Experiments in Public Management Research: Challenges and Contributions

Description

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.

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).

'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