A replication of "exploring and explaining contracting out: Patterns among the American states". (3rd November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Qian, Jing; Lu, Jiahuan; Zhao, Jianzhi
• Is Part Of: Public administration. Volume 100:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 1161
• Page End: 1182
• Publication Date: 2022-11-03
• Subjects: Public administration -- Periodicals; Civil service -- Periodicals; 350
• DOI: 10.1111/padm.12890
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0033-3298

Abstract

Abstract: This manuscript conducts both a narrow and wide replication of Brudney et al. (2005, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15[3], pp. 393–419), focusing on the scope, perceived effectiveness, and antecedents of contracting out. The replication joins the original study in indicating that state agencies widely used contracting out in service delivery, but their perceived effects on service costs and quality were mixed. The replication coincides with the original study in suggesting that contracting out was an agency‐specific practice driven more by pragmatic factors but reports some divergences in the effects of individual factors. Overall, our replication concurs with the original study in many aspects, but also adds new nuances. There seems to be no single pattern underlying the use of contracting out, and thus no single factor could determine contracting out under all circumstances. Rather, contracting is a dynamic practice used by agencies for certain contingencies. Abstract: 本论文对 Brudney 等人(2005, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15[3], pp. 393–419) 的重要研究进行了狭义和广义上的结果再现，并重点关注政府外包的范围、有效性感知和决定性因素。 基于更新和更全面的数据，本文的结果总体与原文保持一 致，即尽管州机构在公共服务中广泛使用外包策略，但它们对公共服务成本和质量的感知却参差不齐。 尽管单个变量的偏效应存在部分差别，但本文的稳健结果再次证明，外包决策主要取决于个体机构的特征，更多地受现实需要驱动。此外，我们的论文发现与原文存在一些细微的差异，我们发现外包决策的决定并不受单一稳定因素的驱动，相反，它是随着机构的变化而动态变化的.