Work

When Less Means More: Policy Accumulation, Administrative Capacities, and Policy Performance

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Democratic governments have consistently introduced new policies to address various societal, economic, and environmental issues. However, this ongoing expansion of policy measures risks overburdening the public administrations responsible for their execution. To explore this challenge, we examine how the relationship between the size of sectoral policy portfolios and available implementation capacities impacts the effectiveness of sectoral policies. Our analysis of environmental policies across OECD countries reveals a growing disparity between the number of policies requiring implementation and the resources available to carry them out, which in turn negatively affects policy performance.

Source: The Economists Voice

DOI: 10.1515/ev-2025-0003

Authors: Xavier Fernández-i-Marín, Markus Hinterleitner, Christoph Knill, Yves Steinebach

Institutions: Universitat de Barcelona, University of Lausanne, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, University of Oslo

Language: English

Topic: Public Policy and Administration Research

Subfield: Public Administration

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: European Research Council