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HOW TO ASSESS ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM? INVESTIGATING THE ADOPTION AND PRELIMINARY IMPACTS OF THE NORWEGIAN WELFARE ADMINISTRATION REFORM
Author(s) -
ASKIM JOSTEIN,
CHRISTENSEN TOM,
FIMREITE ANNE LISE,
LÆGREID PER
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2010.01809.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , context (archaeology) , welfare reform , autonomy , public economics , welfare , politics , administration (probate law) , process (computing) , economics , public administration , political science , market economy , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , computer science , law , biology , operating system
This article addresses how to assess public‐sector reforms using a reform in the Norwegian welfare administration as a case study. This reform represents a complex hybrid organizational form and a challenging combination of political control and local autonomy. We examine first how the reform has addressed its three main goals. These were to get people off welfare and back into work, to bring about more service‐orientation, and to increase efficiency. We also address the side‐effects of the reform by describing operational effects, process effects and system effects. Second, we examine how effects can be understood from an instrumental, cultural, and environmental perspective. A main finding is that context is significant for effects, and that it has so far proven difficult to discern clear overall effects concerning the main goals of the reforms and their side‐effects.