Organizational size and public service performance: a meta-analysis and an agenda for future research

Richard M. WALKER*, Rhys ANDREWS, Bert GEORGE, Xuan TU

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The question whether small or large organisations are associated with the best public service performance has long been a subject of debate in public administration research, and has had profound ramifications for practice. This article seeks to bring clarity to this debate by conducting a meta-analysis of studies scrutinising the relationship between organisational size and public service performance (45 articles, 122 effect sizes). Meta-analytical and meta-regression results show mostly null findings. We discuss the circumstances in which organisational size matters for public service performance, and propose rekindling venerable research agendas about nonlinearity and contingency in the size-performance relationship.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)32-65
Number of pages34
JournalAsian Pacific Journal of Public Administration
Volume46
Issue number1
Early online date21 Feb 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The University of Hong Kong.

Keywords

  • meta-analysis
  • null findings
  • Organizational size
  • public service performance

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