Bureaucracy and Geography: Geographic Relocation of the Norwegian Central Administration

Abstract

How did the Norwegian government succeed in the geographic relocation of a number of domestic agencies? This study suggests an organisational theory approach to explain the success. It argues that formal organisation of the decision-making process in government largely explains the success of the relocation reform. The government had to contend with: physical relocation of institutions tending to mobilise the attention and resistance of affected stakeholders, earlier attempts at physical relocation of agencies largely failing, and the absence of parliamentary majority. Studies demonstrate that large-scale reform processes tend to be characterised by medium degrees of hierarchical control. Instrumental leadership tends to be present in minor institutional reforms than in large-scale reforms. This study suggests that large-scale physical relocation of agencies was completed largely through the formal design of the reform process, i.e. by safeguarding hierarchical leadership from the government.