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Pragmatist and neo-classical policy paradigms in public services: which is the better template for program design?
Citation
Marsh, MI and Spies-Butcher, B, Pragmatist and neo-classical policy paradigms in public services: which is the better template for program design?, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 68, (3) pp. 239-255. ISSN 0313-6647 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
The definitive published version is available online at: http://interscience.wiley.com
Official URL: http://interscience.wiley.com
DOI: doi:10.1111/j.1467-8500.2009.00637.x
Abstract
Principal-agent theory alerts principals to their problematic relationship with agents. The former are encouraged to take deliberate action to counter asymmetries in knowledge, moral hazard etc. To avoid this, principals should determine outcomes and contracts and incentives should be designed to achieve them. This approach has influenced the form of purchaser-provider arrangements, including the Job Network. This article reviews impacts, which include incentives for gaming and increased transaction costs. Another survey highlighted the extent to which innovation in the disability employment sector had depended on collaboration, which competition would end. The article then sketches an alternative pragmatic or experimental approach, which assumes that the centre can never establish outcomes that are other than provisional and corrigible. Program design needs to be built around this fundamental fact. Learning not 'carrots and sticks' is the appropriate form of relationship. The article explores the feasibility of this approach in a Job Network context.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | innovation, public policy, human services |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Policy and administration |
Research Field: | Public policy |
Objective Division: | Law, Politics and Community Services |
Objective Group: | Government and politics |
Objective Field: | Public services policy advice and analysis |
UTAS Author: | Marsh, MI (Professor Ian Marsh) |
ID Code: | 58592 |
Year Published: | 2009 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 7 |
Deposited By: | Australian Innovation Research Centre |
Deposited On: | 2009-10-15 |
Last Modified: | 2014-12-03 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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