An Institutionalist Approach to Spatial Variations in Public Service Failure

Abstract

Institutionalist approaches to regional development suggest that a host of regulative structures, normative expectations and cognitive identities constrain the behaviour of organizations operating in local areas. However, policymakers in England currently pay little attention to the influence of such institutions when assessing performance in the public sector. In particular, they do not consider their potential effects on poorly performing public organizations. This assumption is challenged here by analysing spatial variations in the rate of failure in English public services between 2002 and 2004. The interdependence between failure and institutional variables is modelled and explored using local authority area level data.The statistical analysis suggests that regulative, normative and cognitive institutions have a strong statistically significant impact on the prospect of public service failure, even when controlling for the effects of other important environmental constraints. These findings provide support for institutionalist approaches to understanding spatial dimensions of public policy.