A Special Workshop on “Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Governance”

Government performance is always a major concern of citizens and policymakers of many countries, and Asia is no exception to this trend. Even though the characteristics of the political systems and the policy goals of countries may differ, policymakers in most countries still want to see cost-efficient delivery of public services and effective accomplishment of policy objectives. The pressure to have an efficient and effective government is especially strong today, when most national economies are highly integrated into a global economic system and countries have to stay competitive to attract investment and global talents.

Achieving more efficient and effective public services depends not only on the technical skills of public servants, but also on the governance structure of public administration. For example, how government agencies work with businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community groups, how government officials relate to the average citizens and solicit their input in policy design and implementation, how government agencies are being held accountable for results and performance, how the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government work together to provide sufficient check and balance against corruption, fraud, and abuse of power, and how national and subnational governments work together to set policies and use public resources can have a significant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of public programs and spending. Furthermore, a country’s values about the roles of the government and normative thinking about the responsibilities of individuals and government officials in society may also shape how governmental institutions function and what organizational norms are adopted to influence policy execution and the daily operations of agencies.

Hence, when many governments in the world are striving to achieve greater cost-efficiency and effectiveness in public programs and trying to do more with less in the current fiscal environment, policymakers and public administration researchers need to think beyond the technical efficiency concerns and consider how efficiency and effectiveness of public programs are related to these the governance context. It is this context that comparative research, especially among Asian countries that share similar cultural heritages and social norms, follow a similar path of economic development, and face similar challenges in socio-economic and political development, will be valuable and necessary.

For the past two decades, many Asian countries have tried to model after western experiences and pursue new public management reforms or results-oriented management. While this trend of global diffusion of reform ideas and isomorphic institutional changes have successfully led to numerous reform initiatives in different countries (Asian Development Bank, 2009; Mimba, et al. 2013; Wescott and Jones, 2007; Wescott, et al. 2009), some studies have questioned whether these reforms have significantly impacted the actual performance of government programs and transformed the practice of governmental institutions (Christensen, 2012; Gupta, 2005; 2010; Ho and Im, 2013; Im, 2010).

In order to understand the transnational experiences in improving efficiency and effectiveness and established a research network in this field. The Center for Chinese Public Administration Research and School of Government, Sun Yat-sen University, China, and the Public Management Institute at KU Leuven in Belgium will co-sponsor a special workshop on Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Governance on January 13-14, 2014. We welcome scholars who share similar research interest to participate this workshop.

This workshop has two purposes: the first one is to offer a platform for researchers to share their research in examining the relations between efficiency and effectiveness of public services and government institutions; the second one is to discuss the use of data envelope analysis and related techniques in analyzing government efficiency and effectiveness, the limitations of the methodologies, and the implications for government performance and governance research.

All participants are invited to collaborate in comparative research in this field in the future. We are honored to have Dr. Geert Bouckaert, IIAS President and Director of the Public Management Institute at KU Leuven in Belgium, and Dr. Alfred T. Ho, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs and Management, University of Kansas in the USA, as the keynote speakers for this special workshop.