Management of Public and Private Welfare Services

Abstract

Abstract This chapter highlights insights from pioneering work on management practices by Nicholas Bloom and John Van Reenen for the performance of tax-financed welfare services. Research has demonstrated that good management matters not only in the private sector but also in traditional public services, such as schools and hospitals. Studies on Swedish data confirm the importance of management practices in the welfare sector but also point the direction to potential improvements. A pervasive pattern is that private providers have better management quality than public providers, suggesting that the privatization of service production has contributed to better services. High management quality goes together with shorter waiting times at primary care centres and with higher process-oriented quality measures at nursing homes. There is, however, no relationship between management quality and patient satisfaction.