@article{NistotskayaCingolani, author = {Nistotskaya, Marina and Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {Bureaucratic Structure, Regulatory Quality, and Entrepreneurship in a Comparative Perspective: Cross-Sectional and Panel Data Evidence}, series = {Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory}, volume = {26}, journal = {Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory}, number = {3}, doi = {10.1093/jopart/muv026}, pages = {519 -- 534}, abstract = {The article examines the effect of meritocratic recruitment and tenure protection in public bureaucracies on regulatory quality and business entry rates in a global sample. Utilizing a cross-country measure on the extent of meritocratic entry to bureaucracy and a time-series indicator of tenure protection, it subjects theoretical claims that these features improve the epistemic qualities of bureaucracies and also serve as a credible commitment device to empirical test. We find that, conditional on a number of economic, political, and legal factors, countries where bureaucracies are more insulated from day-to-day oversight by individual politicians through the institutional features under consideration tend to have both better regulation, specifically business regulation, and higher rates of business entry. Our findings suggest that bureaucratic structure has an indirect effect on entrepreneurship rates through better regulatory quality, but also exert a direct independent effect.}, language = {en} } @article{CingolaniThomssondeCrombrugghe, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and Thomsson, Kaj and de Crombrugghe, Denis}, title = {Minding Weber more than ever? The impacts of State Capacity and Bureaucratic Autonomy on development goals}, series = {World Development}, volume = {72}, journal = {World Development}, doi = {10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.02.016}, pages = {191 -- 207}, abstract = {State capacity has attracted renewed interest over the last years, notably in the study of violent conflict. Yet, this concept is conceived differently depending on where the interest lies. In this article, we focus on bureaucratic autonomy as a distinct concept and discuss its connection to state capacity in detail. Using panel data over 1990-2010 and a novel indicator of autonomy, we estimate the separate effect of state capacity and bureaucratic autonomy on child mortality and tuberculosis prevalence. The evidence suggests that bureaucratic autonomy has a stronger impact than commonly used measures of state capacity or traditional macroeconomic variables.}, language = {en} } @article{FazekasCingolani, author = {Fazekas, Mih{\´a}ly and Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {Breaking the Cycle? How (Not) to Use Political Finance Regulations to Counter Public Procurement Corruption}, series = {The Slavonic and East European Review}, volume = {95}, journal = {The Slavonic and East European Review}, number = {1}, doi = {10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.95.1.0076}, pages = {76 -- 116}, abstract = {There are widespread perceptions and countless documented cases of tight-knit networks of politicians and businessmen colluding in the allocation of public procurement contracts in return for political party donations. In the absence of systematic evidence, neither the magnitude of the problem nor the effectiveness of policies curbing such corruption is well-understood. In order to advance our understanding of these phenomena, this paper tests whether political financing regulations can contribute to controlling corruption in public procurement. We utilize aggregated official micro-level data on almost 3 million contracts awarded across twenty-nine European countries from 2009 to 2014 to measure the risk of high-level institutionalized corruption using novel proxy indicators. Legislation regulating political finances is directly measured by coding national laws from 2009 to 2014. In cross-country panel regression and difference-in-difference models, we find that introducing additional political financing restrictions does not have a measurable negative impact on public procurement corruption risks. In fact, the observed effect is positive in most models. The observed relationship remains the same for most constitutive components of political financing regulations. Several challenges remain for a conclusive judgement on political party financing regulations' effectiveness in curbing corruption, such as measuring implementation rather than legislation, allowing for a longer lead-time for regulatory impact, or considering institutional inter-dependencies.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {The role of state capacity in development studies}, series = {Journal of Development Perspectives}, volume = {2}, journal = {Journal of Development Perspectives}, number = {1-2}, doi = {10.5325/jdevepers.2.1-2.0088}, pages = {88 -- 114}, abstract = {The role that state capacity plays in development has been the subject of growing cross-disciplinary research. The state capacity concept has faced criticism on numerous fronts, with scholars recently devoting serious efforts to overcome it. This article offers a rich overview of the concepts' journey in terms of its theoretical roots, its uses by different disciplines, its definitions and measurements, and the empirical evidence around the impact of state capacity on development outcomes. It argues in favor of an optimistic view of the field's advances by showing: (a) convergence in conceptualizations and (b) high-quality innovations in measurements. The article also contributes to the field by offering a definition of state capacity that consolidates all elements of the dominant strand and further tackles a number of issues that remain weak and should take priority in a future agenda.