Great Expectations of Public Service Delegation: A systematic review

Abstract

Politicians use a variety of expectations to justify the delegation of public services to public, semi-public or private organizations. This article reveals expectations of delegation, as well as its correlates. Empirical evidence is drawn from a systematic review of 250 peer-reviewed articles published in leading public administration journals between 2000 and 2012. This study identifies a discourse with three main categories of justifications: scientists and practitioners expect economic, political, and organizational benefits. The effects associated with delegation are not in line with these expectations. Delegation has inconsistent correlations to outcomes when governments maintain a role in service delivery. Complete privatization is associated with negative outcomes. These results have important implications for the study and practice of delegation.

Key words:

• Delegation
• systematic review
• privatization
• contracting out
• agencification
• decentralization

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Some studies were focused on multiple countries; double counts occur in this description.