Abstract [en]

In many European countries, greater importance is accorded to labour market policies in which employers are involved in activating unemployed people. Such employer-oriented policies target employers’ demand for labour and attempt to influence their willingness to hire, train or guide (often disadvantaged) unemployed groups. Using data from a qualitative interview study of an employer-oriented programme in a medium-size city in Sweden, the present article aims to develop knowledge about how these policies are used to influence employers to hire unemployed workers and how jobs created in this context differ from regular jobs. The article argues that creating jobs through new arrangements for the division of labour, with the promise of relieving regular staff of unskilled tasks, may influence employers’ willingness to hire the unemployed when used alongside other kinds of policy instruments. However, the article also shows that this new division of labour, with programme participants performing mainly unskilled tasks, has been difficult to realize, as new staff gradually come to perform an increasing number of regular working tasks.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

Blackwell Publishing, 2019. Vol. 72, nr 2, s. 75-95

Nyckelord [en]

division of labour, employers participation, public sector, return to work, Sweden, unemployed

Nationell ämneskategori

Arbetslivsstudier

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:sh:diva-38158DOI: 10.1111/issr.12200Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85065102130OAI: oai:DiVA.org:sh-38158DiVA, id: diva2:1317200

SammanfattningThe concepts of auditing and transparency frequently appear in discussions about contemporary public‐sector challenges, but the relationship between them rarely has been examined. This paper argues that transparency might be viewed as both an effect of auditing and a prerequisite for auditing. Broadly speaking, the former tends to be articulated more in the auditing literature—where transparency often justifies auditing—while the latter often appears in the transparency literature. By proposing a distinction between “raw transparency” and “refined transparency,” this paper strives to increase conceptual clarity and establish a theoretical basis for various auditing activities.Länkar

• https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12193

E-ISSN1468-0408Ämnesord

• SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP | Statsvetenskap | Studier av offentlig förvaltning

SpråkEngelskaPublikations-ID274021Identifikatorer

• Scopus-ID: 85064703937
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12193

SammanfattningABSTRACT: A meritocracy like all other ”cracies” aside from democracy is a stratification system in which one group of citizens is given greater legitimacy than others to participate in society’s collective decision-making processes. Nevertheless, as societal decision-making systems meritocracy and democracy are entirely incompatible. Is a society a meritocracy (those with knowledge govern and make decisions) it is not a democracy (all members regardless of knowledge govern and make decisions). Here, it is necessary to point out that meritocracy as a societal decision-making system does not equalize with meritocracy as a recruitment system. In contemporary political-administrative systems meritocratic and democratic decision-making principals are at work parallel and simultaneously at the same time as both meritocratic and democratic values are cherished and regarded as legitimate. One reasonable proposition is that when two basic values are conflicting with time one value will be strengthened on the expense of the other; Are democratic values strengthen meritocratic values are weekend and vice versa. In this paper changing values among managers and senior public officials and managers in Swedish municipalities is analysed. The analysis is based on two identical surveys conducted 1980 and 2016 (i:e before and after the implementation of NPM-inspired reforms) where a representative sample of municipal managers and senior officials were given the opportunity to answer questions about their tasks, working conditions, as well as attitudes and values. Theoretically the paper takes its departure in theories of meritocracy and democracy as well as management theories. The analysis shows that NPM-inspired reforms have changed the context within which managers and senior municipal officials perform their tasks affecting both their role perceptions, interaction patterns and values. In comparison with their colleges from 1980, the municipal officials of 2016 to a higher degree cherish meritocratic and elitist democratic values. The changes are most profound within the care and education sector.Ämnesord

• SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP | Statsvetenskap | Studier av offentlig förvaltning

NyckelordMeritocracy, democracy, public officialsSpråkEngelskaPublikations-ID285003

Abstract [en]

The market-inspired reforms of New Public Management have been particularly pronounced in Swedish local government. Notably, municipally owned enterprises (MOEs) have rapidly grown in numbers. Principal-agent theory gives rise to the hypothesis that the massive introduction of MOEs has impacted negatively on the conditions for accountability in Swedish local government. To study this, social network analysis was employed in mapping networks for 223 MOEs in 11 strategically chosen municipalities, covering a total of 732 politicians. The analysis reveals substantial overlaps between principals (representatives of the ultimate stakeholders, citizens) and agents (the boards of the MOEs). Hence, corporatization of public services seems to imply worrisome entanglements between the politicians who are set to steer, govern, and oversee MOEs on the one hand, and the board members of MOEs on the other. The increasing numbers of MOEs may therefore have adverse effects on accountability in important and growing parts of Swedish local government.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