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {The survival of open government platforms: Empirical insights from a global sample}, series = {Government Information Quarterly}, volume = {Volume 38}, journal = {Government Information Quarterly}, editor = {Elsevier,}, edition = {Issue 1}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.giq.2020.101522}, abstract = {For a number of years scholars have theorized about a change of paradigm in the collaborative practices between governments and citizens as a result of the newly emerged many-to-many forms of connectivity. A vibrant agenda on open government has flourished since, with critical advances on the conceptual front, but much less empirical testing of its propositions. This article makes use of a recognized typology of co-production initiatives in order to implement a Cox hazards survival analysis of 465 open government platforms from a global sample in 87 countries. Its main findings suggest that government-initiated collaborations have the lowest risk of termination and that citizen-to-government initiatives the highest. They also show that while internationally-exerted pressure for openness favors the genesis of open government platforms, it does not affect their survival chances.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {Infrastructural state capacity in the digital age: What drives the performance of COVID-19 tracing apps?}, series = {Governance}, journal = {Governance}, doi = {10.1111/gove.12666}, pages = {1 -- 23}, abstract = {In a context where states increasingly complement their physical presence with digital means, the classic idea of infrastructural state power needs reconsideration. The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unparalleled opportunity to that end, given the uniformity of one type of digital infrastructural intervention - the offer of contact tracing apps - and its highly varying performance across geographies. Against this backdrop, the article seeks to expand traditional discussions on state infrastructural power by testing a series of propositions on the explanatory factors behind tracing apps' emergence and adoption rates. The findings stemming from a pool of 150 countries show no straightforward connection between traditional and digital forms of infrastructural power. They also point at the primacy of governmental trust over financial, institutional, and technological factors - including privacy standards - when explaining high adoption, suggesting that the relational aspect of infrastructural power acquires a proportionally greater weight in the digital era.}, language = {en} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {El Estado l{\´i}quido: discusiones sobre la volatilidad de las pol{\´i}ticas p{\´u}blicas y evidencias de Argentina y Brasil (1995-2006)}, series = {Am{\´e}rica Latina Hoy}, volume = {54}, journal = {Am{\´e}rica Latina Hoy}, doi = {10.14201/alh.6955}, pages = {43 -- 68}, abstract = {El art{\´i}culo se propone ofrecer un an{\´a}lisis integral sobre la manera en que ha sido abordada la cuesti{\´o}n de la inestabilidad de las pol{\´i}ticas p{\´u}blicas: su impacto en el desarrollo econ{\´o}mico de los pa{\´i}ses, la heterogeneidad de enfoques te{\´o}ricos que la estudian, las maneras en que ha sido conceptualizada y las posibles causas que la literatura ha delineado explicando el fen{\´o}meno. Ofrece asimismo un diagn{\´o}stico sobre los niveles de inestabilidad de las pol{\´i}ticas en Argentina y Brasil entre los a{\~n}os 1995 y 2006 y discute brevemente algunas previsiones de la teor{\´i}a a la luz de los resultados observados. Estos resultados arrojan una serie de conclusiones: a) hay un nivel sustancialmente m{\´a}s alto de inestabilidad de las pol{\´i}ticas en Argentina que en Brasil; b) hay una desproporci{\´o}n entre la importancia del concepto como determinante del desarrollo y su sistematizaci{\´o}n como variable independiente, y c) se produce una serie de contradicciones entre diferentes corrientes neoinstitucionales, y entre algunas de estas teor{\´i}as y la evidencia emp{\´i}rica. ABSTRACT: The article aims to present a comprehensive analysis of different aspects concerning the concept of policy instability: its impacts on economic development, the multiple and hetereogeneus theoretical approaches that address it, the construction of its definition and the possible causes behind it. It also offers a diagnosis of policy instability levels in Argentina and Brazil between 1995 and 2006, and discusses some of the theoretical previsions in light of the evidence found. The general findings suggest that: a) there is a significantly higher level of policy instability in Argentina than in Brazil, b) there is a mismatch between the importance of policy stability as a determinant of development and its systematization as independent variable, and c) a series of contradictions can be found between different rational choice neoinstitutionalist theories, and between some of these theories and the empirical evidence.