Sandra Van Thiel
Biographic Data
| ID | 4128074 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sandra Van Thiel |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Thiel |
| SIGNATURE | VAN THIEL S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3886-6374 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 270 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 36 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Creative Discretion on the Frontline of Public Services: A Longitudinal Qualitative Digital Diary and Interview Study
“Creative discretion”—defined as street‐level bureaucrats' use of their discretion to generate novel and useful ideas for customizing services to meet the needs of service users, superiors, and themselves—is vital as governments shift from traditional public management to a more user‐centered approach, emphasizing responsiveness over technocracy. Central to this shift is creative discretion, which fosters innovative solutions tailored to citizens…
A connotation to public sector creativity: Creative public servants’ tendencies to opt for rule-bending
Contains fulltext : 318100.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)
Public servants’ creativity: Salient stimulators and inhibitors a longitudinal qualitative digital diary study
n Contains fulltext :\n 253347.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Exploring the role of creativity in frontline social work: Perspectives from social workers and managers in integrated neighbourhood teams in the Netherlands
Item does not contain fulltext
Crisis Leadership and Public Governance during the Covid–19 Pandemic: International Comparisons
Italy is among the countries that have most heavily been affected by the \nCOVID-19 pandemic. As a consequence, a debate has arisen in both academic \nand non-academic circles as to whether the national governmental \ninstitutions have been able to adequately face the huge epidemiological \nchallenge. In addition to this, between the second and the third waves, the \ncountry has been affected by a political crisis that has led to a change of \nth…
Measuring the construct of public sector creativity: Development of a validated scale
Public sector creativity—public servants coming up with novel and useful ideas—is the origin of solutions and innovations central to public sector organizations' ability to optimally serve society's interests. Despite its relevance and argued limitations, an adequate scale and framework to assess public servants' creativity remained absent. Using three quantitative ( n = 2434/ n = 1157/ n = 621) and two qualitative datasets, this state‐of‐the‐art…
The bureaucrat, the entrepreneur, and the networker: Developing and validating measurement scales for civil servants’ role perceptions
Civil servants’ work is being affected by an increasing variety of government reforms. As such, the role of civil servants is a major topic of research. Nevertheless, no validated measurement scales exist for how civil servants themselves perceive their own role in a complex and constantly changing environment. We develop and validate measurement scales for civil servants’ role perceptions. Using data from two surveys (N = 161 and N = 1080), we d…
The future of public administration research: An editor's perspective
Research in the field of public administration has changed and advanced significantly in recent years. These advancements concern both how we engage in research—such as the methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theories we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly, we are witnessing a shift in public‐sector values away from efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that highlights equity. In this article, we re…
Blame avoidance, scapegoats and spin: Why Dutch politicians won’t evaluate ZBO-outcomes
Despite high expectations about the results of agencification and a legal obligation to evaluate executive agencies, ministers and MPs seem not very interested in evaluating agencies’ results. Hood’s theory on blame avoidance is used to explain the lack of evaluation in the case of the Dutch ZBOs. Only one in seven ZBOs is evaluated as frequently as mandated. Findings show that ZBO evaluations are more an administrative than a political process. …
Public sector creativity as the origin of public sector innovation: A taxonomy and future research agenda
This systematic literature review analyses how public servants apply workplace creativity to come up with ideas for public sector innovations, defining public sector creativity and analyzing its practices, features, trends, and hiatuses in knowledge for which we provide a future research agenda. Creativity is the origin of innovation. Public sector creativity, however, is theoretically undefined and underexamined, resulting in unclarity on what c…
Performance of municipally owned corporations: Determinants and mechanisms
Practitioners often expect service delivery by municipally owned corporations (MOCs) to differ substantially from delivery by municipal bureaucracy. However, research into the circumstances under which municipal corporatization is effective is scarce. We investigate determinants of MOCs’ performance based on a questionnaire sent to all Dutch MOCs, finding no evidence that many expected predictors of performance matter for performance. Key factors…
Local governments and their arm’s length bodies