Routledge, 2019. Vol. 21, nr 3, s. 320-352

Nyckelord [en]

Accountability, Corruption, Hybrid Organizations, Local Government, Moral Hazard, New Public Management, Principal-Agent Theory, Publicly Owned Enterprises, Social Networks, Transparency

Nationell ämneskategori

Studier av offentlig förvaltning

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-153734DOI: 10.1080/10999922.2018.1522182ISI: 000474665000007OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-153734DiVA, id: diva2:1275955

Forskningsfinansiär

Vetenskapsrådet

Abstract [en]

Welfare services are an important channel for building institutional trust. But does it matter if the service is publicly or privately provided? Using SEM on individual data from public and private schools in Sweden, the authors test how the provision mode moderates the effects of positive and negative school experiences on trust in government. The results show that students’ perceptions of teacher fairness are dependent on provision mode. Negative experiences are associated with decreased trust in government only in private schools. Positive experiences didn’t affect trust. Thus, the use of private providers may provide greater challenges for maintaining institutional trust

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

Routledge, 2019.

Nyckelord [en]

Welfare service provision, institutional trust, mixed provision systems, fairness, provision mode

Nationell ämneskategori

Ekonomi och näringsliv Statsvetenskap

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-75221DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2019.1630137ISI: 000473845900001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-75221DiVA, id: diva2:1339154

Forskningsfinansiär

Forte, Forskningsrådet för hälsa, arbetsliv och välfärd, 2015-00360_6

Abstract [en]

A large number of Swedish public authorities produce ’platform of values’ texts that present core values. This article presents a study of how such texts and practices, including the core values they revolve around, are legitimized. Using Van Leeuwen’s legitimation framework, three different data sets are analysed: 47 ’platform of values’ texts, a focus group discussion with seven senior HR officers, and a quantitative questionnaire study answered by civil servants at three public authorities. The analysis shows how the existence of ’platform of values’ texts and practices is legitimized through rationalizations, above all by describing the texts as concrete means for reaching specific ends and, with regard to the choice of core values, through a custom-conformity type of authority. Thus, this article addresses discursive transformations of contemporary organizations with a particular focus on available discursive space for critical thinking in the wake of New Public Management and related developments.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

2019. Vol. 13, nr 4, s. 398-414

Nyckelord [en]

Conformity; core values; discursive identity; legitimation; New Public Management; ’platform of values’; professional practice; public authorities; rationalization

Nationell ämneskategori

Studier av offentlig förvaltning

Forskningsämne

Interkulturella studier

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:du-30080DOI: 10.1177/1750481319842457ISI: 000472027000002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85065168253OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-30080DiVA, id: diva2:1317083

Purpose

The paper problematizes previous research on accountingisation, where the role of accounting in determining the scope of professional work is understood in relation to a professional/economic dichotomy and a model of episodic change. The purpose of this paper is to investigate everyday professional work in established new public management (NPM) settings, and proposes a new conceptual framework to analyze the role of accounting therein. The aim is to enable future investigations into how, when and where a situated “bottom line” emerges, by conceptualizing professional work as a process of calculation.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative data from case studies of two tertiary level geriatric organizations using observations of 33 employees and four interviews. Data related to patient discharge, and the management of the discharge processes, were analyzed.

Findings

Few visible trade-offs between distinctly professional or economic considerations were observed. Rather, the qualification of patients’ status and evaluation of their dischargeability centered on debates over treatment time. Time therefore operated as a situated “bottom line,” to which various other concerns were emergently linked in a process of calculation. Professional practitioners seldom explicitly evoke accounting concepts and technologies, but these were implicated in the ongoing translation of each patient into something temporarily stable, calculable and thus actionable for the professionals involved in their care. The study’s findings have implications for the conceptual understanding of professional work in established NPM settings.

Research limitations/implications

Case study research is context-specific and the role of accounting in professional work will vary due to the professional groups and accounting technologies involved.

