Impact of budgetary flexibilization and autonomization on agency performance

The project aims at evaluating a prominent administrative reform project in Austria: the so-called Flexibilisierungsklausel, a budgetary instrument that empowers selected government agencies to a more flexible and autonomous use of allocated resources within the existing budget and civil service framework. Originally established as an alternative model to corporatization, it implies considerable challenges for both agency management and interorganizational relationships within the political-administrative system – thereby also demonstrating the relevance of the traditional public administration culture in Austria with its strong Rechtsstaat tradition. The project uses a variety of data sources and focuses on a comprehensive case study of the three pioneering agencies for an assessment of the longitudinal effects of this reform initiative. Our research emphasize effects of this reform on autonomy, control/steering, coordination and agency performance and also aims at highlighting a number of shortcomings.