Quality standards, implementation autonomy, and citizen satisfaction with public services: cross-national evidence

Public Management Review, vol. 23, pp. 906–928

Abstract

This article investigates whether citizens’ evaluations of service performance are related to archival measures of performance, and how institutional context shapes this relationship contingent on administrative autonomy – standards, human resources, and financial autonomy. Using cross-national education data, this study finds that student performance is positively associated with parental evaluations of schools. Perceptions are more closely aligned with performance when agencies have greater autonomy in managing employees, and when national-level bureaucracies set performance standards. This research advances our understanding of the role of administrative autonomy in citizen satisfaction and provides implications for the institutional designs that can benefit performance assessment.

Authors 3

1. Miyeon Song

   University of South Carolina

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Political Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

2. Seung‐Ho An corresponding

   University of Arizona

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Government & Public Policy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

3. Kenneth J. Meier Aachen Institute of Public Administration

   Leiden University · Cardiff University · American University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cardiff School of Business, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales

   Institute of Public Administration, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

   School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington DC, USA