Comparative public management : why national, environmental, and organizational context matters / Kenneth J. Meier, Amanda Rutherford, and Claudia N. Avellaneda, editors.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : comparative public management : a framework for analysis / Laurence J. O'Toole and Kenneth J. Meier -- Administrative capacity and health care in Africa : path dependence as a contextual variable / Cameron Wimpy, Marlette Jackson, and Kenneth J. Meier -- Environmental complexity and public service performance in England : does organizational strategy matter? / Rhys Andrews -- Do public-private differences matter? Managerial characteristics and organizational performance across sectors of U.S. higher education / Amanda Rutherford and Claire Stieg -- The better you look, the more you see : non-linear effects of managerial networking hidden in the research setting of Dutch primary education / René Torenvlied and Agnes Akkerman -- Loyal agents or saboteurs? Performance-increasing policies and public service motivation among hospital workers in Denmark / Mads Leth Jakobsen, Anne Mette Kjeldsen, Thomas Pallesen -- Municipal spending delegation in Honduras : does decision context matter? / Claudia N. Avellaneda -- Explaining expansion of Brazilian municipal revenues : do political context or managerial background influence grant acquisition? / Ricardo C. Gomes and Claudia N. Avellaneda -- Conclusion : the role of context moving forward : the international research agenda / Amanda Rutherford, Laurence J. O'Toole and Kenneth J. Meier.

While the field of public management has become increasingly international, research and policy recommendations that work for one country often do not work for another. Why, for example, is managerial networking important in the United States, moderately effective in the United Kingdom, and of little consequence in the Netherlands? Comparative Public Management argues that scholars must find a better way to account for political, environmental, and organizational contexts to build a more general model of public management. The volume editors propose a framework in which context influences the types of managerial actions that can be used effectively in public organizations.After introducing the innovative framework, the book offers seven empiricalchapters—cases from seven countries and a range of policy areas (health,education, taxation, and local governance)—that show how management affects performance in different contexts. Following these empirical tests, the bookexamines themes that emerge across cases and seeks to set an agenda forfuture research. Intended for students and scholars of public administration and public policy, this book will be the first to provide a comprehensive comparative assessment of management's impact on organizational performance.