In this paper, we discuss the state of the art on the creation of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) by local governments. We make three main contributions. First, there are many different types of ALBs and each country has its own categories; an expert survey was held identifying three common types of body, to enable future comparative research. Second, we point out that the creation of ALBs has led to a number of new challenges for local governments, p…
Do boards matter? Studying the relation between school boards and educational quality
Boards are expected to contribute to an organization's performance. In the case of schools, this means that the board should contribute to educational quality. However, there is no scientific proof that this expectation is valid. The (growing) literature on boards suggests that the effects of school boards depend on variables, such as board behaviour and corporate governance. In this study, we present the results of a secondary analysis drawing o…
The politics of quangocracy
n Contains fulltext :\n 209836.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)\n
Multiple principals, multiple problems: Implications for effective governance and a research agenda for joint service delivery
The multiple principal problem refers to multiple collective action problems that organizations face when they must balance (competing) interests of multiple stakeholders under joint service delivery. It negatively affects different types of organization, yet we know little about how organizations (can) mitigate it. We expand a framework based on principal–agent theory, review the literature, and consider implications for effective governance of …
Ethical Leadership as Process: A Conceptual Proposition
This conceptual study proposes that ethical leadership is studied through a processual lens. The study develops different models of ethical leadership as a process. Multiple constructs of ethical leadership from the literature are compared and used to develop these models, including a timeline of ethical leadership, a two-dimensional quadrant, and concentric circles of ethical leadership. The models provide a new perspective into the function and…
Languages and Public Administration in Europe
One of the key features of public administration in Europe is that multiple languages are in use, both in the public and academic debates. Language shapes thought, debate and hence also research. To find out which problems researchers run into when they want to convey results of their research and the debates on public administration to academics and practitioners in other countries, we have asked a number of scholars to describe how several key …
The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe
This Handbook offers a systematic review of state-of-the-art knowledge on public administration in Europe. Covering the theoretical, epistemological and practical aspects of the field, it focuses on h
Public Administration and Public Management Research in Europe: Traditions and Trends
The chapter reviews the evolution of the state of the art of research in public administration and management in Europe since WWII. It argues that a pan-European community has developed, flanking and in many respects integrating the distinct national communities that characterised the field till the 1970s/1980s. After a bibliographical review of the main themes that catalyse the interest of PA scholars, it focuses on the most researched theme in …
Conclusions
The various chapters in this handbook show that public administration as a science has developed very strongly in Europe, leading to more publications and increased presence in the international debates, both in academia as well as in practice. A research agenda is described calling for more research using new theories and methods (e.g. behavioural public administration and experiments), focusing on new(er) topics (e.g. public procurement, implem…
The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: A systematic review
Accountability and Coalitions: Evidence from a Negotiation Experiment
This article tests the effect of accountability on negotiation outcomes in a face‐to‐face classroom experiment. Student participants were asked to form coalitions in groups of three. In the treatment condition, negotiators were held accountable by a personal forum during the formation of the coalition. In the control condition, negotiators were not held accountable. Results show that accountability leads to lower group performance in coalition ne…
The Effects of Work Alienation and Policy Alienation on Behavior of Public Employees
Public employees are confronted with various pressures, such as increased work demands and the need to implement controversial policies. This study uses work alienation and policy alienation models to analyze work and policy pressures. Based on a survey of 790 respondents, it was first found that work alienation results in less work effort and more intention to leave. Second, policy alienation negatively affects behavioral support for a policy an…
Accountability After Structural Disaggregation: Comparing Agency Accountability Arrangements
New accountability instruments – performance indicators, audits, and financial incentives – are expected to replace traditional accountability instruments in NPM reforms. We test this expectation by looking at the accountability arrangements of semi‐autonomous agencies as a typical example of NPM reforms. Our findings are based on survey data on 342 agencies in six countries. We identify four types of accountability arrangements in semi‐autonomou…
Innovation-Oriented Culture in the Public Sector: Do managerial autonomy and result control lead to innovation?
