The International Diffusion of Public-Sector Downsizing: Network Emulation and Theory-Driven Learning

We examine change in the size of the public sector between 1980 and 1997 across twenty-six Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nations, with particular attention to diffusion dynamics. General method of moments (GMM) analyses demonstrate imitation of shifts in governm...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International organization 2006-10, Vol.60 (4), p.883-909
Main Authors: Lee, Chang Kil, Strang, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Balance of trade
Cooperation
Diffusion
Discourses
Dominance
Downsizing
Economic development
Economic growth rate
Economic liberalism
Economic life
Economic models
Employment
Generalized method of moments
Government
Government initiatives
Government reform
Imitation
Immediate
International cooperation
International Economic Organizations
International studies
Layoffs
Learning
Liberalization
Longitudinal studies
Neoliberalism
OECD
Public Sector
Regulation
Social life
Symposium: Diffusion of Liberalism
Trade
Trade development
U.S.A
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Summary:We examine change in the size of the public sector between 1980 and 1997 across twenty-six Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nations, with particular attention to diffusion dynamics. General method of moments (GMM) analyses demonstrate imitation of shifts in government employment within the United States and mutual influence among nations that are geographically proximate and that trade extensively. Disaggregated analyses show that downsizing is contagious while upsizing is not: proximate downsizers but not upsizers are imitated, and states act on evidence that downsizing is economically beneficial while ignoring evidence that it is harmful. We argue that these asymmetries in emulation and learning are a product of the dominance of neoliberal and managerialist discourses that legitimate and theorize shrinking the public sector.
ISSN:0020-8183
1531-5088
DOI:10.1017/S0020818306060292