}, language = {es} } @article{Cingolani, author = {Cingolani, Luciana}, title = {Representative Bureaucracy and Perceptions of Social Exclusion in Europe: Evidence From 27 Countries}, series = {Administration \& Society}, journal = {Administration \& Society}, doi = {10.1177/00953997221137562}, abstract = {Representative bureaucracy theory predicts that mirroring social groups in the composition of the bureaucracy will lead to inclusive policies and less overall exclusion of diverse individuals. While supporting evidence on policy outcomes is abundant, findings on subjective perceptions are mixed. This study tests three hypotheses linking representative bureaucracy to perceived same-group discrimination in the general population. It introduces a novel multidimensional index of bureaucratic underrepresentation, and uses mixed effects hierarchical models to approximate answers. Exploratory findings suggest an "awareness" mechanism may explain the counterintuitive relationship between underrepresentation and feelings of exclusion, by which more diverse public sectors develop alongside higher awareness of discrimination.}, language = {en} } @article{CingolaniFazekas, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and Fazekas, Mih{\´a}ly}, title = {The role of agencification in achieving value-for-money in public spending}, series = {Governance - An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions}, volume = {33}, journal = {Governance - An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions}, issn = {1468-0491}, doi = {10.1111/gove.12452}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b1570-opus4-34674}, pages = {545 -- 563}, abstract = {Agencification has been pursued globally under the promise of increasing public administration performance. In spite of ample theoretical arguments, the empirical evidence on the causal link between agencification and performance remains scarce and methodologically contested. We contribute to this debate by empirically testing the impacts of agencification across Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom on value-for-money, competitiveness, and timeliness during the period 2006-2016. We use unique administrative datasets, enabling objective and granular measurements of reforms and their effects, employing quasi-experimental methods. Findings suggest heterogeneous effects both across countries and outcomes. On average, value-for-money improves by 2.8\% or 1.7 billion EUR over a decade, while outputs and processes change only marginally. Recently agencified organizations barely improve their performance, while older agencies achieve substantial improvements. The three countries' heterogeneous administrative contexts play a critical role as mediating factors, with the biggest changes occurring in higher new public management take-up countries.}, language = {en} } @article{CingolaniHildebrandt, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and Hildebrandt, Tim}, title = {Incentive Structures for the Adoption of Crowdsourcing in Public Policy: A Bureaucratic Politics Model}, series = {Sustainability}, volume = {14}, journal = {Sustainability}, number = {20}, doi = {10.3390/su142012982}, abstract = {Collective intelligence paradigms have been increasingly embraced by the public sector as a way to address complex policy challenges. The field is limited, however, by our little, comparative understanding of the political economy factors that create incentives around the adoption of certain types of collective intelligence over others in different organizational settings. This article uses a typology of citizen-sourced open innovation models based on the work of Daren Brabham as well as insights from Elinor Ostrom and Archon Fung, in order to produce a theoretical model of the determinants of crowdsourcing adoption decisions in the public sector. The model derives a political economy analysis that matches various administrative scenarios to different collective intelligence modalities and developments. The insights are illustrated through a number of crowdsourcing initiatives and provide important lessons to practitioners designing such collective challenges.}, language = {en} } @article{CingolaniSalazarMorales, author = {Cingolani, Luciana and Salazar-Morales, Diego}, title = {The role of public workforce diversity and the administrative ecosystem in advancing digital public service innovation}, series = {Public Management Review}, journal = {Public Management Review}, doi = {10.1080/14719037.2024.2303609}, abstract = {Organizational studies have long built a 'business case' for diversity, which today includes innovation capacity among the benefits of diverse workforces. Diversity's impact on innovation has been tested in private firms, yet few systematic studies exist in public management. We address this challenge using a two-step dynamic panel data analysis via generalized methods of moment estimation in 36 European countries. The findings confirm that higher public workforce diversity leads to higher public service innovation. This effect, however, is mediated by the administrative ecosystem, where greater uniformity in managerial practices makes diversity more salient, an obstacle to unleash its innovative potential.}, language = {en} }