Subnational Government Performance: Testing Multiple Dimensions of Governors' Experience

This article tests whether governors' work experience expUins their state performance. Although the experience-performance relationship has been researched, empirical studies report inconsistent results. This inconsistency might be due to the dissimilar conceptualization and operationalization...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Public administration review 2019-05, Vol.79 (3), p.383-398
Main Authors: Olvera, Johabed G., Avellaneda, Claudia N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attrition (Research Studies)
Concept formation
Employment
Enrollment
Enrollments
Governors
Health status
Inconsistency
Infant mortality
Infants
Mortality rates
Political violence
Quantitative analysis
Research Article
Secondary schools
Violence
Work
Work experience
Young Children
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Summary:This article tests whether governors' work experience expUins their state performance. Although the experience-performance relationship has been researched, empirical studies report inconsistent results. This inconsistency might be due to the dissimilar conceptualization and operationalization of the work experience construct, for it can be conceptualized in qualitative or quantitative components. To address this disparity, the authors follow Tesluk and Jacob's conceptualization by operationalizing gubernatorial experience across three dimensions: type (qualitative component), number of jobs, and years of work experience (quantitative component). The study tests the moderating effects of state context (level of violence) on the experience-performance relationship, relying on data derived from 32 Mexican states over 16years. Education outputs (high school enrollment) and health outcomes (infant mortality rate) are used to assess state performance. Results indicate that only the qualitative dimension of governors' work experience boosts state performance by reducing infant mortality and increasing high school enrollment. However, this positive effect is undermined by state violence. The number of jobs decreases gubernatorial performance, magnified by the degree of state violence.
ISSN:0033-3352
1540-6210
DOI:10.1111/puar.13035