About the Book
Interest in experimental research in public management is on the rise, yet the field still lacks a broad understanding of its role in producing substantive findings and theoretical advances. Written by a team of leading international researchers, this book sets out the advantages of experiments in public management and showcases their rapidly developing contribution to research and practice. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the relationship between experiments and public management theory, and the benefits for examining causal effects. It will appeal to researchers and graduate-level students in public administration, public management, government, politics and policy studies. The key topics addressed are the distinct logic of experimental methods in the laboratory, in the field, and in survey experiments; how leading researchers are using different kinds of experiment to build knowledge about theory and practice across many areas of public management; and the research agendas for experimental work in public management.
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction. Experiments in public management research Oliver James, Sebastian R. Jilke and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 2. A systematic review of experimental studies in public management journals Huafang Li and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 3. Experiments and the classical roots of public administration: comments on the potential utility of experiments for contemporary public management Kenneth Meier and Kendall Funk; 4. Causal inference and the design and analysis of experiments Oliver James, Sebastian R. Jilke and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 5. Field experiments in public management Oliver James, Peter John and Alice Moseley; 6. Survey experiments for public management research Sebastian R. Jilke and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 7. Laboratory experiments: their potential for public management research Markus Tepe and Christine Prokop; 8. Work motivation Nicola Belle and Paola Cantarelli; 9. Experimenting with leadership in public organisations Lotte Andersen, Louise Bro, Anne Bøllingtoft and Jacob Ladenburg; 10. Prospects for experimental approaches to research on bureaucratic red tape Sanjay Pandey, Sheela Pandey and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 11. Managerial use of performance data by bureaucrats and politicians Donald Moynihan, Poul Nielsen and Alexander Kroll; 12. Citizens and public performance measures: making sense of performance information Oliver James and Asmus Olsen; 13. Public sector transparency Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen, Ulrike Weske, Robin Bouwman and Lars Tummers; 14. Representative bureaucracy: an experimental approach Gregg G. Van Ryzin and Norma Riccucci; 15. Coproduction of public services Simon Andersen, Morten Jakobsen, Søren Serritzlew and Mette Thomsen; 16. Expectations and satisfaction with public services Jue Young Mok, Oliver James and Gregg G. Van Ryzin; 17. Citizen and users' responses to public service failure: experimentation about blame, exit and voice Oliver James and Sebastian R. Jilke; 18. Assessing public support for government policy: comparing experimental and attitudinal approaches Scott Robinson, James Stoutenborough and Arnold Vedlitz; 19. Legislative oversight of the bureaucracy: insights from formal modeling and experimental testing Susumu Shikano, Michael Stoffel and Markus Tepe; 20. Experimental research for nonprofit management: charitable giving and fundraising Mirae Kim, Dyana Mason and Huafang Li; 21. Replication of experimental research: implications for the study of public management Richard Walker, M. Jin Lee and Oliver James; 22. The experimental turn in public management: how methodological preferences drive substantive choices Steven Van de Walle; 23. Changing how government works: the transformative potential of an experimental public management Peter John; 24. Conclusions. Towards an experimental public management? Oliver James, Sebastian R. Jilke and Gregg G. Van Ryzin.
About the Author :
Oliver James, PhD, is professor of political science at the University of Exeter. Recent published research focuses on the politics of public services, citizen-provider relationships, and public sector organisation and reform. He was recently elected to the board of the Public Management Research Association and his experimental research won the Haldane Prize for best article published in the journal Public Administration. At the University of Exeter, he is director of the Master in Public Administration programme and he has acted as a consultant to bodies including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UK Treasury, the UK National Audit Office and the UK Audit Commission. Sebastian R. Jilke, PhD, is assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he co-directs the Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration. He has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, the European Journal of Political Research, Public Administration Review, and Regulation and Governance. He is currently co-chairing the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) Permanent Study Group on 'Behavioral Public Administration'. His interests include citizen-state interactions and equality in service provision, and his recent work examines how citizens and public officials respond to market-type mechanisms in public service delivery. Gregg G. Van Ryzin, PhD, is professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he directs the PhD program and co-directs the Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Adminstration. He has interests in both survey research and experimental methods, and conducts empirical studies on a range of topics, including citizen satisfaction with urban services, coproduction, performance measurement, nonprofit organizations, housing and neighborhood issues, and comparative public opinion about government policy and institutions. Van Ryzin is widely published in scholarly journals in public administration, policy analysis, and urban affairs and is author of Research Methods in Practice (with Dahlia K. Remler, 2011, 2nd edition 2014).
Review :
'Experiments are, for good reason, a hot topic in public management research. This excellent collection provides both theory and practical advice to scholars about conducting and analyzing experimental data.' Steve Kelman, Harvard University, Massachusetts
'These essays collectively introduce the potential that experimental methods have for uncovering the behavioral and institutional design elements of public management. The book traces the scope of existing work, but also offers an agenda and practical advice for an enduring research program. It is important reading for the serious student of public administration.' Anthony Bertelli, New York University
'This is a very impressive collection of contributions to the cutting-edge method in the field of Public Administration. The book is full of insights and ideas that should tempt any researcher to experiment with experimental methods.' George Boyne, Cardiff University
'This book is an excellent introduction and exhibit of experimentation in public administration, offering both chapters on how to carry out an experiment, the different types of experiments that exist ranging from panel surveys to lab experiments, the pros and cons of the method, as well as a large number of actual applications. The increase in the use of experiments coincides with the rise of a behavioural public administration and a call for more replication studies.' Sandra van Thiel, Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