This article examines the effect of specific new public management (NPM)-related characteristics to explain innovation-oriented culture within public sector organizations. According to NPM doctrines, an enhanced managerial autonomy combined with result control will stimulate a more innovation-oriented culture in such organizations. Using multi-country survey data of over 200 public sector agencies, we test for the influence of organizational auto…
Quangos—What's in a Name? Defining Quangos from a Comparative Perspective
Without definitional clarity the “quango debate” is inherently flawed and meaningful progress undermined. A possible solution to this problem is proposed in this article by way of a subsectional map which aims to clarify the quango topography. This accepts the diversity inherent in the quango debate while allowing for increased clarity and focused research. This, the authors believe, is the only way forward for practitioners, academics and policy…
Multiple principals, multiple problems: Implications for effective governance and a research agenda for joint service delivery
The multiple principal problem refers to multiple collective action problems that organizations face when they must balance (competing) interests of multiple stakeholders under joint service delivery. It negatively affects different types of organization, yet we know little about how organizations (can) mitigate it. We expand a framework based on principal–agent theory, review the literature, and consider implications for effective governance of …
Local governments and their arm’s length bodies
In this paper, we discuss the state of the art on the creation of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) by local governments. We make three main contributions. First, there are many different types of ALBs and each country has its own categories; an expert survey was held identifying three common types of body, to enable future comparative research. Second, we point out that the creation of ALBs has led to a number of new challenges for local governments, p…
The future of public administration research: An editor's perspective
Research in the field of public administration has changed and advanced significantly in recent years. These advancements concern both how we engage in research—such as the methods we apply, the interdisciplinary nature of the theories we use, and the research questions we ask. Increasingly, we are witnessing a shift in public‐sector values away from efficiency and effectiveness and toward a paradigm that highlights equity. In this article, we re…
Trends in the Public Sector: Why Politicians Prefer Quasi-Autonomous Organizations
Since the 1980s the number of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations has increased in most western countries. This article offers a theoretical explanation for politicians’ apparent preference for quangos. The model is based on rational choice sociology, neo-institutional economics and public choice. Hypotheses are formulated on the conditions that are expected to influence politicians’ choice. The statistical analysis, using a database …
Does task matter? The effect of task on the establishment, autonomy and control of semi-autonomous agencies
The task of agencies is often considered to be an important determinant of agency design, autonomy, governance and control. The evidence for these expectations has, however, been limited so far. Moreover, there are several problems with the ‘task-variable’. There is no clear definition, agencies often perform multiple tasks, and as task is a nominal variable there are restrictions on the use of statistical techniques. Two questions arise: does ta…
Autonomous Agencies and Perceptions of Stakeholder Influence in Parliamentary Democracies
n Contains fulltext :\n 111732.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)\n
Performance of municipally owned corporations: Determinants and mechanisms
Practitioners often expect service delivery by municipally owned corporations (MOCs) to differ substantially from delivery by municipal bureaucracy. However, research into the circumstances under which municipal corporatization is effective is scarce. We investigate determinants of MOCs’ performance based on a questionnaire sent to all Dutch MOCs, finding no evidence that many expected predictors of performance matter for performance. Key factors…
The Governance of Public and Non-Profit Organisations: What do Boards do
Public sector creativity as the origin of public sector innovation: A taxonomy and future research agenda
