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Administrative (de)centralization, performance equity, and outcome achievement in rural contexts
An empirical study of U.S. child welfare systems
Elgin, D. J., & Carter, D. P. (2019). Administrative (de)centralization, performance equity, and outcome achievement in rural contexts: An empirical study of U.S. child welfare systems. Governance, 32(1), 23-43. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12343
Whether public services are better delivered through centralized or decentralized administrative systems is one of the most enduring debates in public administration. This article contributes to the debate with a study of program outcome achievement in U.S. child welfare services. We examine whether centralized state-administered or decentralized county-administered systems are more successful at realizing desired outcomes, which exhibit greater performance equity, and which are more successful at securing program outcomes in rural settings. Using a coarsened exact matching approach to quasi-experimental research, we find that centralized child welfare systems exhibit greater success at achieving desired outcomes-in both rural contexts and overall. No discernible difference is found in centralized and decentralized systems' performance equity; outcome disparities exist under both structures. The study thus lends credence to centralization arguments, but at the same time cautions that centralized administration is not a structural panacea.