The State Administration Database

Askim, Jostein; Blom-Hansen, Jens; Houlberg, Kurt; Serritzlew, Søren (2020):

How Government Agencies React to Termination Threats

Oxford Academic

Please note: This page may contain data in Norwegian that is not translated to English.

Type of publication:

Tidsskriftsartikkel

Link to publication:

https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muz022

Link to review:

https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muz022

Comment:

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Volume 30, Issue 2, April 2020, Pages 324–338

Number of pages:

48

ISSN:

1477-9803

Language of publication:

Engelsk

Country of publication:

Norge

NSD-reference:

4728

This page was last updated:

20/9 2021

State units related to this publication:

Summary:

Much research following Kaufman’s classic study Are Government Organizations Immortal? has investigated the claim that government agencies enjoy great security and long life. Less attention has been paid to Kaufman’s thesis that government agencies facing a termination threat have strong incentives to react. In a study of the on-going Norwegian local government amalgamation reform, we demonstrate that this type of government agency reacts by hoarding (i.e., a last-minute flurry of spending) when faced with a termination threat. This finding shows that agencies facing termination threats are active players in the termination game. We discuss implications for research on agency termination and design implications for reformers of the public sector.