Public Sector Control as a Factor in Entrepreneurial Policy: the Case of Lithuania

Mantas Bileišis,Manuela Tvaronavičienė

doi:10.9770/jesi.2014.1.3(4)

Abstract

The paper describes the development of the Lithuanian public sector control in an attempt to evaluate how its changes affect possibilities for entrepreneurship both in the public and private sectors. An analysis of change of functions, organization, and regulation over the period of past two decades is done to see how the philosophy of public sector control in Lithuania evolved and how this changed the practices of control. The data for analysis is derived from legal documents and relevant institutional reports. Controlling the public sector has usually been about democratic accountability. Currently this layer is supplemented by attempts to advance best practice in terms of efficiency. Over the past 20 years Lithuania has undergone a path similar to the one described above. As a result, however, Lithuanian public sector control system has grown in complexity and became more bureaucratized. Attempts at increasing entrepreneurship in the public sector are often matched by increased control. This paradox of increased control produces greater bureaucracy and this risks limiting entrepreneurship in both private and public sectors. And this needs to be taken to account when designing pro-entrepreneurial policies.

Highlights

Control is a term that has many definitions which vary considerably depending on the context/academic discipline it is used in
The article identifies three interpretations of the state which serve as a theoretical prism through which we can evaluate the development of public sector control mechanisms
The analysis of public sector development in this region is a complex question of post-communist transition, interbellum revivalism, and of the changing conception of role of the public sector. This complexity means that the development of the Lithuanian public sector control had to respond to multiple factors, many of which were driven by local considerations, at the same time increasing participation in the global economic order placed demands on the state from the outside

Summary

Introduction

Control is a term that has many definitions which vary considerably depending on the context/academic discipline it is used in. The article identifies three interpretations of the state (within the framework of democratic mandate) which serve as a theoretical prism through which we can evaluate the development of public sector control mechanisms. The analysis of public sector development in this region is a complex question of post-communist transition, interbellum revivalism, and of the changing conception of role of the public sector. This complexity means that the development of the Lithuanian public sector control had to respond to multiple factors, many of which were driven by local considerations, at the same time increasing participation in the global economic order placed demands on the state from the outside. Several factors can be identified that must always be considered such as agency autonomy, performance evaluation/appraisal, and historically contingent organizational and legal complexity

Analytical framework: subjectivizing control of public sector organizations

Analytical framework: three interpretations of the state

Conceptualizing public sector control: the Lithuanian case

The implications for pro-entrepreneurial policy

Conclusions