Nordic Administrative Reforms Lessons for Public Management [Hardcover]

This book is based on a unique data set and assesses in comparative terms the public management reforms in the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Based on the assessments of administrative executives, the book compares the Nordic countries with the Anglo-Saxon, the Germanic, the Napoleonic and the East European group of countries. The book addresses the following questions: What reform trends are relevant in the public administrations of the Nordic countries? What institutional features characterize the state authorities in these countries?  What characterizes the role identity, self-understanding, dominant values, and motivation of administrative executive in the Nordic countries? What characterizes reform processes, trends and content, what is the relevance of different types of management instruments, and what are their perceived effects and the perceived performance of the public administration? The book also examines how the different Nordic countries dealt with the financial crisis of 2008, and how the differences and similarities in their approaches can be explained.  Chapter 1. Introduction: The Nordic Model in Transition; Carsten Greve, Per L?greid and Lise H. Rykkja.- Chapter 2. Data, methods, and some structural and individual characteristics; Per L?greid and Lise H. Rykkja.- Chapter 3. Reform Context and Status; Carsten Greve and Niels Ejersbo.- Chapter 4. Nordic Administrative Heritages and Contemporary Institutional Design; Shirin Ahlb?ck ?berg and Helena Wockelberg.- Chapter 5. Roles, Values, and Motivation; Turo Virtanen.- Chapter 6.Administrative Reform  Processes, Trends, and Content; Per L?greid and Lise H. Rykkja.- Chapter 7. Relevance of Management Instruments; Niels Ejersbo and Carsten Greve.- Chapter 8. Success in Reforming Administration  What Matters?; Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, P?tur Berg Matth?asson and Turo Virtanen.- Chapter 9. Managing the Financial Crisis; Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson als$