The Emergence of the Quasi-Government Sector in Korea: Some Policy Implications

Abstract

The role and legitimacy of quasi-governmental agencies in the modern governance has long been a contentious issue in public administration. In this paper, I examined various types of quasi-governmental institutions that exist in Korea and analyzed their unique characteristics. It was found that four different types of quasi-governmental agencies were employed, mainly for policy implementation purposes for government ministries. When choosing among various institutional forms to perform certain public tasks, policy makers need to take into account the demand-side features of public tasks in question, the degree to which services are provided universally, monitoring and contract costs, and the responsiveness of institutions. In balancing these factors, policy makers have to match the supply-related factors or organization-specific configurations. This functional matching concept is an important one when choosing among different institutional types within the quasi-governmental sector. Lastly, the government needs to think about streamlining quasi-governmental organizations as they tend to create accountability and political problems.