New public management and the rule of economic incentives: Australian welfare-to-work from job market signalling perspective. Issue 8 (3rd August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Considine, Mark; Nguyen, Phuc; O'Sullivan, Siobhan
• Is Part Of: Public management review. Volume 20:Issue 8(2018)
• Page Start: 1186
• Page End: 1204
• Publication Date: 2018-08-03
• Subjects: New Public Management -- principal–agent incentives -- employment services -- job market signalling -- activation; Local government -- Periodicals; Public administration -- Periodicals; 351.05
• DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2017.1346140
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-9037

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Australia's welfare-to-work system has undergone radical changes since the 1990s, with service delivery fully privatized in 2003 and incentives of various kinds introduced to underpin jobseeker and employment consultant activation. Informed by New Public Management (NPM), the reforms are intended to improve effectiveness and efficiency by addressing the problems of information asymmetry at different levels of the system. However, operationalizing NPM principles generated technical and regulatory challenges, and in this case, the incentive framework undermines some of the reform's basic assumptions. This can trigger jobseekers' and consultants' rational decision-making behaviours which run contrary to programme expectations, hence generating suboptimal performance.