This paper analyzes the perception of autonomy of the agencies on the federal level in Austria and Switzerland. The study shows there is a high correlation between the legal form and the perceived autonomy. A reason may be the deeply-rooted law tradition of the two countries. Differences between...

<title>Abstract</title> Agencification has extended and intensified the delegation problem. It has created new (administrative) principals, who are confronted with even more uncertainty as agents operate at arm's length. Trust is suggested as a new mode of governance. Based on the literature seven hypotheses...

This paper analyzes the effect of task characteristics, structural and cultural features on the agencies' role perceptions. I distinguish two role perceptions which are associated with different types of ministry-agency relations, namely the agency as policy-maker and the agency as expert. These...

Wie können Wissenschaftsbehörden, die in den hierarchischen Staatsaufbau integriert sind, nach außen glaubwürdig darstellen, dass sie trotz ihrer Nähe zur Politik neutral bleiben und ihre Beratungsaufgabe allein nach wissenschaftlichen Kriterien erledigen? Im Fall der...

This paper analyses how public managers use performance information. A sample of over 3,100 high-level public sector executives from six European countries, provided evidence of significant country variations. Considerable variations were also found in patterns of use in different policy fields;...

In this timely Handbook, leading scholars from around the world explore the challenges presented by infrastructure PPPs, and contemplate what lies ahead as governments balance the need to provide innovative new infrastructure against the requirement for good public governance. This Handbook...

Since the 1990s, many of the 2,842 Swiss municipalities have reached their performance limits when fulfilling their tasks. As a response to this problem, different reforms have been introduced by the local authorities. The article focuses on the intermunicipal cooperation (IMC) and the municipal...