This systematic literature review analyses how public servants apply workplace creativity to come up with ideas for public sector innovations, defining public sector creativity and analyzing its practices, features, trends, and hiatuses in knowledge for which we provide a future research agenda. Creativity is the origin of innovation. Public sector creativity, however, is theoretically undefined and underexamined, resulting in unclarity on what c…
Accountability After Structural Disaggregation: Comparing Agency Accountability Arrangements
New accountability instruments – performance indicators, audits, and financial incentives – are expected to replace traditional accountability instruments in NPM reforms. We test this expectation by looking at the accountability arrangements of semi‐autonomous agencies as a typical example of NPM reforms. Our findings are based on survey data on 342 agencies in six countries. We identify four types of accountability arrangements in semi‐autonomou…
Ethical Leadership as Process: A Conceptual Proposition
This conceptual study proposes that ethical leadership is studied through a processual lens. The study develops different models of ethical leadership as a process. Multiple constructs of ethical leadership from the literature are compared and used to develop these models, including a timeline of ethical leadership, a two-dimensional quadrant, and concentric circles of ethical leadership. The models provide a new perspective into the function and…
The Effects of Work Alienation and Policy Alienation on Behavior of Public Employees
Public employees are confronted with various pressures, such as increased work demands and the need to implement controversial policies. This study uses work alienation and policy alienation models to analyze work and policy pressures. Based on a survey of 790 respondents, it was first found that work alienation results in less work effort and more intention to leave. Second, policy alienation negatively affects behavioral support for a policy an…
Accountability and Coalitions: Evidence from a Negotiation Experiment
This article tests the effect of accountability on negotiation outcomes in a face‐to‐face classroom experiment. Student participants were asked to form coalitions in groups of three. In the treatment condition, negotiators were held accountable by a personal forum during the formation of the coalition. In the control condition, negotiators were not held accountable. Results show that accountability leads to lower group performance in coalition ne…
Resisting governmental control: How semi-autonomous agencies use strategic resources to challenge state coordination
Institutional pressure caused by public sector reform leads to strategic reactions from semi-autonomous agencies. Agencies in the Netherlands and France only complied with a selection of imposed reforms. Other rules were manipulated, not complied with, or compromises were made. The degree of compliance with reforms is not only dependent on structural aspects, but also on resources and power distributions between the actors. A comparison is made b…
Styles of Reform: Differences in quango creation between policy sectors in the Netherlands
National governments follow country-specific reform trajectories, which imply uniform preferences for specific types of quasi-autonomous organisations (quangos). However, at micro level there is little uniformity; similar tasks are charged to different types of quangos. This contradiction could be explained by the existence of styles of quango creation at the level of policy sectors. Do such styles exist? Using the literature on policy styles and…
The politics of quangocracy
n Contains fulltext :\n 209836.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)\n
Exploring the role of creativity in frontline social work: Perspectives from social workers and managers in integrated neighbourhood teams in the Netherlands
Item does not contain fulltext
Blame avoidance, scapegoats and spin: Why Dutch politicians won’t evaluate ZBO-outcomes
Despite high expectations about the results of agencification and a legal obligation to evaluate executive agencies, ministers and MPs seem not very interested in evaluating agencies’ results. Hood’s theory on blame avoidance is used to explain the lack of evaluation in the case of the Dutch ZBOs. Only one in seven ZBOs is evaluated as frequently as mandated. Findings show that ZBO evaluations are more an administrative than a political process. …
Quangos—What's in a Name? Defining Quangos from a Comparative Perspective
Without definitional clarity the “quango debate” is inherently flawed and meaningful progress undermined. A possible solution to this problem is proposed in this article by way of a subsectional map which aims to clarify the quango topography. This accepts the diversity inherent in the quango debate while allowing for increased clarity and focused research. This, the authors believe, is the only way forward for practitioners, academics and policy…
