Evaluation of Large-Scale Public-Sector Reforms: A comparative analysis

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evaluation of Large-Scale Public-Sector Reforms

T2 - A comparative analysis

AU - Breidahl, Karen N.

AU - Gjelstrup, Gunnar

AU - Hansen, Hanne Foss

AU - Balle Hansen, Morten

PY - 2017/6/1

Y1 - 2017/6/1

N2 - Research on the evaluation of large-scale public-sector reforms is rare. This article sets out to fill that gap in the evaluation literature and argues that it is of vital importance since the impact of such reforms is considerable and they change the context in which evaluations of other and more delimited policy areas take place. In our analysis, we apply four governance perspectives (rational-instrumental perspective, rational interest–based perspective, institutional-cultural perspective, and chaos perspective) in a comparative analysis of the evaluations of two large-scale public-sector reforms in Denmark and Norway. We compare the evaluation process (focus and purpose), the evaluators, and the organization of the evaluation, as well as the utilization of the evaluation results. The analysis uncovers several significant findings including how the initial organization of the evaluation shows strong impact on the utilization of the evaluation and how evaluators can approach the challenges of evaluating large-scale reforms.

AB - Research on the evaluation of large-scale public-sector reforms is rare. This article sets out to fill that gap in the evaluation literature and argues that it is of vital importance since the impact of such reforms is considerable and they change the context in which evaluations of other and more delimited policy areas take place. In our analysis, we apply four governance perspectives (rational-instrumental perspective, rational interest–based perspective, institutional-cultural perspective, and chaos perspective) in a comparative analysis of the evaluations of two large-scale public-sector reforms in Denmark and Norway. We compare the evaluation process (focus and purpose), the evaluators, and the organization of the evaluation, as well as the utilization of the evaluation results. The analysis uncovers several significant findings including how the initial organization of the evaluation shows strong impact on the utilization of the evaluation and how evaluators can approach the challenges of evaluating large-scale reforms.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - evaluation use

KW - meta-evaluation

KW - multilevel evaluation

KW - governance

KW - reform

U2 - 10.1177/1098214016660612

DO - 10.1177/1098214016660612

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1098-2140

VL - 38

SP - 226

EP - 245

JO - American Journal of Evaluation

JF - American Journal of Evaluation

IS - 2

M1 - 4

ER -