Service Quality and Institutional Change : Keeping Score in Public Sector Reform

This article argues that it is possible to distinguish between the utility of different institutional structures by comparing the quality service that each typed delivers. As the executive agencies of the new public management are considered to be different from the traditional public sector agencies, one way of determining which type of bureaucracy is superior is to determine which one provides superior public service. This article reports on a comparative assessment of the relative service ratings of reformed new public management agencies and the traditional public sector agencies and concludes that service quality remains a valid index of agency performance. On the other hand, it is not possible to conclude on the evidence that public sector clients get, perceive or expect superior service from contemporary public service reforms