Introducing Vertical Policy Coordination to Comparative Policy Analysis: The Missing Link between Policy Production and Implementation

Abstract

The lack of effective vertical policy coordination between the policy makers at the “top” and the implementers at the “bottom” is an important source of deficits in both policy design and policy implementation. Yet while the link between policy production and implementation seems vital to explain and prevent policy failure, so far the conceptual tools to assess and compare systematically the barriers to effective vertical coordination are lacking. This paper attempts to address this gap by adopting a “transaction cost perspective” and proposing a novel concept to assess and compare the difficulty of vertical policy coordination between different policy sectors and countries.

Keywords:

• comparative
• vertical policy coordination
• policy design
• policy implementation
• transaction costs
• gun law
• childcare policy

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous referees for their very helpful suggestions. They helped to significantly improve our initial manuscript. Moreover, we would like to extend our gratitude to the Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) of the LMU Munich, which gave us the opportunity to work for a period of time as a Researcher in Residence.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Research Council [Advanced Grant 788941].

Notes on contributors

Christian Adam

Christian Adam is an assistant professor at the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science at the LMU Munich. In his research, Adam focuses mostly on issues that lie at the intersection of comparative public policy, judicial politics, and public administration. In this context, his main interests are analyses of the perceived legitimacy of political institutions and their decisions.

Steffen Hurka

Steffen Hurka is an assistant professor at LMU Munich. In his research, Hurka mainly focuses on comparative public policy and institutional aspects of European integration. In this context, he works on the causes and consequences of policy complexity in the European Union.

Christoph Knill

Christoph Knill is Chair of Political Science and Public Administration at the LMU Munich. His main research interests lie in the areas of comparative policy analysis and comparative public administration.

B. Guy Peters

B. Guy Peters is Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written extensively in the areas of public administration and public policy, both for the United States and comparatively.

Yves Steinebach

Yves Steinebach is an assistant professor at LMU Munich. In his research, Steinebach focuses on issues that lie at the intersection of comparative public policy and public administration. In this context, his main interests are analyses of the effectiveness of public policies and governing institutions.