Practical implications

The study’s findings have implications for how to influence professional behavior through interventions in the existing landscape of accounting technologies. The possibility to change behavior through the introduction or removal of individual accounting technologies is questioned.

Originality/value

To date, research on the role of accounting in determining the scope of professional work has assumed a professional/economic dichotomy and studied episodic change linked to accounting-oriented reforms. This paper analyses the role of accounting as an on-going process with emergent boundaries between professional and economic considerations.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

2019. Vol. 32, nr 3, s. 897-922

Nyckelord [en]

Health care, Sweden, Professional work, Accountingization, Calculation, Established NPM setting

Nationell ämneskategori

Ekonomi och näringsliv

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-173055DOI: 10.1108/AAAJ-06-2015-2096ISI: 000479299200008OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-173055DiVA, id: diva2:1353161

Abstract [en]

This article illustrates, through a combination of administrative and legal perspectives, how ambitions to centralise prioritisation decisions within a police organisation can be limited by the legal rules relating to crime investigations and public order policing. As a case study, we use the centralisation of the Swedish Police, a reform intending to reduce the previously far-reaching operational independence of regional police authorities in favour of a centralised and uniform single authority. Through this case study, we analyse the interaction between the legal and institutional frameworks of policing and prosecution, including positive obligations enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights. We conclude that legal responsibilities affecting the Swedish Police may significantly limit the possibility for managers and officers to de-prioritise many cases and public order concerns, which, in turn, may limit the ability to divert resources to other—centrally prioritised—tasks. Failure to account for such limits may cause reform ambitions to collide with legal responsibilities in day-to-day operative policing. The results indicate that research into organisational reform and police prioritisation may benefit from a more systemic analysis of the legal and institutional factors limiting institutional discretion.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

Routledge, 2019.

Nyckelord [en]

Policing, prioritisation, discretion, centralisation, positive obligations

Nyckelord [sv]

Polis, prioriteringar, skön, centralisering, positiva skyldigheter

Nationell ämneskategori

Juridik (exklusive juridik och samhälle) Studier av offentlig förvaltning

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-162063DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2019.1634717ISI: 000479566400001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-162063DiVA, id: diva2:1342067

Ingår i projekt

Polisarbetet – mellan effektivitet och rättsstatlighet, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond

Artikel i tidskrift (Refereegranskat) Epub ahead of print

Abstract [en]

In 1991, Christopher Hood made a substantial contribution to public administration research when he formulated the concept of New Public Management (NPM). His article can in many ways be understood as an enabler of research focused on public sector reforms. To this day, numerous articles and books have been published, discussing the concept itself and the empirical phenomenon. In celebration of the 25-year period since the concept of NPM was introduced, this article revisits the current knowledge through a systematic literature review of 299 articles published between 1991 and 2016. This approach enables a meta-analysis of research published in five top-ranked international public administration journals. We identify four important themes as emerging from our review: (i) a reform with a vague intention, (ii) the limping concept, (iii) the one-sided perspective and (iv) NPM as the new norm. An important effect of this is that Hood’s framework may have been curtailed, leading to a distorted knowledge base when it comes to future studies.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

John Wiley & Sons, 2020. Vol. 36, nr 1

Nyckelord [en]

New Public Management, Management reforms, Future developments, Literature review

Nationell ämneskategori

Företagsekonomi

Forskningsämne

Ekonomi, Företagsekonomi

Identifikatorer

URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-87104DOI: 10.1111/faam.12214ISI: 000484821900001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-87104DiVA, id: diva2:1340958

Abstract [en]

This article analyzes the recurrent “erosion thesis” in the governance literature  arguing  that  bureaucratic  or  procedural government institutions have come to play a less significant role in the formation of  public  policy.  This  article  supports  these  claims  by  drawing evidence  from  the  Swedish  and  neo-corporatist  policy-making institutions  referred  to  as  the ‘governmental  commissions’  and  the perspective  of  interest  organizations.  Using  various  theories  on institutional change I show that increasing government steering has reduced  the  role  of  the  governmental  commissions  in  influencing policy, but has not eliminated interest organizations’ belief that they are  legitimate  institutions.  The  resulting  article concludes  that although the governmental commissions have eroded, the capability of the state to steer or govern society has not necessarily declined.

Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor

2017.

Nationell ämneskategori

Statsvetenskap