来源：Public Administration Review 1–29

魏文池 | 中国人民大学公共管理学院讲师

杨开峰 | 中国人民大学公共管理学院教授

论文介绍

本研究主要关注制度环境如何影响美国城市政府的服务外包决策，主要研究数据来自International City/County Management Association （ICMA）在近二十年间（2001-2018）关于地方制度环境（Municipal Form of Government）和服务外包（Alternative Service Delivery）的8轮大规模全国调查问卷。本研究关注七个关键的地方制度，主要涉及三个维度：管理专业主义，市长权力和议会选举规则。此外，在作者既有研究的基础上（Wei 2021, 2022; Wei et al. 2019），本研究构建了一个 “市政结构政治—行政指数” 用以衡量城市制度环境的政治性和行政性。工具变量估计实证研究发现，采用“议会—经理”制市政结构、职业经理人的设置、弱权力市长、无党派（nonpartisan）和大选区（by-district）的市议会选举制度的城市的服务外包程度更低；职业经理人可以调节外部环境因素对政府外包决策的影响；采用政治性较强或行政性较弱的市政结构的城市的服务外包程度更高。

研究方法

准实验研究设计工具变量估计。

论文摘要

This research examines how institutional contexts matter for US municipalities’ service outsourcing decisions, deriving data from the ICMA’s multiple rounds of surveys concerning local institutions and service delivery choices. We focus on seven pivotal local institutions that address managerial professionalism, mayoral strength, and electoral rules. Moreover, a composite index measuring the general nature of the municipal structure on a political–administrative scale is constructed based on the local institutions examined. The empirical estimations use the existence of initiatives and popular referenda allowing citizen voters to adjust local statutes as instrumental variables for local institutions. We find that municipalities with a council-manager municipal form, a professional manager, a weak mayor, and nonpartisan and at-large elections of council members outsource less services. Professional managers can moderate the effects of contextual factors on government outsourcing decisions. Moreover, municipalities with a more political or a less administrative municipal structure outsource a larger portion of services.

作者介绍

魏文池，中国人民大学公共管理学院讲师，中国人民大学“杰出学者”青年学者，公共财政与公共政策研究所副所长。主要研究方向为公共财政与预算、公共绩效管理。其已在国际公共管理顶刊PAR、JPART上发表论文五篇，在ARPA、PMR、 Public Choice、《中国行政管理》、《公共行政评论》、《公共管理评论》等中英文高影响期刊发表（或被接收）论文十多篇，主持国家自科、北京市社科等研究课题多项。

参考文献

Wei, Wenchi. 2022. Municipal structure matters: Evidence from government fiscal performance. Public Administration Review 82(1): 160-173.

Wei, Wenchi, J. S. Butler, and Edward T. Jennings Jr. 2019. The determinants of municipal structures on a political-administrative dimension. The American Review of Public Administration 49(2): 189-202.

Wei, Wenchi. 2021. Exploring local government fiscal slack in a political-budgetary-managerial framework. Public Management Review 23(10): 1504-1526.