Experiments in Public Management Research: Challenges and Contributions

Oliver James · Sebastian R. Jilke · Gregg G. Van Ryzin

Jul 2017 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Interest in experimental research in public management is on the rise, yet the field still lacks a broad understanding of its role in producing substantive findings and theoretical advances. Written by a team of leading international researchers, this book sets out the advantages of experiments in public management and showcases their rapidly developing contribution to research and practice. The book offers a comprehensive overview of the relationship between experiments and public management theory, and the benefits for examining causal effects. It will appeal to researchers and graduate-level students in public administration, public management, government, politics and policy studies. The key topics addressed are the distinct logic of experimental methods in the laboratory, in the field, and in survey experiments; how leading researchers are using different kinds of experiment to build knowledge about theory and practice across many areas of public management; and the research agendas for experimental work in public management.

About the author

Oliver James, PhD, is professor of political science at the University of Exeter. Recent published research focuses on the politics of public services, citizen-provider relationships, and public sector organisation and reform. He was recently elected to the board of the Public Management Research Association and his experimental research won the Haldane Prize for best article published in the journal Public Administration. At the University of Exeter, he is director of the Master in Public Administration programme and he has acted as a consultant to bodies including the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the UK Treasury, the UK National Audit Office and the UK Audit Commission.

Sebastian R. Jilke, PhD, is assistant professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he co-directs the Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration. He has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, the European Journal of Political Research, Public Administration Review, and Regulation and Governance. He is currently co-chairing the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA) Permanent Study Group on 'Behavioral Public Administration'. His interests include citizen-state interactions and equality in service provision, and his recent work examines how citizens and public officials respond to market-type mechanisms in public service delivery.

Gregg G. Van Ryzin, PhD, is professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University, New Jersey, where he directs the PhD program and co-directs the Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Adminstration. He has interests in both survey research and experimental methods, and conducts empirical studies on a range of topics, including citizen satisfaction with urban services, coproduction, performance measurement, nonprofit organizations, housing and neighborhood issues, and comparative public opinion about government policy and institutions. Van Ryzin is widely published in scholarly journals in public administration, policy analysis, and urban affairs and is author of Research Methods in Practice (with Dahlia K. Remler, 2011, 2nd edition 2014).