The Performance Paradox in the Public Sector
Administrative reform has led to a strong increase in the use of performance assessment instruments in the public sector. However, this has also led to several unintended consequences, such as the performance paradox, tunnel vision, and “analysis paralysis.” These unintended consequences can reduce the quality of the knowledge about actual levels of performance or even negatively affect performance. Examples can be found in all policy sectors. Th…
Unbundled Government: A Critical Analysis of the Global Trend to Agencies, Quangos and Contractualisation
Part One: Setting the Scene 1. Managers managing? The international trend towards agencies, quangos and contratualization Colin Talbot 2. Patterns of structural change Geert Bouckaert and Guy B. Peters Part Two: Agencies, Quangos and Contracts in the Heartlands of the New Public Management 3. Adapting the agency concept: variations within 'Next Steps' Francesca Gains 4. Executive agencies and joined-up government in the UK Oliver James 5. Contrac…
Trends in the Public Sector: Why Politicians Prefer Quasi-Autonomous Organizations
Since the 1980s the number of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations has increased in most western countries. This article offers a theoretical explanation for politicians’ apparent preference for quangos. The model is based on rational choice sociology, neo-institutional economics and public choice. Hypotheses are formulated on the conditions that are expected to influence politicians’ choice. The statistical analysis, using a database …
The Governance of Public and Non-Profit Organisations: What do Boards do
Styles of Reform: Differences in quango creation between policy sectors in the Netherlands
National governments follow country-specific reform trajectories, which imply uniform preferences for specific types of quasi-autonomous organisations (quangos). However, at micro level there is little uniformity; similar tasks are charged to different types of quangos. This contradiction could be explained by the existence of styles of quango creation at the level of policy sectors. Do such styles exist? Using the literature on policy styles and…
New Public Management in Europe: Adaptation and Alternatives
Introduction V.Homburg C.Pollit & S.V.Thiel Convergence or divergence: what has been happening in Europe? C.Pollit Public management reforms in countries with a Napoleonic state model: France, Italy and Spain W.Kickert The management and control of executive agencies: an Anglo-Dutch comparison S.V.Thiel & C.Pollit Public Private Partnership: a two headed reform. A comparison of PPP in England and The Netherlands E.H.Klijn J.Edelenbos & M.Hughes N…
Political Influence and Bureaucratic Autonomy
The establishment of autonomous public bodies during the past two decades has created a highly fragmented public sector. Using a dataset with more than 200 Dutch public sector organisations, this article examines three related sets of questions: to what extent a relationship exists between formal and de facto autonomy; the level of influence that interested parties exert upon those organizations; whether a relationship exists between levels of fo…
Government Agencies: Practices and Lessons from 30 Countries
PART I: AGENCIFICATION AS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON Introduction K.Verhoest & S.Van Thiel Comparing Agencies across Countries S.Van Thiel PART II: AGENCIFICATION IN DIFFERENT POLITICO-ADMINISTRATIVE TRADITIONS Section 2.1 Agencification in Anglo-American countries Australia C.Aulich & R.Wettenhall Ireland M.MacCarthaigh & R.Boyle New Zealand R.Gregory United Kingdom O.James , A.Moseley , N.Petrovsky & G.Boyne United States B.G.Peters Comparing Agencifi…
Comparing Agencies across Countries
From the 1980s on, governments all over the world have created large numbers of semi-autonomous agencies. The chapters in this book are evidence of this trend, which has since then become known as agencification (cf. Pollitt et al. 2004). Semi-autonomous agencies operate at arm’s length of the government; they carry out public tasks such as regulation, service delivery, and policy implementation. Compared to government bureaucracy, agencies face …
Autonomous Agencies and Perceptions of Stakeholder Influence in Parliamentary Democracies
n Contains fulltext :\n 111732.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)\n
Innovation-Oriented Culture in the Public Sector: Do managerial autonomy and result control lead to innovation?
