamy Singaravelloo & Norma Mansor, 2021. "A Review of Administrative Reforms in Developing Countries: Why the Limited Success?," Journal of Public Administration and Governance, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(2), pages 178190-1781, December.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Glenn L. Furton, 2023. "The pox of politics: Troesken’s tradeoff reexamined," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(1), pages 169-191, April.
    13. Gulimzhan Suleimenova & Zukhra Karamalayeva, 2018. "Assessing Civil Servants Training Needs: the Case of Kazakhstan," Public administration issues, Higher School of Economics, issue 5, pages 96-115.
    14. Asatryan, Zareh & Heinemann, Friedrich & Yeter, Mustafa & Rubio, Eulalia & Rinaldi, David & Zuleeg, Fabian, 2016. "Public sector reform: How the EU budget is used to encourage it. Study," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 147039.
    15. Asatryan, Zareh & Foremny, Dirk & Heinemann, Friedrich & Solé-Ollé, Albert & Stratmann, Thomas & Yeter, Mustafa, 2015. "Better fiscal rules for Europe: Reflections based on new empirical evidence," ZEW policy briefs 4/2015, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Hans Pitlik, 2017. "Österreich 2025 – Verwaltungsreform zwischen Effizienzstreben und Reformwiderständen. Ein Überblick," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 90(3), pages 205-217, March.
    17. 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.
    18. 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.

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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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