Equity or Efficiency? Explaining Public Officials' Values

Fernández‐Gutiérrez, Marcos; Walle, Steven Van de

doi:10.1111/puar.12996

Cited by 39 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“… The COCOPS Executive Survey data set is used, for example, in Fernández‐Gutiérrez and Van de Walle (); George, Van de Walle, and Hammerschmid (); Hammerschmid et al (); Jeannot, Van de Walle, and Hammerschmid (); Lapuente, Suzuki, and Van de Walle (); Suzuki and Hur (); and Van der Voet and Van Walle (). The QoG Expert Survey is used, for example, in Charron, Dahlström, and Lapuente (); Cornell (); Cornell and Grimes (); Dahlström and Lapuente (); Nistotskaya and Cingolani (); Schuster (, ); and Suzuki and Demircioglu ().…”

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confidence: 99%

Politicization, Bureaucratic Legalism, and Innovative Attitudes in the Public Sector

Lapuente

Suzuki

2020

Public Administration Review

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Previous studies have identified institutional, organizational, and individual factors that promote innovation in public organizations. Yet they have overlooked how the type of public administration-and the type of administrators-is associated with innovative attitudes. Using two large, unique comparative data sets on public bureaucracies and public managers, this article examines how bureaucratic politicization and legalistic features are associated with senior public managers' attitudes toward innovation in 19 European countries. Results of multilevel analysis indicate that the bureaucratic politicization of an administration and the law background of public managers matter. Public managers working in politicized administrations and those whose education includes a law degree exhibit lower pro-innovation attitudes (i.e., receptiveness to new ideas and creative solutions and change orientation). Evidence for Practice• Senior public managers' attitudes toward innovation vary significantly across countries.• The results of this study indicate that the features of a national bureaucracy and the educational background of public managers matter for pro-innovation attitudes. • Senior managers working in more politicized bureaucracies and those with a legal education background show lower tolerance for new ideas and creative solutions, and they are less willing to take actions that might upset the status quo. • Policy makers should consider personnel systems and the individual educational background of civil servants as significant factors that encourage favorable attitudes toward innovation.

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confidence: 99%

Politicization, Bureaucratic Legalism, and Innovative Attitudes in the Public Sector

Lapuente

Suzuki

2020

Public Administration Review

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“…In a recent study about the values of public officials (not only in the health system), authors found that tensions between values and value trade-offs are frequently founded in the public sector, principally when the decision-making imply allocation and redistribution of resources. 33 In the analysis about the trade-off between efficiency and equity, authors suggest that public officials closer to the recipients of policies, are more pro-equity oriented, while public officials that have been exposed to private sector management, are more proefficiency oriented. 33 Our results are consistent with those of Fernández-Gutiérrez and Van de Walle, 33 but highlight a new actor as policy-maker, the judiciary sector.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…33 In the analysis about the trade-off between efficiency and equity, authors suggest that public officials closer to the recipients of policies, are more pro-equity oriented, while public officials that have been exposed to private sector management, are more proefficiency oriented. 33 Our results are consistent with those of Fernández-Gutiérrez and Van de Walle, 33 but highlight a new actor as policy-maker, the judiciary sector. In our study, interviewees from the executive branch were more oriented to prioritize financial sustainability and efficiency, while interviewees from the judiciary branch were more oriented to human dignity and equity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Role of Values in Health Policy Decision-Making From the Perspective of Policy-Makers and Stakeholders: A Multiple-Case Embedded Study in Chile and Colombia

Vélez

Wilson

Abelson

et al. 2019

Int J Health Policy Manag

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Background: Chile and Colombia are examples of Latin American countries with health systems shaped by similar values. Recently, both countries have crafted policies to regulate the participation of private for-profit insurance companies in their health systems, but through very different mechanisms. This study asks: what values are important in the decision-making processes that crafted these policies? And how and why are they used? Methods: An embedded multiple-case study design was carried out for 2 specific decisions in each country: (1) in Chile, the development of the Universal Plan of Explicit Entitlements -AUGE/GES - and mandating universal coverage of treatments for high-cost diseases; and (2) in Colombia, the declaration of health as a fundamental right and a mechanism to explicitly exclude technologies that cannot be publicly funded. We interviewed key informants involved in one or more of the decisions and/or in the policy analysis and development process that contributed to the eventual decision. The data analysis involved a constant comparative approach and thematic analysis for each case study. Results: From the 40 individuals who were invited, 28 key informants participated. A tension between 2 important values was identified for each decision (eg, solidarity vs. individualism for the AUGE/GES plan in Chile; human dignity vs. sustainability for the declaration of the right to health in Colombia). Policy-makers used values in the decisionmaking process to frame problems in meaningful ways, to guide policy development, as a pragmatic instrument to make decisions, and as a way to legitimize decisions. In Chile, values such as individualism and free choice were incorporated in decision-making because attaining private health insurance was seen as an indicator of improved personal economic status. In Colombia, human dignity was incorporated as the core value because the Constitutional Court asserted its importance in its use of judicial activism as a check on the power of the executive and legislative branches. Conclusion: There is an opportunity to open further exploration of the role of values in different health decisions, political sectors besides health, and even other jurisdictions.

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“…Top civil servants constantly have to balance different values in their work and are often confronted with value conflicts (De Graaf, Huberts, & Smulders, 2016). Especially in situations where decision-making is concerned with budget allocation, tensions between conflicting values (such as efficiency and equity) can arise (Okun, 1975;Fernandez-Gutiérrez & Van de Walle, 2018). This particularly holds when resources become scarce, as is the case during cutbacks.…”

Section: Cutback Management; éLite Interviews; Top Civil Servants; Vamentioning

confidence: 99%

How top civil servants decide on cutbacks: A qualitative study into the role of values

Schmidt

2019

Public Money & Management

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Confronted with severe budgetary constraints, top civil servants have to implement cutbacks, either by applying proportional or targeted cuts as their cutback management strategy. Drawing on élite interviews, the author describes how the values of top civil servants manifest themselves in cutback decisions. The paper, based on 26 interviews with Dutch top civil servants, shows that the relationship between values and cutback management strategies is much less clear than conceptually understood in the cutback management literature and suggests that values of top civil servants are context-dependent.

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Equity or Efficiency? Explaining Public Officials' Values

Cited by 39 publications

References 55 publications

Politicization, Bureaucratic Legalism, and Innovative Attitudes in the Public Sector

Politicization, Bureaucratic Legalism, and Innovative Attitudes in the Public Sector

Understanding the Role of Values in Health Policy Decision-Making From the Perspective of Policy-Makers and Stakeholders: A Multiple-Case Embedded Study in Chile and Colombia

How top civil servants decide on cutbacks: A qualitative study into the role of values

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