This article examines the effect of specific new public management (NPM)-related characteristics to explain innovation-oriented culture within public sector organizations. According to NPM doctrines, an enhanced managerial autonomy combined with result control will stimulate a more innovation-oriented culture in such organizations. Using multi-country survey data of over 200 public sector agencies, we test for the influence of organizational auto…
Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Management: An introduction
Research in public administration and public management has distinctive features that influence the choices and application of research methods. Periods of change and upheaval in the public sector provide ample opportunities and cases for research, but the standard methodologies for researching in the social sciences can be difficult to follow in the complex world of the public sector. In a dynamic political environment, the focus lies on solving…
Does task matter? The effect of task on the establishment, autonomy and control of semi-autonomous agencies
The task of agencies is often considered to be an important determinant of agency design, autonomy, governance and control. The evidence for these expectations has, however, been limited so far. Moreover, there are several problems with the ‘task-variable’. There is no clear definition, agencies often perform multiple tasks, and as task is a nominal variable there are restrictions on the use of statistical techniques. Two questions arise: does ta…
Resisting governmental control: How semi-autonomous agencies use strategic resources to challenge state coordination
Institutional pressure caused by public sector reform leads to strategic reactions from semi-autonomous agencies. Agencies in the Netherlands and France only complied with a selection of imposed reforms. Other rules were manipulated, not complied with, or compromises were made. The degree of compliance with reforms is not only dependent on structural aspects, but also on resources and power distributions between the actors. A comparison is made b…
The Effects of Work Alienation and Policy Alienation on Behavior of Public Employees
Public employees are confronted with various pressures, such as increased work demands and the need to implement controversial policies. This study uses work alienation and policy alienation models to analyze work and policy pressures. Based on a survey of 790 respondents, it was first found that work alienation results in less work effort and more intention to leave. Second, policy alienation negatively affects behavioral support for a policy an…
Accountability After Structural Disaggregation: Comparing Agency Accountability Arrangements
New accountability instruments – performance indicators, audits, and financial incentives – are expected to replace traditional accountability instruments in NPM reforms. We test this expectation by looking at the accountability arrangements of semi‐autonomous agencies as a typical example of NPM reforms. Our findings are based on survey data on 342 agencies in six countries. We identify four types of accountability arrangements in semi‐autonomou…
The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: A systematic review
Accountability and Coalitions: Evidence from a Negotiation Experiment
This article tests the effect of accountability on negotiation outcomes in a face‐to‐face classroom experiment. Student participants were asked to form coalitions in groups of three. In the treatment condition, negotiators were held accountable by a personal forum during the formation of the coalition. In the control condition, negotiators were not held accountable. Results show that accountability leads to lower group performance in coalition ne…
Languages and Public Administration in Europe
One of the key features of public administration in Europe is that multiple languages are in use, both in the public and academic debates. Language shapes thought, debate and hence also research. To find out which problems researchers run into when they want to convey results of their research and the debates on public administration to academics and practitioners in other countries, we have asked a number of scholars to describe how several key …
The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe
This Handbook offers a systematic review of state-of-the-art knowledge on public administration in Europe. Covering the theoretical, epistemological and practical aspects of the field, it focuses on h
Public Administration and Public Management Research in Europe: Traditions and Trends
The chapter reviews the evolution of the state of the art of research in public administration and management in Europe since WWII. It argues that a pan-European community has developed, flanking and in many respects integrating the distinct national communities that characterised the field till the 1970s/1980s. After a bibliographical review of the main themes that catalyse the interest of PA scholars, it focuses on the most researched theme in …
Conclusions
The various chapters in this handbook show that public administration as a science has developed very strongly in Europe, leading to more publications and increased presence in the international debates, both in academia as well as in practice. A research agenda is described calling for more research using new theories and methods (e.g. behavioural public administration and experiments), focusing on new(er) topics (e.g. public procurement, implem…
The politics of quangocracy
n Contains fulltext :\n 209836.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access)\n
Multiple principals, multiple problems: Implications for effective governance and a research agenda for joint service delivery
The multiple principal problem refers to multiple collective action problems that organizations face when they must balance (competing) interests of multiple stakeholders under joint service delivery. It negatively affects different types of organization, yet we know little about how organizations (can) mitigate it. We expand a framework based on principal–agent theory, review the literature, and consider implications for effective governance of …
Political science (36 works) · Public Policy and Administration Research (26 works) · Law (24 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Public relations (18 works) · Public Administration (16 works) · Public sector (16 works) · Business (15 works) · Economics (15 works) · Law (13 works)